14 DAY TRIAL // Many of us like to unwind on an evening out catching the latest movie running at a theater near us. As it’s common knowledge, nothing goes as good with a movie as some popcorn and soda (perhaps some candy too) do. What we might not know though is that these combos that movie theaters offer are actually calorie bombs that are very detrimental for our health, as a new report cited by WebMD reveals.
The numbers are in and they’re nothing short of chilling, says the health-oriented publication. By offering combo deals on popcorn and beverages, movie theaters are actually taking the number of calories and saturated fats we ingest in one single sitting sky-high, surpassing even a recommended daily dose. Again, if we also add some candy, we may suddenly find out why our belly is continuously expanding no matter how much we work out, the report suggests.
“The report updates the organization’s infamous 1994 movie theater popcorn exposé with new nutritional information on movie snacks offered by America’s three largest movie chains: Regal, AMC, and Cinemark. Researchers found movie theater popcorn offerings range from 400 to 1,200 calories, with one to three days’ worth of saturated fat and up to 1,500 milligrams of sodium. Make it a combo and add 300 to 1,110 empty calories worth of candy and another 150 to 500 calories from a sugary soft drink to wash it all down,” WebMD says of the report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
What people going to the cinema don’t realize, the report says, is that popcorn is seasoned with incredibly high amounts of salt, therefore is unhealthy even before the buttery topping is added. Moreover, few are those who can resist a combo deal (which is why they came up with it in the first place), which only comes to add insult to injury in terms of the high quantities of salt and fats, and the calories we ingest.
“To save you money (how thoughtful), theaters offer combos. For example, for a mere $12 Regal hands you a medium popcorn and a medium soft drink, and AMC dishes up a large popcorn and a large soda. Where else can you be so distracted (by the movie) that you don’t realize you’ve just swallowed 1,400 to 1,600 calories?” CSPI researchers write in the report published in Nutrition Action Healthletter.