5 Popcorn Poisons to Avoid

Hi, I'm Jordan Rubin and welcome to Ancient Medicine Today brought to you by draxe.com. We have an interesting program for you today. So anyone watching who's a popcorn fan, and I bet everyone's had popcorn before, you need to pay attention. And you may even need to share this because there are hidden dangers lurking in these beautiful yellow and white kernels.

You know, popcorn has been consumed for For a long, long time. In fact, you could argue that popcorn is a heritage food of America. In fact, the Native Americans made popcorn. One thing I found interesting is that when you grow corn, there's actually varieties that are made specifically for popcorn.

I don't know exactly the qualities there, but I remember seeing in a list of seeds popcorn seeds versus regular corn. You can't just take regular corn kernels and pop them apparently.

Right.

But I've eaten popcorn quite a bit, you probably have too, and today we're going to talk about 5 popcorn poisons to avoid, and better yet, we're going to share with you how to make the best popcorn ever.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that popcorn is a health food because we know it's high in starch, high in carbohydrates, but I'm going to, by the end of this video, give you a popcorn recipe that is sure to please, and I'm even going to show you How to make it right here because occasionally a good popcorn treat is amazing.

And if you like to go to movies, somewhere, somehow popcorn and movies got connected kind of like a hot dog in a baseball game. And in fact, I'm going to a movie tonight. You can go ahead and make your own popcorn and kind of smuggle it in, you know, put it in your, you know, anyway. So we're going to get going right here, 5 popcorn treats. Poisons to avoid popcorn pitfalls.

First of all, we have movie theater popcorn right here. Looks delicious, but looks can be deceiving. And no, I'm not going to eat it in case you're wondering. The number one popcorn pitfall is inflammation-friendly oils. Now actually, that should be unfriendly oils, meaning that these oils cause inflammation. So here is a typical vegetable oil. Again, look how beautiful it looks.

Looks can be deceiving. This is highly processed and oils that are heated that are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-6s, can be similar to hydrogenated oils with trans fats. Here is a fake or butter substitute and I believe there was an ingredient list here somewhere that actually talks about soybean oil, canola oil, these are genetically modified oils.

That are high in PUFAs, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and when they're heated to high heat like popping corn heat, they are damaging. So when somebody buys something like this, quick and easy, puts it in a microwave, which I don't recommend using at all due to the radiation, pops it, puts the oil and the fake butter, you're ending up with inflammatory oils.

In fact, this is one of the most damaging substances on the planet, high oils that are vegetable volatile and cause damage. Damaged fats are hard to eliminate from the body because they are fat-soluble and often stored. Number 2, neurotoxic insecticides. That sounds like something from Star Trek. That's really, really bad.

Neuro is brain and there are insecticides used on corn that can remain in the popcorn and cause you issues with the brain. These insecticides are known by the Environmental Protection Agency to be damaging to laboratory animals and to human animals. This is an issue. Obviously, you can get around that and we'll tell you how in a moment by buying organic popcorn. Number 3, thyroid-damaging bags.

Whoever thought that a popcorn bag could damage your thyroid? Well, there's actually compounds That can land and stick to receptor sites. This is like a science lesson, receptor sites that can bind various thyroid-specific antigens and cause you thyroid issues, which can cause weight gain, etc. So even the material that corn is popped, that is microwaved and radiated and heated, can be damaging.

Here's an interesting one. Have you ever heard of popcorn lung? When was the last time you knew someone that was diagnosed with popcorn lung? What is popcorn lung? What happened at your trip to the doctor? Oh man, you're not going to believe this. I have a bad case of popcorn lung. That even sounds weird.

Now popcorn lung is caused by certain compounds that are in popcorn and in the packaging that can cause a reaction that brings you respiratory issues. So conventional microwave popcorn can cause a condition in factory workers that are making it called popcorn lung, and it can even be caused by popcorn in those consuming it. So make sure to avoid the dreaded popcorn lung. Troubling toppings.

You know, I say this all the time, it's not necessarily the coffee that's causing you challenges, it's what you put in and on it. It may not be the ice cream in some cases, it's what you put in and on it. It may not even be the sandwich, it may not be the popcorn, folks, it's what you put on it.

Remember, you got a little this, you got a little that, and then you've got a lot of this which can give you all kinds of issues. Toppings such as margarine-like substances, fake butter, you put things on popcorn, even the salt that is sodium chloride that is devoid of balancing minerals can be an issue. So what you put on the popcorn, the toppings Can be very troubling.

All right, let's just ditch the bad stuff here for just a moment and talk about the good news. This is how you detox your popcorn. You might have detoxed your liver, you might have gone on a gallbladder cleanse, a colon purge, but have you detoxed your popcorn lately? Now, just to be clear, I'm not suggesting you go on an all-popcorn diet and therefore detox your body.

Remember, popcorn is not a wonderful, beautiful, powerful superfood, but we're going to make it pretty darn good and I'm going to show you how in just a moment. You start with organic kernels. Organic means non-GMO. We've talked about this before. Organic is non-GMO. Organic and non-GMO mean organic and non-GMO, but non-GMO doesn't always mean organic.

So try to get organic because it's always non-GMO. Corn is one of the highest crops by percentage that's genetically modified. In fact, if it doesn't say organic or non-GMO, you need to assume that it is genetically modified. And corn that is genetically modified can be very problematic. I also want to recommend using the correct fats. So this is coconut oil.

