Behind Closed Doors: Why Dairy-Free Ice-cream is not as ‘Healthy’ as the Advertising Says!

When dairy-free ice-cream hit the market, vegans went crazy. Finally, they could savor all the delicious ice-cream flavors, sans the dairy products involved. At last, you didn’t have to quit your one true weakness just because you had changed your dietary lifestyle. In fact, dairy-free ice-cream has become so popular today that you can find a myriad of products in just about every grocery store in America.

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When shopping for your ice-cream, take the time to go over the label to determine whether the ice-cream in question is the most ideal one for your diet

The non-dairy craze

While it’s been pitted as the healthiest ice-cream option out there, there are a few underlying factors being revealed which are raising questions regarding its health benefits altogether. For starters, the most obvious reason is the fact that the lack of dairy immediately sheds out a healthy supply of calcium in every serving.

Additionally, while coconut milk can be great for creating mouth-watering, creamy desserts, it normally comes with a high saturated fat count, as well as being heavily stacked with calories.

Healthier alternatives to coconut

On the other hand, ice-cream made from other variants of non-dairy milk such as soy, almonds, or cashew nuts tend to have a lower calorie count than those created from coconut milk.

While coconut milk seems to be the most ideal substitution to cow milk when making ice-cream, it is of importance to note that its saturated fat count concentration is through the roof! In turn, this increases the amount of dangerous LDL cholesterol accumulation in the body, consequently making one more prone to fatal heart diseases.

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Despite its nutritional value, when coconut milk is consumed in large quantities, it results in a spike in dangerous LDL cholesterol in the body, which translated to troubling heart disease in the future.

Putting the varieties to the test

As a matter of fact, there are some coconut-based recipes being advertised on mainstream media that have a whopping 250-300 calories in their servings, with an additional saturated fat content of 15 grams. What’s even more shocking is that some of these brand products have a jaw-dropping 20 grams of sugar in only half a serving, which translates to six or more teaspoons of sugar as compared to their dairy counterparts.

So just to put in context how severe this is, your average dairy-based ice-cream has roughly about 100 to 160 calories in each serving, and about 3 grams concentration of saturated fats.

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When shopping for your ice-cream, take the time to go over the label to determine whether the ice-cream in question is the most ideal one for your diet

How to shop for ice-cream

Hence, when looking for the healthiest option as a vegan for your regular scoops, it is advisable that you look for something a little more restrictive in the calorie department. Ideally, one should be looking for a scoop that has less than 200 calories in every serving, with a saturated fat concentration of about 5 grams, and has no more than three teaspoons of sugar in every half serving.

Some notable brands that adhere to this feathery caloric stack include Almond Dream and So Delicious, which have a meager 90 calories per serving, with roughly about one teaspoon of sugar in every half-serving.

Know your labels

That being said, whenever you’re craving a scoop of ice cream, it is highly recommended that you take a look at the label first, and know its nutritional facts before digging in. In fact, whether the ice-cream in question is dairy-free or not, you have to understand that ice-cream is a fast food in its own right, and eating it in large amounts is unhealthy in the long run.