Informant: My family—mostly my grandmother—believes that you can’t eat popcorn and milk. Like, not together. It’ll make your stomach explode.

The informant is a student at the University of Southern California. She is from an “eccentric” family. Her grandmother is Choctaw Freedman (formerly enslaved African Americans who joined the Native American Choctaws in Oklahoma) and has passed on many of her traditions and beliefs to the informant.

This particular family belief may have some scientific background to it, despite the fact that there is no record of a person having his stomach “explode” after consuming milk and popcorn. Milk and popcorn are both foods that can upset the digestive system; popcorn is packed with fiber, and dairy products can be harsh on the stomach. Both foods can cause upset stomach and gas.