When watching your weight, popcorn can be a magical snack. As a whole-grain food, it’s a great source of fiber and can curb your hunger between meals. On the flipside, popcorn can be one of your worst enemies. Popcorn calories add up quickly. Like so:

Hot air popcorn calories
Calories in a cup of popcorn equal just 31 calories. So far so good. Hot air popcorn poppers like the Presto Corn Popper are great for the weight watcher.

Calories in oil popped popcorn
Not too bad at 55 calories in just one cup (no butter added).

Calories in oil popped popcorn with just 2 teaspoon of melted butter
We’ve more than doubled the calories at 122. Still not too bad when compared to most Microwave popcorn brands or other snacks (chips, candy, etc.)

Speaking of Microwave Popcorn Calories, how about a ½ bag of lightly buttered microwave popcorn
Now we’re heading to more time on the treadmill. 180 calories

That small bag of popcorn at the movie theater, just hold the butter
Double the time on the treadmill. 400 calories. Wow!

Okay, let’s add butter to that small bag of popcorn at the theater
630 calories. Hmmm. This isn’t looking good. Need to upgrade to the eliptical at the gym.

Calories in large movie theater popcorn without butter
You’re not going to like this. 1,160 calories

Calories in large movie theater popcorn with butter
1,640 calories. That’s almost a daily calorie intake.

So, hot air popcorn poppers win in the calories department followed by oil popcorn makers. Of course at home it’s easy to control how we pop and what we put on our popcorn. At the movie theater, it’s a different story. We’ve chosen to share a small bag of popcorn between two people instead of purchasing those larger tubs.

How do you watch your popcorn calories?

According to a report in the May 2008 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, people who eat popcorn have approximately 250% higher daily intake of whole grains and 22% higher daily intake of fiber than those who don't eat popcorn.  This study is great news for those of us who love to eat popcorn.

The report promotes the idea that "a high intake of whole-grain foods has been linked with reduced risk for coronary disease, stroke and various types of cancer and may protect against type 2 diabetes."

The report concludes:

“Popcorn may offer a healthful alternative to energy-dense, low-nutrient-dense snacks, and may have the potential to improve nutrient status in Americans of all ages and help them meet dietary guideline recommendations to consume three whole-grain servings per day.”

The American Dietetic Association recommends popping popcorn with a hot-air popcorn popper to ensure "a low-fat, low calorie snack."