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Is it necessary to eat ice cream?
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
">With the arrival of warm days, more and more people remember such a typical "summer" delicacy - ice cream. Although some believe that it is not entirely healthy. What do experts think about this?
Ice cream is loved, without exaggeration, by millions. But not everyone can afford to eat it every day. And it is not about the cost of the product, but about the fact that it is high in calories and often contains a lot of artificial additives. Researchers decided to imagine: what could happen if we ate cold sweets every day?
Nutritionists say that you shouldn't "label" foods: for example, this food is good, and that one is bad. Such sorting often leads to a feeling of guilt and anxiety, which can subsequently negatively affect eating behavior. Indeed, ice cream contains a large amount of sugar and fat. However, such a product can easily end up on a diet table if you stick to a sense of proportion. For example, 80 g of regular vanilla ice cream contains on average about 30 g of sugar and 10 g of saturated fat. This is almost the norm for such components per day, if you follow the recommendations of American cardiologists.
Despite such an obvious disadvantage, ice cream may also contain some nutritional components. Thus, the sweet mass contains calcium, vitamin B 12 and magnesium. The balance of fats and sugars helps prevent fluctuations in blood glucose levels, so a serving of ice cream should be preferred to other popular sweets, such as candies and jelly figures. In addition, ice cream often contains cream or milk, vitamin A, choline (vitamin B 4 ) - a bioactive substance that is a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Many will say that today most ice cream does not contain cow's milk and cream, but their substitutes that imitate the milk taste and aroma. Indeed, this is a fact. Such products may contain soy or coconut milk analogues, and each of these ingredients has its own nutritional value.
After long discussions, nutritionists have finally come to a consensus: ice cream can be included in the diet every day, but you should control the portion sizes and ensure the overall nutritional value. Counting the calorie content of the food eaten is also important. Interestingly, if you eat a sweet product responsibly - in the right quantities and of the appropriate quality - then you can make it part of a healthy diet. It is important not to forget that ice cream is still a dessert, and not a main food product. The recommended "dose" of the delicacy per day is half a cup, or on average - 70-80 g. About 100-120 g of ice cream can be consumed by people who need to gain weight, or those who require an increased calorie content of the diet.
It is important to support the idea of mindful eating and avoid perceiving food as a pleasure followed by a feeling of guilt.
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