Popcorn

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RobertW900
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Popcorn

Postby RobertW900 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:17 am

As I mentioned before, I used to have a big thing for popcorn. I would eat it every day at least once. I was into trying all sorts of weird diets when I was younger and one of the things I tried was just eating popcorn. My Dad noticed my obsession with popcorn and he started buying me microwave popcorn and as it was so much easier than the air popper, I got hooked on that instead.

I guess I was 20 when I first noticed rectal bleeding. I would bleed bright red blood and sometimes I would pass clots and mucus after straining hard on the toilet. I was very frightened, but I also noticed hemorrhoids forming. I read all the symptoms looked online and I got freaked out. I had no insurance, I had no job, and my Dad didn't have any extra money though I knew he would find some if I needed it for medical treatment. I decided to be stupid and ignore it and took a 'wait and see' approach. It cleared up almost instantly and I didn't have a recurrence for months. When I did, I would always note the soreness, as if I had been cut, and it always came after straining.

I lived with this for almost 3 years, while I was off and on the popcorn. For a long time I was on a soup and fish diet and I had no problems. Then, for Christmas, my dad bought me this huge box of microwave popcorn, with like 50 packages inside. That week, I had the now familiar bloody stool. It wasn't until I was 28 that I drew the connection between my rectal bleeding, other GI problems, and popcorn, and that came from an oral cancer scare.

At 28, I developed a growth inside my mouth on the inside of my gums, on my lower jaw, right where the two center teeth sat. It grew pretty big, like the size of a split pea, and I was afraid to get it checked out because I had no money and couldn't afford it and my insurance from my new job at the time hadn't kicked in. My girlfriend thought it wasn't a big deal and it would go away, so I waited. Eventually it fell off when I was eating a fortune cookie, and I was so happy! But then, it grew back like a month later. I went to the doctor, as I had insurance by then. Long story short, it turns out it was caused by popcorn. A kernel sliver had bored down into my gum and caused this growth to form, which the oral surgeon said was quite common from popcorn. He went on to tell me how dangerous popcorn was to the body - especially microwave popcorn! because the microwave crystallized the kernels and can make them as hard and hard as glass.

I stopped eating popcorn since then, except on VERY rare occasions and never microwave. I have not had any more rectal bleeding, but I do now have an ulcer and several digestive problems, which may or may not be related to years of having my colon torn up by sharp shards of popcorn. It also happened to be the popcorn problem which got me my early colonoscopy which removed two polyps.

Has anyone else heard of these issues with popcorn?

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justsing
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Re: Popcorn

Postby justsing » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:22 am

I LOVE popcorn and have had to let it go. It is very hard on your gut. When my daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's we had to readjust our diet. We took out almost all corn products. Corn chips, and popcorn especially. The rule of thumb for me -- veteran of three children, well spaced apart and a solid decade of diaper changing -- was that anything that showed up in a diaper essentially unchanged from it's original state was probably not going to do good things to my gut.

The mouth ulcers can often be a result of particles of husks getting trapped in between the tooth and gum. Nasty stuff.
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RobertW900
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Re: Popcorn

Postby RobertW900 » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:04 pm

Thanks. That's good to know. Now that I think about it, sometimes I get kinda sick when I eat Tostidos. Maybe it is the corn? I love corn on the cob, too, and nibblets and all sorts of corn products but now I wonder if they're affecting me too. I also happen to get sick from Garlic and Onions, and anything with too much oil and grease.

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Re: Popcorn

Postby justsing » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:37 pm

Corn anything. Also peas, grapes (unless they're peeled) and raisins.
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Re: Popcorn

Postby CureCRC » Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:59 pm

A good read on corn and its other aspects on our culture

The Omnivore's Dilemna by Michael Pollan

high fructose corn syrup -nasty
corn fed beef - really bad for the cows
corn subsidies - bad for your pocketbook....

