Pop Your Own Bowl…of popcorn, that is. No, it isnt just for the movies anymore, kids. In fact, one of your childhood favorites is actually a surprisingly good source of whole grain goodness!

If you’re looking for a great snack, bedtime or otherwise, popcorn might be just the thing for you for several reasons.

1) Studies show that a large number of Americans don’t get the recommended servings of whole grains every day. Good news: popcorn is a whole grain. Eat up.

2) The carbohydrates in popcorn actually boost seroton levels that launch you into never never land. Think a milder form of the infamous Thanksgiving turkey coma.

3) Popcorn is a high volume low density snack. Translation: one ounce of popcorn (roughly 3 cups) has a mere 110 calories and 1.5g of fat, while one ounce of peanuts (roughly 30 peanuts) has 170 calories and 14g of fat. If you want to play a mind game, play the volumetrics one. You ‘ll feel fuller from 3 cups of food than from one small handful of it. Not only that, but it will take longer to eat, and ounce for ounce, you consume less fat and calories. Talk about bang for your caloric buck.

A few words of caution. Even though most companies have phased out trans fat in their products, there are still a few popcorn makers (Pop Secret) that contain trans fat. Tisk, tisk! Watch out for partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredient list, which signals the presence of trans fat. If you pop from a bag, go “light” or “reduced fat” to keep the saturated fat at bay. Also, when making your own on the stovetop, be prudent about the amount of butter or salt you add, which can quickly demote snack from health food to junk food. Use a healthier oil such as canola.

Movie snacks just got healthier. Admit one.