Popcorn at the Movies can Equal Three Cheeseburgers

My arteries hurt just thinking about this.

According to an analysis of tasty snacks sold at movie theaters, a medium bag of popcorn and a soda are equivalent to three Quarter-Pounder cheeseburgers from McDonald's topped with 13 dollops of butter.

The movie theater is supposed to be a magical place where, for 90 minutes, we can leave our own little worlds behind as we munch and stare at fanciful stories. But this fatty news is exactly what we don't want to hear: all those handfuls of popcorn we're scarfing down aren't so magical.

The $12 snack staple of theater-goers ended up with a total of 1,610 calories and 60 grams of saturated fat, which nutritionists say is equal to three and a half days worth of the recommended allowance.

"Who expects about 1,500 calories and three days' worth of heart-stopping fat in a popcorn and soda combo? That's the saturated fat of a stick of butter and the calories of two sticks of butter," said Jayne Hurley of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which commissioned the study.

"You might think you're getting Bambi," she said, "but you're really getting Godzilla."

So when you head out to see Twilight: New Moon this weekend, try to bring your own healthful treats. Because nothing says movie magic like chopped celery and alfalfa sprouts.