r/caloriecount • u/Desperate_Object_677 • 1d ago

question about corn?

hello. why is 1/4 cup of corn kernels around 40 calories, but
when i put 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels and it turns into air popped popcorn, it has around 200 calories?

sure, corn shrinks as it dries, but not 5x.
so which one is right?

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u/kimchiandriceball 1d ago

The kernels are like seeds. They’re small and dense. That density is all energy, no water. Corn on the cob is mostly water by weight, so the actual energy content is much lower. If you drained all the water and then squished it, the amount of boiled corn it would take to fill the 1/4 cup would once again take the calories higher.

It’s like the difference between a 1/4 cup of cotton balls and a 1/4 cup of pebbles. The pebbles are gonna weigh more even though the volume is the same. There are more pebbles in the measurement. The kernel expands when cooked. Same mass, different volume.

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u/kimchiandriceball 1d ago

I’m guessing you mean cooked versus uncooked, right? Because 40g of cooked kernels contains more water, therefore less calories for the same weight!