When you pop the popped corn, you want to do it in coconut oil, red palm oil, or that could be rather messy, but it also would look sort of Christmas-like, come to think of it. Ghee is great. Ghee is clarified butter, very popular in India and other countries. And if you're sensitive or allergic to dairy protein, you can still consume ghee or clarified butter.

So start with the correct fats and understand we've already popped it, so you know you've got that going. Now, in addition, we want to pop it old-school style. I mean, I'm talking about a pot.

You know, you pop it in a pot, let it sort of breathe a little bit, it blows up, and nothing like hearing some delicious popcorn when you're really hungry watching your favorite sporting event or movie on television. Now, popping it old school is good. You're avoiding microwave radiation, etc. You can also get a popcorn maker.

Back when I was a kid, my mom had one of those and they seemed all right as well. But here's the biggest thing. So we're going to make popcorn here. We've got our popcorn and I'm putting some of it in a bowl. Now remember what I said, popcorn is high in starches, therefore carbohydrates. So how can we balance it out? Because it's very low in protein, very low in fat, even low in fiber.

What if we made a superfood popcorn treat that everyone in the family will love? So first and foremost, we're going to use a sort of spice blend. Now right here we've got some rosemary. So I'm going to put a couple of sprigs on. Now typically, I would use ground rosemary, but by the power of YouTube television, this is— just pretend it's ground. Okay, now here we've got garlic salt.

This is organic. Garlic is a wonderful superfood. It's antimicrobial. It's even good for the metabolism. So we're going to put a little garlic on. And by the way, what I would typically do before putting these spices on is I would melt some ghee or grass-fed butter and/or some coconut oil and I pour it on the popcorn while it's— once it's been warmed and heated and popped.

And then all these wonderful superfood toppings are going to stick. So here's turmeric, turmeric organic, very anti-inflammatory and it gives it a really cool color and everyone will like the taste. You may not realize this, folks. Mustard is made yellow with turmeric. The compound curcumin that makes turmeric orange or yellow makes mustard yellow, is really, really good for you.

And in fact, the average American, their only exposure to turmeric is through mustard. They don't get enough of it. So you've got these wonderful spices and herbs, you can mix it up. You can use thyme and parsley and sage. I use a seasoning blend called Herbamare. I've used it for nearly 20 years and it's awesome. In addition, You can add some flaxseed oil, get some more omega-3s in there.

Often we'll make popcorn, we'll add a little butter to the top, then we'll add, once it's room temperature, some flax or olive oil, and it's really great with the spices. So we've got some superfoods, we've got some super flavor for your popcorn detox, your super popcorn, if you will, but now I'm going to top it off with a way to infuse Fats, proteins, and flavor.

Fats, proteins, flavor, fiber, I left that out too. So we're going to do some dry roasted sunflower seeds. You can also use sunflower seeds that have been sprouted and low temperature dehydrated. So a couple of teaspoons here. Then pumpkin seeds, these are really awesome. These are Austrian pumpkin seeds. Quick trivia question. Or answer, did you know that Austrian pumpkin seeds have no shell?

They actually come out of the pumpkin like this. How handy. So these pumpkin seeds are raw. You can also get them roasted, sprinkle them in. This is starting to look like a party in a bowl. I'm going to add some more popcorn here just to make sure that we're a little more full. But this isn't popcorn, this is a symphony of superfood goodness. Sustenance. I like alliteration.

Okay, then we're going to add, these are some almonds that are sprouted and seasoned. Sprouting is pretty easy. You soak nuts, put them in your oven on the lowest setting or the pilot light, or use your home dehydrator or buy them at the store. Man, this is awesome. So then we're going to— I want to add a little bit more of this. We're going to put some more toppings on there.

From a superfood seasoning perspective, and then I'm going to mix it all up and you're going to have a superfood popcorn treat.

And here's the cool thing, some people are very interested in natural health and you're watching, you're a subscriber to the Dr. Axe YouTube channel, and there are people in your family, husbands, teenagers, etc., that don't share the same wonderful health beliefs you do, this is a great way to introduce, check this out, High-quality proteins, omega-3, 6, and 9 fatty acids, anti-inflammatory turmeric, rosemary which is good for the brain, garlic which is good for the immune system and the heart, all in one delicious serving.

So again, folks, we want to avoid the popcorn pitfalls including inflammatory oils, neurotoxic insecticides, thyroid-damaging glyphosate.

Bags.

Bags. Popcorn lung troubling toppings, and we want to create a superfood snack that is sure to satisfy seriously. This is our superfood popcorn. I'm Jordan Rubin for Ancient Medicine Today. And if you've enjoyed this information, because I see— I think the viewers are just popping, go ahead and share this information with others.

Click that share button, click that like button, and make sure to subscribe to the Dr. Axe YouTube channel because we come here virtually every day with amazing videos. And while you're at it, check out some of our other videos and go to draxe.com for nearly 2,000 articles teaching you how to use food as medicine. I'm Jordan Rubin. Go get poppin'.

Hi, Dr. Axe here. I want to say thanks so much for checking out this YouTube video and also don't forget to subscribe if you want to get more great content on things like herbs, essential oils, natural remedies and how to use food as medicine. Also, check out more of our content on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.