Can munching popcorn help build bones?

Social media users are claiming popcorn is the healthiest snack and helps in building muscles and bones.

"'Popcorn is by far the healthiest snack. It builds bones, muscles, and tissue. It aids digestion and is good for teeth," reads the post.

Click here to access the post.

The viral post claims that popcorn is the best bone supplement too.

Building healthy bones is extremely important. Minerals are incorporated into your bones during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Once you reach 30 years of age, you have achieved peak bone mass.

If not, enough bone mass is created during this time or bone loss occurs later in life, you have an increased risk of developing fragile bones that break easily.

FACT CHECK

NewsMeter first looked at the claim of popcorn being the healthiest snack. As the methods of preparing changed, there is a little warning bell suggested by experts. In an article on Heart Attack and Stroke Symptoms, Maya Vadiveloo, an assistant professor in the department of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Rhode Island says, "When prepared well, popcorn is a pretty good snack. Popcorn at the movies is very different than popcorn made at home."

"A tub of movie theatre popcorn can contain up to 1,090 calories and 2,650 milligrams of sodium. Even a small movie theatre popcorn has significant calories and is very high in salt," Vadiveloo said. "Sodium is one of the leading risk factors for hypertension and stroke in general, so it's something we do care about from a perspective of heart disease."

Moreover, we searched for foods that are good to maintain bone health and found an article by WebMD. There is no mention of popcorn being helpful in bone-building in any way. The viral post has no study or research backing the claim.

We approached Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Anurag Sharma for his opinion.

"Popcorn is a common snack. It's 74% of energy is from carbohydrates % 7-8% from fats. It also has calcium & Magnesium contents, so it can contribute to bone strength to a minimal certain extent only. As the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of calcium is 1000 mg & Magnesium is about 400mgs, which needs to be replenished through multiple dietary sources. The elderly should be given external calcium tablet supplements, as the need further rises with the age. It also contains sodium & potassium ions, dietary fibers, and vitamin B in trace amounts. Solely popcorn cannot build bones, muscles, or other tissues. Popcorn as such don't have any side effects if taken in limited amount, except in the overweight individuals, who should be cautious about the quantity," Dr. Sharma said.

Hence, it is evident that there is no super food for good bone health. You need to exercise, eat good food and take care of your health.

The claim is false.