Can Popcorn Damage Your Colon?

Popcorn is perhaps best recognized for its connection to movie theaters. People in the United States eat 6.5 billion gallons of popcorn annually, totaling nearly 11 gallons per person, 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 is linked to some dietary concerns.

Colon Effects

Popcorn's small size and high fiber content long had a reputation for worsening diverticulosis and triggering diverticulitis, according to Northwestern Medicine. Diverticulosis is a common condition; it refers to small pouches, or diverticula, that occur in the walls of the colon. Diverticulitis involves the inflammation and possible infection of these pouches, per Cleveland Clinic. Doctors routinely advised patients with diverticulosis to stop eating popcorn, along with nuts, seeds, and other forms of corn. The theory was that the small, hard bits of food could lodge themselves in the pouches, leading to inflammation or infection, triggering a diverticulitis flare-up.

But research no longer suggests that you need to avoid popcorn or nuts, seeds, or other forms of corn. The current understanding of diverticulosis encourages a high-fiber diet to manage and prevent diverticulitis 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 lifestyle choices, according to Mayo Clinic. Eating a high-fiber diet can lower your risk of developing cancer, and fiber from vegetables is crucial. Regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight can also keep your risk of colon cancer low. Limiting alcohol intake to no more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men can also help you avoid colon cancer. 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.

You can certainly work popcorn into a high-fiber diet — 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 add fats to popcorn, make sure they're healthy fats — consider olive, avocado, or canola oils if you're making it on the stovetop. Opt for spices as toppings versus butter, but if you must have butter, try a vegan butter made from coconut or avocado oil.

Warning

Popcorn can be made healthily at home because you control how it is popped and the toppings, 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 the 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, that small, topping-free popcorn means 15.3 percent of your daily calories are from saturated fat, which is more than 1.5 times the recommended limit. Eating large amounts of saturated fat can affect your cholesterol level, which can increase your risk of heart disease, according to the American Heart Association, which recommends limiting saturated fat to just 6 percent of daily calories, or about 13 grams of saturated fat daily if you're eating a 2,000 calorie per day diet.