Can Popcorn Damage Your Colon?

People in the United States eat 6.5 billion gallons of popcorn annually, totaling nearly 11 gallons per person per year, according to the Popcorn Board, an industry-funded organization. The snack is generally safe to eat, even for people with certain colon-related health issues, although it’s linked to some dietary concerns.

Colon Effects

Due to its small size and high fiber content, popcorn has long had a reputation for worsening and triggering diverticulitis, according to Northwestern Medicine. A common condition, diverticulosis is characterized by the inflammation and possible infection of small pouches called diverticula in the walls of the colon, according to Cleveland Clinic.

Doctors routinely advised patients with diverticulosis to stop eating popcorn, along with nuts, seeds, and other forms of corn. In theory, the small, hard bits of food could lodge themselves in the diverticula, ultimately leading to inflammation or infection and triggering a diverticulitis flare-up.

However, research no longer suggests that you need to avoid popcorn or nuts, seeds, or other forms of corn. Instead, the current understanding of diverticulosis encourages a high-fiber diet to manage the condition and prevent flare-ups in the long term.

During severe flare-ups, you can try a temporary low-fiber or clear liquid diet as your colon heals, along with antibiotics, if needed, for an infection.

Colon Health

Colon health is influenced by a number of lifestyle choices, according to Mayo Clinic.

Eating a high-fiber diet can lower your risk of developing cancer, and fiber from vegetables is particularly crucial. Regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight can also keep your risk of colon cancer low.

Limiting your alcohol intake to no more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men can help you avoid colon cancer as well. So can quitting smoking.

Finally, make sure to stay up to date on colon cancer screenings. Guidelines recommend getting your first colonoscopy at age 45.

When it comes to enjoying a high-fiber diet, it’s easy to include popcorn. Just make sure that you're pairing it with toppings that don't negate its health benefits.

Popcorn can be made in an air popper without oil. If you decide to add a fat to your popcorn, consider popping it in olive, avocado, or canola oil. It’s also best to opt for spices as toppings instead of butter, but if butter is a must, try a plant-based butter alternative made from coconut or avocado oil.

Warning

Popcorn can be made healthily at home because you control how it’s popped and the toppings you add, but most movie theater popcorn contains a large amount of saturated fat, according to Orlando Health. The Center for Science in the Public Interest warns that a typical small popcorn without additional buttery topping contains 34 grams of saturated fat.

Dietary guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend that you get no more than 10 percent of your daily calories from saturated fat. If you eat 2,000 calories per day, eating that small, topping-free movie theater popcorn results in 15.3 percent of your daily calories coming from saturated fat, which is more than 1.5 times the recommended limit.

Eating large amounts of saturated fat can negatively affect your cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk of heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. As such, the organization recommends limiting your daily saturated fat consumption even further to just 6 percent of your daily calories, or about 13 grams of saturated fat daily if you're eating a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet.