Confession: I used to chow down on of those mini bags of microwavable popcorn every.single.day. at 3 p.m. on the dot, like clockwork, at my desk at work. My poor colleagues didn’t even have to look at a watch to know what time it was, once those buttery fumes were in the air. This was years before my weight loss and transformation to a healthier lifestyle. I eventually gravitated towards healthier afternoon nibbles as I became more focused on clean eating: a handful of raw almonds, some fresh berries to dip into Greek yogurt. But, if I had any inclination to return to my nuked snacking habits, my favorite TV doctor did a pretty good job talking me out of it last week when he discussed the dangers of this seemingly innocent noshable!
What’s so bad about it? Where do we start? The bag alone is apparently bad news—it’s lined with a nonstick chemical called PFOA that was described as “toxic.” Then you have to worry about the chemicals that give it that faux-buttery flavor, which are behind the “popcorn lung” phenomenon. And then we have trans fat, which some popular brands still use to prevent the oils from spoiling, even though everyone now knows trans fat is a no-no…
I don’t miss microwaved popcorn anyway, even without these reported dangers. If I never ate another kernel again, I’d be absolutely fine, now that I discovered how to roast my own chickpeas thanks to these awesome recipes by the blogger Mrs. Fitness. My goodness, do I love the garbanzo! The oven gives them a real crunch that satisfies that munchy-crunchy craving without getting stuck between your teeth, either.
My boyfriend does like to eat popcorn when we’re watching a horror movie, but he gets Boom Chick A Pop in those rare instances, not anything that needs to be zapped to be eaten! It’s non-GMO and low-cal so it’s totally fine to eat. But I’m too busy hiding my head behind the couch cushions to think about eating in those situations, anyway! Blood and gore is not my thing!