It's worth learning more about corn

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justsing
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Re: Popcorn

Postby justsing » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:02 pm

Poor Iowa.
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AugustWest
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Re: Popcorn

Postby AugustWest » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:13 pm

I used to love popcorn too.
I still love it, unfortunately it doesn't love me back.
In fact, it hates me and can wreck total havoc :x

Funny ya'll brought this up because last night I had
some 'corn for the 1st time in many many months.
'just one handful' i told myself... erggg, had at least 3.
pretty rough night....
oh well....

for what it's worth - for those who enjoy popcorn,
give smart balance microwave popcorn a try.
it is quite good
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garbovatwin
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Re: Popcorn

Postby garbovatwin » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:09 am

I had a dear friend hospitalized with a really nasty bowel obstruction some years ago. She loved popcorn and ate it daily. There is a store here in Chicago called Garrett's that sells all sorts of delicious popcorn.

The doctors told her that her colon came to be a bit scarred, they believed, by such a high intake of popcorn. You know the part of the popped corn that you occasionally get stuck in the back of your throat, I believe it is called the popcorn hull. Well, those were causing ridges to form in the colon that waste could get attached to and build up over time...hence in her case, the blockage. They told her to stop eating popcorn. She did for about 4 weeks. Instead she cut back and really OVERCHEWS it to make sure she really crushes the hull.

It can be tough on the gut, but sometimes I for one simply cannot resist, even though I've been told to stay away from it because of diverticuli.

If you are ever in Chicago though, MAKE AN EXCEPTION AND STOP IN AT A GARRETTS...or you can order online. http://www.garrettpopcorn.com/

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Re: Popcorn

Postby Candyys03 » Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:53 am

Definatly No popcorn,nuts,rasins,corn,and corn chips.This is the first time Ive heard about grapes.Though I cant eat potato skins as they seem hard to digest.My husband had a colonoscopy and they took a lovely picture of a watermelon seed.No seeds.The doctor that did his colonoscopy told us these foods cause irratations.Do they cause polyps? Cancer? I dont know for sure.I have a friend who is a diabetic and she lives on nuts.It makes it really hard for her when she has to have a colonoscopy.My doctors always tell me I can eat anything I want(or tolerate).No special diet or restrictions because they want you to eat.Extra pounds are good before chemotherapy or surgery as you may lose weight.I cant eat alot of foods like red meat.Sensitive stomach?Colon?Not sure.
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pjpeace
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Re: Popcorn

Postby pjpeace » Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:42 am

ok now...stop the corn bashing...it's still a veggie...it's when it gets the ba-gee-bas processed out of it it's bad. also, was the sweet potato still good for you before you put all the sugar and butter on it?

of course my niece learned in her nutrition class the teacher said it was something like 'a tooth brush for your colon'.

just like anything else...all in moderation.

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justsing
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Re: Popcorn

Postby justsing » Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:19 am

Actually it's not just when it gets processed. Corn is more colon friendly when it's been refined beyond recognition. If I have corn on the cob, or canned creamed niblets, or pop-corn or whatever, I have major digestive issues. Anything that comes out on the back end of the digestive process looking almost identical to the way it looked on the front end has probably not done my gut any favors on the way through.

I'm thinking my colon shouldn't be brushed or flossed.
justsing, 46
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colon resection 12/07
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Re: Popcorn

Postby NWgirl » Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:51 am

Corn is fascinating. I've been growing it in our garden for a couple of years now. Last year I made the mistake of planting 2 varieties of sweet corn and 1 variety of Indian corn all in the same patch. Turns our corn cross pollinates (it is self pollinating by the wind) and planting any 2 varieties together isn't good. Corn likes to be by itself. The Indian corn was very pretty and me and the kids had fun decorating with it. But most of the sweet corn turned out tough. :-(

That's okay - I had my ileostomy last year so I wouldn't have gotten to eat it anyway. But this year.....look out. I'll just plant the Indian corn in the front yard this year and just 1 variety of sweet corn out back.

