Movie Popcorn is Bad for You? Who Knew?

I only get popcorn every once in a while b/c it's expensive and if it's early in the day and I havent eaten yet then the popcorn makes me sick. I go to the movies a lot so normally I bring some sort of candy in my purse and a drink b/c i cant afford what they charge and I have to have a drink while I watch.

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The worst part of this treat is not the coconut oil or butter flavor canola oil but the blood sugar spike from the corn and attendant insulin rush that send these fats right to your mid section. Especially if you follow this indulgence with a sugary soda and a two hour session of sitting. Couple that with fight or flite hormones surging in your blood from response to the movie action and violence....it's a wonder more people don't just up and drop dead in the local multiplex.

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Everything will kill you.

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I asked the guy behind the counter to read me the ingredients on the popcorn box and it had some kind of super sodium as the first ingredient. Now I don't mind the butter (fat), or even the corn (sugar), but the sodium is out of this world.
Do you know how important that is? Your body has a survival system based on measuring salt levels. That whole internal feedback system is connected to your hormone-secretion glands and it gets complicated after that, but that regulates salt and water. These salt imbalances are designed to make you drink sugar drinks.
So I would be careful about eating the popcorn with the fake super salt and eat something more nutritious -- like a hotdog or a chocolate bar. Even a pint of Hagen-Daas (ice cream) would do less harm.
If you actually LIKE the salty popcorn, just drink a lot of water when you get out of the theater and avoid salt for the rest of the week.
Some independent theaters make salt-free popcorn.

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Here comes the stupid food police again. PEOPLE! You don't go to the movies every day and eat popcorn! Go. See a flick. Eat popcorn. Have fun! and tell the food police to suck off!

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The person who takes the utmost care of themselves is still as vulnerable to getting killed in a car crash as is the person who weighs 400 pounds and eats junk food.

It's an occasional, guilty pleasure, but you will NEVER catch me in a theatre, watching a movie without a big bag of popcorn by my side.

To those who make sure a big deal about popcorn, the salt or the genuine-artificial-imitation-butter-flavoring, just remember that life is a zero sum game. Get over yourselves.

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I would definitely buy healthier popcorn over that they serve now. Popcorn is actually good for you if it's air popped, and even if you add butter or flavours to it afterwards, at least the calories wouldn't be astronomical.

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I can't imagine anybody is surprised by this. I haven't bought food or drink from the theater in a number of years. Not only does none of it have any nutritional benefit, they sell everything in such huge quantities. It's incredibly wasteful unless you have a bunch of people to share it with. I do feel bad sometimes, because I know the concessions is a big part of how theaters support their business, but until they start offering healthier options or smaller portions the only money they'll make on me will be the ticket sale.

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What about if you...

- get a small popcorn every so often
- don't exactly partake in the healthiest diet to begin with
- do some sit-ups every other day
- buy a medium Coke and sneak in some candy

Couldn't be quite as bad, could it?

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it may be ghetto, but i bring my snacks from home. no way am i shelling out another 12 dollars for movie food.

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I occasionally will buy a popcorn and soda at the movies, but it's getting to the point where I need to take out financing to buy the snack. AMC Theaters are the worst. They just upsized their whole menu and upsized the prices. Gone are the old small popcorns and sodas. What used to be medium 3 weeks ago is now the small. A large can feed an African Village for a month. It also now costs the equivalent of a decent used car. Isn't $12 a ticket enough anymore?

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I usually split a medium or large soda with my wife. Sometimes I'll get some Butterfinger Bites or Reece's Pieces, but not usually. Rarely ever get popcorn, but not because of some self-important health crusade, but because I'm just not a big popcorn fan. That and it's usually too much at once (leftover popcorn just doesn't do it for me), too expensive, too greasy/salty, and I'm the kind of guy that likes to get to the theater plenty early to get a good seat so I'm not doing the whole deer in the headlights, stand off to the side while searching for an empty seat in the dark thing. Skipping the consession area, or just getting a drink usually assures a good seat.

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I am a dedicated cinephile and I spend alot of time at the theatre, and I almost never get popcorn. I'll grab a couple of handfuls out of someone else's bag if they buy it, but the only time I generally buy it myself is when I go to see a kid's movie alone. Because that's the time when the whole theatre smells like buttered popcorn and blue raspberry slushies and I think "Oh yeah, these kids know how to eat" and I feel this strange compulsion to do so as well. I would totally eat the healthier food at the theatre if they offer it, I love when theatres expand their menu and start offering me actual food, I was thrilled when theatres started giving me pizza, so imagine my joy if I could just walk in and order a sandwhich and an ice tea with my movie?

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"Yes, can I get a medium...actually I'm feeling a little crazy today so why not...make that a xlarge order of steamed carrots with the Nutellla dip."

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...must have popcorn at the movies!

I get the kids meal with water instead of a soft drink. Just enough popcorn to sate the corn beast and a bit of candy, perfect!

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i think we are missing the point. the theaters are making bad popcorn, what they should do, is give people a choice, why not also sale air make popcorn let the people, pick what they want...

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Going to the movie theater is bad for you. The muchies are laced with all things bad beyond belief. The other patrons seek to annoy as if they were in their own home. The environment is poor, and the presentation even worse.

Glad the wife and I invested wisely in our home theater. A little patience and we see the same movies in much better surroundings and a better experiences overall.

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