Recently, Self Magazine has come out with a revolutionary diet idea: you can still eat ice cream and lose weight! According to Self, ice cream can be part of any healthy diet as long as you control the portion size and bear in mind the saturated fat content.
For example, the new Burger King Bacon Sundae packs a total of 510 calories, 18 grams of saturated fat and 61 grams of sugar. Eating too many of those would add unwanted inches to your waistline. Instead, you might want to try a smaller portion (a kiddie cone perhaps?) and limit your intake to under 200 calories and less than 5 grams of saturated fat. That way, you can have your sweet treat without going overboard.
Ice creams containing trans fat are definitely ones you want to avoid because they can be detrimental to cholesterol levels, heart health and waistlines. Artificial ingredients aren’t good for you either and nutritionists recommend eating only ice creams which have ingredients you would normally find at home (like Haagen Dasz’s new five ice cream which only uses five ingredients: skim milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla). Looking for lower fat milk options means less calories and a trimmer waist as well. Full fat ice creams are generally made with heavy cream while gelato uses only 2% milk and sherbets use only 1%.
One last tip: slow churned ice cream is better for you! The slow churning process creates more air volume in your ice cream, meaning fewer calories and fat per spoonful. A cup of Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla Light Ice Cream will only cost you 100 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. If vanilla is too bland for you, load it up with healthy toppings. Fresh fruit and crushed nuts with a bit of chocolate sauce is enough to make anything delicious.