But I'm getting way off subject aren't I? I must admit though, that gardening for me is one of my best therapies. It calms me down and I don't worry about cancer when I'm out in the dirt.
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Re:History and Legends of Popcorn, Cracker Jacks & Popcorn B

Postby garbovatwin » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:43 pm

History and Legends of Popcorn, Cracker Jacks & Popcorn Balls

There is a legend that old-timers tell of one particular summer when it got so hot that the corn in the fields started popping right off the stalks. The cows and pigs thought it was a snow blizzard and they lay down and froze to death.


In American Indian folklore, some tribes were said to believe that quiet, contented spirits lived inside of each popcorn kernel. When their houses were heated, the spirits would become angrier and angrier, shaking the kernels, and when the heat became unbearable, they would burst out of their homes and into the air in a disgruntled puff of steam.

Popcorn

Most of the world's popcorn is grown in the Midwestern part of the United States - principally in Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana where it can get mighty hot in the summer. Although popcorn has been with us since pioneer times, it was not until 1890 that popcorn became important enough to be raised as a crop for market. Before that time, individual families raised their own popcorn or bought it from their neighbors. Since that time, popcorn has brought enough income to its growers to earn the name "prairie gold."

Prehistory - The oldest ears of popcorn ever found were discovered in the Bat Cave (a site known to have been occupied by cave dwellers practicing primitive agriculture three thousand years ago) of west central New Mexico in 1948 and 1950 by anthropologist Herbert Dick and botanist Earle Smith, Harvard graduate students. They discovered layers of trash, garbage, and excrement, which had accumulated over two thousand years. In the trash were 766 specimens of shelled cobs, 125 loose kernels, 8 pieces of husks, 10 of leaf sheath, and 5 of tassels and tassel fragments. The deeper they dug, the smaller and more primitive the cobs, until they reached bottom and found tiny cobs of popcorn in which each kernel was enclosed in its own husk. Among those prehistoric kernels, they found six that were partly or completely popped. These grains have been so well preserved that they would still pop. In fact, they took a few unpopped kernels and dropped them into a little hot oil to prove that they could still pop. They have been carbon dated to be about 5,600 years old.

4th Century A.D. - A Zapotec funeral urn found in Mexico and dating about 300 A.D. depicts a Maize god with symbols representing primitive popcorn in his headdress. Also ancient popcorn poppers (shallow vessels with a hole on the top and a single handle) have been found on the north coast of Peru and date back to the pre-Inca culture of about 300 A.D.

10th Century - In southwest Utah, a 1,000 year old popped kernel of popcorn was found in a dry cave inhabited by predecessors of the Pueblo Indian.

16th Century - Hernando Cortes (1485-1547), Spanish explorer and conqueror of the Aztec Empire of Mexico, got his first sight of popcorn when he invaded Mexico and came into contact with the Aztec people. Popcorn was an important food for the Aztec Indians, who also used popcorn as decoration for ceremonial headdresses, necklaces, and ornaments on statues of their gods.

An early Spanish account by Father Bernardino de Sahagun (1499-1590), Franciscan priest and researcher of the Mexican culture, of a ceremony honoring the Aztec gods who watched over fishermen read:

"They scattered before him parched corn, called momochitl, a kind of corn which bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower; they said these were hailstones given to the god of water."

17th Century -Early French explorers in the Great Lakes region reported that the Iroquois Indians popped popcorn in a pottery vessel with heated sand and used it to make popcorn soup, among other things.

Some historians suggest, but this theory has never been proved, that when the early English colonists held their first Thanksgiving celebration on October 15, 1621, an Indian named Quadequina brought an offering for the feast - a great deerskin bag of popped corn. The Pilgrims enjoyed this treat, which was to become a unique part of the American way of life. The early colonists called it popped corn, parching corn, and rice corn. Native Americans would bring popcorn snack to meetings with the English colonists as a token of goodwill during peace negotiations.

