Endocrinologist told how much ice cream you can eat a day and how to choose it correctly

In summer, nothing tastes better than ice cream. The sweet dessert helps to cool down in the heat, but is it good for the body? Let’s find out with an expert how many servings of this dish can be eaten a day without harming your health and what to look for when buying it.

What we will tell you about

Useful properties

endocrinologist, specialist in preventive and anti-age medicine at EMC European Medical Center

“Natural ice cream contains a large number of useful substances.

If the dessert is made on the basis of milk, it has milk proteins and fats necessary for the proper functioning of the body.

Ice cream also has a substance that helps improve mood. It is about the amino acid tryptophan, which increases the level of serotonin, the happiness hormone, and melatonin, the sleep hormone.

Another useful property of ice cream is its ability to quench thirst and appetite in the heat. The main thing is to consume such a dessert in moderation.

Harm and contraindications

Ice cream refers to high-calorie desserts due to the high content of sugar and fats. Therefore, its use should be limited to people with diabetes, overweight and metabolic disorders.

Another contraindication for the use of dessert is chronic pancreatitis. Heavy, fatty, sweet and cold food loads the pancreas.

It is important to realize that ice cream should not be substituted for the main meal. The combination of fats and carbohydrates contributes to excess weight gain.

You should not eat a serving of ice cream in one sitting. This can lead to a sudden throat chill and headaches. Consume the dessert in small bites, such as with a dessert spoon.

How much ice cream can be eaten per day?

No more than one serving per day (100 g) is considered acceptable. A cup of ice cream (80 g) or one popsicle (80 g) will not harm your health. Those who are watching their figure should not eat dessert more than twice a week.

How to choose the right ice cream?

If the first ingredient in the composition of ice cream is sugar, it is not very good. But if the cold dessert has no fat or its amount is minimal, you can’t do without sugar to create the necessary consistency.

In the composition of quality ice cream can be and stabilizers. These are natural substances and thickeners. Among them, for example, carob gum, guar gum, xanthan gum, pectin, gelatin and sodium alginate. They are harmless and have a beneficial effect on the composition of the microbiota, being a useful nutrient medium for microorganisms.

It is important that in the composition of ice cream was the maximum number of natural ingredients. In a good dessert should not be vegetable fat, which contributes to weight gain.

Acidic and unnatural colors – blue, green, blue, purple – should be a concern. Although food dyes do not pose a great danger to health, but they are not useful. The more homogeneous the color of the dessert, the better quality it is.

In the composition of purchased ice cream should be more than 40% of dairy ingredients. For example, a good ice cream has a yellowish color. This indicates a high milk fat content.

If you want to choose a less caloric and sweet ice cream, pay attention to sorbet. This is a natural frozen fruit puree with minimal additives.

In addition to sorbet, you can also look out for protein ice cream. It usually contains harmless sweeteners and a lot of protein. However, when buying it, you should check if it contains fructose, which increases appetite and uric acid levels.

Fruit ice is also a good option, but it is important that it does not contain large amounts of sugar.

Ice cream recipes

You can prepare a summer dessert at home. So you will know exactly its composition.

Classic vanilla ice cream

Familiar and everyone’s favorite flavor.

Ingredients:

• 500 ml of cream;
• 1 vanilla pod;
• 5 yolks;
• 150 g sugar.

Preparation:

1. Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.
2. Pour the cream into a saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil.
3. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until white, then pour in the hot cream in a thin stream, stirring.
4. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, place over low heat and cook until thickened.
5. Cool the mixture to room temperature, strain it through a sieve, pour it into molds and put it in the freezer.

Mango ice cream

Exotic fruit will add piquancy to the dessert.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe mangoes;
• 500 ml of cream;
• 150 g sugar.

Preparation:

1. Peel the mangoes and chop into a puree.
2. Whisk the cream with the sugar and then add the fruit to the mixture.
3. Mix gently, transfer into a mold and freeze.

Berry sorbet

Fans of fruit ice will love it.

Ingredients:

• 500 g of your favorite berries;
• 250 ml of water;
• 200 g sugar.

Preparation:

1. Rub the berries through a sieve, and bring the water and sugar to a boil so that it dissolves.
2. Mix the syrup with the berry puree.
3. Pour the mixture into molds, put away in the freezer until completely solidified.

Bon appetit!