National Ice Cream Day is July 17 and though one of summer’s favorite snacks can be heavy on the sugar, fat and calories it can also be a nutritious way to consume healthy vitamins and minerals.
If you look in the freezer section in your local grocery store you might be overwhelmed by the plethora of ice cream varieties that tout various health benefits for all dietary needs.
If you’re Gluten-Free…
Try Good Karma Organic Rice Divine Chocolate Chip. Made with organic ingredients and rice milk, Good Karma offers nearly a dozen flavors of non-dairy dessert based on rice. Keep it simple with Chocolate Chip but if you like more creative flavors, opt for Key Lime Pie, Coconut Mango or Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge.
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Trying to lose weight often means dropping beloved high calorie foods from your diet. Sometimes a swap is barely noticeable – skim milk for whole, low fat cheese for full fat – but when trying to drop ice cream, you may not be pleased with your choices. Low fat or no fat ice creams are indeed lower in calories and fat, but many times have a different mouth feel or slightly bitter aftertaste. One of the most popular lower fat frozen desserts is frozen yogurt.
Drive through your city, and you’ll see an overwhelming number of businesses offering frozen desserts. Ice creams, custards, Italian ices, and the newest fad – frozen yogurt. From scoop shops to dispense your own, and many with massive topping choices, these dessert bars are popular for the ability to create a dessert that is exactly what you want – be it loaded with sugar and fats, or a more restrained, less calorically dense choice. Fro Yo (Frozen yogurt) is most often thought to be a healthier choice, with less fat and lower in calories, but is it really?
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The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest has requested that the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Company drop the words “all-natural” from their labels. Ben & Jerry’s agreed to the label change on Monday, declaring that they would no longer battle over the definition of “all natural“. Ben & Jerry’s spokesman Sean Greenwood said that the change would happen gradually and hopes that it will help consumers make a more informed decision.
Ben & Jerry’s is not changing the recipes that make their best selling ice cream, which sometimes contain corn syrup, hydrogenated oils or other substances that are not natural. The CPSI has stated that the company should not use the term “all natural” unless it is truly all natural, with only naturally occurring ingredients. Ben & Jerry’s has agreed, and will no longer label their ice cream as such.
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Fitness-friendly Slice Cream
John McGran, chief editor at Diet-to-Go, has been covering the fields of diet, fitness and health since 2000. He writes from the perspective of a dieter rather than a dietitian.
As I sat in front of my TV enjoying my healthy lunch, I found myself suddenly craving ice cream or some other decadent frozen treat. Could it be the commercial for the Snicker’s ice cream bar that triggered the urge? Um… DUH… of course!
Okay, so I am so easily led astray. But, instead of hopping in my car and racing to the local market for an ice cream fix, I dragged myself back into my home office and started surfing the Web for healthier ice cream treats.
The first fact that caught my eye: Americans enjoy nearly 21 quarts per person, per year.
The second scoop on ice cream: August is National Ice Cream Month – and for good reason. Not only is August the hottest month of the year for most of us, but it’s also the month that hosts most of the ice cream holidays.
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I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. We might be screaming, though, because of the high calorie and fat content that most ice creams contain.
Arctic Zero has come to the rescue with their new frozen dessert. Billed as a nutritious ice cream, low in calories (150 or so per pint – not per serving!), and no fat, Arctic Zero refers to itself as a “protein shake you can eat with a spoon.” High in protein, milk and gluten-free with a low glycemic count and no artificial sweeteners, this frozen dessert sounds too good to be true.
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