In American Indian folklore, some tribes were said to believe that quiet contented spirits lived inside of each popcorn kernel. When their houses were heated, the spirits would become angrier and angrier, shaking the kernels until the heat became unbearable, at which point the spirits would burst out of their homes and into the air in a disgruntled puff of steam.

Colonial housewives served popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast (the first "puffed" breakfast cereal). Some colonists popped corn using a cylinder of thin sheet-iron that revolved on an axle in front of the fireplace like a squirrel cage.

19th Century - Popcorn popularly really began to 'burst"O during the 1890s.

1880s - The Albert Dickinson Co. of Odebolt, Iowa seems to be the first company to (since the 1880's). Their brands of popcorn were called Big Buster and Little Buster.

The first popcorn machine was invented by Charles Cretors of Chicago, Illinois in 1885. In order to test his machine, it was necessary for Charles to operate it on the street as the customer. He was issued a peddler’s license to use the machine on December 2, 1885. Until then, poppers were made to sit in front of stores to attract attention. The huge, ponderous popcorn machine with its gasoline burner became a familiar part of the scent. Street vendors used to follow crowds around, pushing steam or gas-powered poppers through fairs, parks, and expositions. This practice continued up until the Depression years (1929-1939). Today much of the popcorn you buy at movies and fairs is popped in poppers made by the Cretors family.

20th Century - In 1914, Cloid H. Smith founded the American Pop Corn Company in the heart of corn country (Sioux City, Iowa) and launched America's first brand name popcorn called Jolly Time. In 1925, he introduced Jolly Time in a can designed specifically for popcorn. To show his confidence in h is new package, he flagged the can with a "Guaranteed to Pop" statement. It was a bold statement in those days.

With the opening of movie theaters across the nation early in the 20th century, popcorn became a part of the new excitement. During the Depression years (1929-1939), popcorn was one of the few luxuries down-and-out families could afford. While other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived. There is a story about an Oklahoma banker who went broke when his bank failed. He bought a popcorn machine and started a business in a small store near a theater. After a couple years, his popcorn business made enough money to buy back three of the farms he had previously lost.

During World War II (1941-1945), sugar was sent overseas for American troops. This meant thaat there wasn't much sugar left in the United States to make candy. Due to this unusual situation, Americans ate three times as much popcorn as usual.

When television became popular in the 1950s, popcorn sales again made a sudden rise (this time by an astonishing 500 per cent!) As families started buying television sets, they were changing their life-styles and staying home more and eating popcorn as they watched television.

Cracker Jacks®
Cracker Jack® and the Sailor Jack® and Bingo® characters are Registered Trademarks of RECOT, Inc., used by Frito-Lay, Inc., 1998.


1871 - According to the article How Cracker Jack Began, by Jeffrey Maxwell gives an fairly accurate story on his website:

Cracker Jack all began in 1871 with a German immigrant named Frederick William Rueckheim (1846–1934). He worked on a farm until he had saved 200 dollars and then started selling popcorn that was made by hand method with steam machinery, on 113 Fourth Avenue in Chicago, now known as Federal Street, in 1871. He sold popcorn to the workers who were rebuilding things that the Great Chicago Fire had destroyed. In 1873 he bought out his partner, Brinkmeyer. Then he sent for his brother who still lived in Germany, Louis Rueckheim (1849–1927). They were now called F.W. Rueckheim & Bro. They bought candy-making equipment which started marshmallow and other confections to their well off business. The brothers moved five times between 1875-1884. Then in 1885 they settled down in a three-story brick building at 266 South Clinton Street. In 1887 the building was destroyed by fire. In 1893 the brothers made combined peanuts, popcorn, and molasses.

1893 - At the first World's Fair in Chicago (called the World's Columbia Exposition which opened to show the world what progress Chicago had made since the fire of 1871), the two brothers came up with the idea of covering popcorn with molasses. It was billed as "Candied Popcorn and Peanuts." People at the Worlds Fair didn't like the stickiness and the harness of the early Cracker Jack. So Louis made a formula that made a great molasses coating that was crispy and dry. This secret formula is still a secret in the Cracker Jack Company today.

1896 - Legend notes that the name "Cracker Jack" came into use when a customer or a salesman, who tried the Rueckheim product, exclaimed "That really a cracker - Jack!" Actually the words "cracker jack" was a slang expression on those days, meaning "something very pleasing." As the brothers loved the name "Cracker Jack," they received a trademark for it under F.W. Rueckheim & Brother of Chicago. Their slogan was "The more you eat, the more you want" was also copyrighted that year.

1899 - 1902 - Cracker Jack was sold in large tubs up until 1899, when it began to be sold in boxes. Henry Eckstein (1860-1935), a part owner and partner of the company, invented the "triple proof package" or "waxed sealed package," a moisture proof paper package to retain freshness. This new type of packaging allowed the company to mass produce and sell Cracker Jacks worldwide, and thus become a national icon. The company was re-organized in 1902 under the name Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein.

1908 - The 1908 song called Take Me Out To The Ball Game, written by Jack Norworth (1879-1959), vaudeville entertainer and songwriter, with the line, "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks" immortalized Cracker Jacks. Note: This song is still sung at baseball games today. According to historians, as Jack Norworth was riding a New York City subway train, he spotted a sign that said "Ballgame Today at the Polo Grounds." Some baseball-related lyrics popped into his head, that were later set to some music by Albert Von Tilzer, to become the well known baseball song, "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

The song was first performed by Norworth's wife, soprano Nora Bayes, at the Ziegfield Follies and, by 1910, was a staple at all big league ballparks in America. The cry, "Getcha' peanuts, popcorn, and Cracker Jacks!" is still heard at sporting events and carnivals in America. Despite the fact that neither Norworth or Tilzer had ever been to a baseball game at the time the song was written, it is one of the most widely sung songs in America.

In 1958, on the 50th anniversary of this song, the Major League Baseball, Inc. presented Jack Norworth with a gold lifetime ball park pass.

1912 - There wasn't always a prize in a box of Cracker Jacks. In 1910, coupons were included in the boxes which could be redeemed for prizes. It wasn't until 1912 that children's prizes (miniature books, magnifying glasses, tiny pitchers, beans, metal trains, etc.) were place in the boxes. The company slogan was "a prize-in-every-package."

1918 - Fred Ruekheim's grandson, Robert (who died of pneumonia at the age of eight), was put on the box in his sailor suit with his pet dog Bingo. They called him "Jack the Sailor." They also changes the outside of the boxes to have red, white, and blue stripes to show their patriotism during World War I. In 1919, they became registered trademark logos.

1922 - The company was named The Cracker Jack Co.

1964 - The company was sole to Borden.

1997 - Frity-Lay purchased Cracker Jack from Borden.
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Re: Popcorn

Postby Ivona » Tue Feb 24, 2009 8:49 pm

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iffy Pop: Is popcorn safe and free of pesticides?
iStock

In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night.

-----

Dear Lou,
What about popcorn? Is it safe, healthy, and free of pesticides? What exactly is in the artificial butter flavor?

Thanks,
Greenee Trailer Trash from Mississippi

Dear Greenee,
You might be sorry you asked. When I'm done here, there won't be much left to enjoy in your average batch of conventionally-grown and processed popcorn. But don't give up hope. You know how, in basic training, the Army breaks people down and builds them back up again? I break down America's favorite foods -- in this case, one that we consume to the tune of 16 billion quarts each year -- and build them back up with something more sustainable, and often more delicious.

In that vein, let's take a look at the problems with your average store-bought popcorn. Now, Greenee, I'm going to use some harsh words, and I hope I don't offend you. But I'm poppin' mad about the state of popcorn -- a fun-to-eat, whole-grain crunchy treat that has been deflated by the embrace of corporate food marketers.

The problems with conventional popcorn start in the corn field.

The popcorn you find at the movie theater and in microwave boxes is likely to have been raised with the aid of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, and fumigants.

More: 8 easy ways to take pesticides off your menu

For a less-than-soothing bedtime read on this delightful subject, download the Popcorn Agri Chemical Handbook. This chemo-phobe's horror story includes a section on "tolerances" -- that is, details on just how much pesticide the EPA will accept in your movie-time snack. If you don't have time to curl up with this PDF, let me cut to the chase: The list of acceptable chemical residues is long and includes malathion, a nasty organophosphate.

Now, onto bad news masquerading as good news: According to the Popcorn Board, a nonprofit, check-off organization funded by U.S. popcorn processors, there is no genetically modified popcorn on the market -- but, biotech varieties are in the works. How long popcorn will stay genetically pure is anyone's guess, but it may be a moot speculation.

Many farmers now believe that, on account of corn pollen's pesky habit of drifting around on the winds and fertilizing any old corn plant it meets, there is no genetically pure corn left in the world. Recently I was disturbed to read that my favorite garden seed suppliers, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, reported that they had been doing "major and expensive" GMO testing on all of their corn varieties. Sadly, much, if not most, of their corn is contaminated with GM Franken-genes.

GM corn is a big bummer because a recent study found that the mice that ate GM corn had impaired fertility, which grew worse with each subsequent litter. This bummer snowballs when you realize that most corn in the U.S. in now genetically modified.

Greenee, if you still can bear to eat corn at all, let's also take a look at:

Artificial butter -- that pathetic excuse for flavor

You know the fake but yummy buttery smell that wafts out of microwave popcorn bags? Until very recently, it was due to a flavoring agent, diacetyl, which causes the serious, potentially deadly, and ignobly-nicknamed disease popcorn lung, that has sickened factory workers who inhaled the stuff.

After popcorn lung sickened a consumer -- a Colorado man who ate a whole lot of microwave popcorn -- many big popcorn makers pulled it from their products.

Despite pressure from lung doctors, public interest groups, citizens, unions, politicians, and so forth, the FDA still classifies diacetyl, as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS). California, meanwhile, is trying to ban it. (For the latest developments on diacetyl, go the public health blog The Pump Handle.)

The Popcorn Board could not tell me whether any popcorn makers still used diacetyl. In an email, a spokesperson explained, "The mission of The Popcorn Board is to educate consumers about the fun, economical, whole grain nature of popcorn." (And evidently to publish the Agri Chemical Handbook.)

I'm not sure what popcorn makers now use for butter flavor. According to Stephanie Childs, spokesperson for ConAgra Foods, their butter flavoring is a proprietary recipe that contains "no added diacetyl." (Among ConAgra's popcorn-centric brands are Orville Redenbacher's, Jiffy Pop, Act II, FiddleFaddle, Poppycock, and Crunch N' Munch.)

Are you still here Greenee, or have you clicked away and started drinking? (Remember, bourbon is made of corn. I'm just saying.)

Finally, let's look at:

Excessive packaging -- the handmaiden of Satan

Even though you can get store-bought popcorn with relatively clean ingredients (such as Newman's Own Microwave Popcorn No Salt Organic), you are going to end up with some sort of bag at best, and at worst the Russian nesting doll-style of packaging that comes with microwave popcorn: a bag wrapped in plastic within a box. All of this packaging is hard on the earth, and some of it might be hard on your health.

The Teflon that coats some microwave popcorn bags can break down into a chemical that has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals. Microwave popcorn bags are often coated with a perfluorinated chemical (PFC) called a "fluorotelomer" that can break down into perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which can make its way into hot food such as piping hot popcorn.

Not surprising, California (new state motto: "the Cassandra State") attempted to pass a bill to remove PFCs from food packaging. ConAgra, by the way, is phasing out its microwave popcorn bags that contain PFOAs.

More: Top 10 worst packaging offenders

Don't go away yet, because, as promised, I need to build popcorn back up. There is, in fact, a way to eat your popcorn and not screw the planet or your health. Here you go:

Recipe for morale-building popcorn

Special equipment note: You will need a plain brown paper lunch bag.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup certified organic popcorn. This will be free of pesticides and free of Franken-genes (fingers crossed). If you are able, buy it in bulk to save money and reduce the packaging (bulk organic popcorn is typically available in natural foods markets). Or, look for kernels sold in recyclable glass jars.

Real butter, organic if possible. Sure, butter is high in saturated fat. But, like the nutritionist and educator Joan Gussow, has said, "I prefer butter to margarine, because I trust cows more than chemists."

Instructions:
Although you may use any popcorn popping method you like, ironically, it's the microwave that makes easy, fast popcorn without extra oil or closet-clogging equipment.

Put the corn in the lunch bag, fold it few times and put it in the microwave, fold side down. Nuke it for 2-3 minutes or until you hear the kernels slow down to about five seconds between pops. (There are those folks, including the Popcorn Board, who say that making popcorn in brown bags is dangerous and that you should stick to manufacturer's packaging, but I, rebel that I am, choose to keep an eye on my cheap, cancer-free brown bag.)

Remove and open the bag very carefully, because the escaping steam will be hot (as, well, most steam is, whether it's escaping or just doing time and waiting for parole). Dump the popped corn into a bowl and drizzle it with real butter.

Next, grab a movie. Watch the very smart and funny documentary King Corn if you are in the mood for yet more on the subject of corn and its industrial undoing. If not, I highly recommend any of those Jason Bourne movies.

So, dear Greenee, whether popcorn is safe, healthy, and free of pesticides depends on the kind you buy. Even if the flavorings in processed popcorn aren't lung-searing, your average bag may contain lots of salts, artificial colors, flavors, trans fats, etc. If you can, make popcorn at home. Just don't burn it -- that smell will last all night and haunt your dreams.

Enjoy!
Lou

P.S.: I love your state. Not only is it fun to spell, but I had some of the best biscuits with molasses I ever had in my life in Mississippi. Please don't ask me about biscuits or molasses. I can't bear to break those down just yet.
dx'd Oct '08 (age 48)
T3bN2Mx
9/23 LN's
resection Nov '08
Folfox Jan '09 - March '09
Xeloda March 24/09 - July 6/09

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it's called 'the present'. "

Lee
Posts: 6207
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:09 pm

Re: Popcorn

Postby Lee » Sun Dec 20, 2009 4:20 pm

This was many years ago (15+ years), but my mother ended up in the ER with sever stomach pain, guess she also had some rectal bleeding. Based on her symptoms, Dr was 99% sure she had colon cancer, colonoscopy was to confirm it. Colonoscopy did not find cancer, not even a polyp, but did find a bad case of divertrilous (sp ????). She had been ignoring pain for some time when suddenly it got worse. Guess the popcorn was the culprit. She drop popcorn from her diet (I did too), problem went away and never came back. Colonocopy also confirmed Mom had bleeding hemerroids.

What is interesting about all of this, Mom had no polyps (age 55) yet we now know I did then (I was about 35 years old). Guess some Dr should have told me to get my self checked out with a colonoscopy before age 50 with no family history of CC.

I will be honest, until this thread, I had no idea corn was so bad for you. I grew up loving to eat corn on the cob, corn with butter, etc.

Lee
rectal cancer - April 2004
46 yrs old at diagnoses
stage III C - 6/13 lymph positive
radiation - 6 weeks
surgery - August 2004/hernia repair 2014
permanent colostomy
chemo - FOLFOX
NED - 16 years and counting!


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