Healthiest Ice Cream Products

I eat some form of ice cream almost everyday. It's a great snack or after-dinner reward. But ice cream can also wreck a healthy low-fat diet.

Fortunately, ice cream and eating healthy are not mutually exclusive. You may have to give up Klondikes and Ben & Jerry's, but there are plenty of healthy, low-fat ice cream products on the market.

For the purposes of this article, a "healthy" ice cream product is defined as one which gets less than 30% of its calorie content from fat. That's the benchmark generally recommended by health experts.

Check out a five of my favorite healthiest ice cream products.

Healthy ice cream product #1: Orange cream bars

Every grocery store seems to have its own store brand of orange cream bars. They're all less than 100 calories each, and they're usually low in fat. Be sure to check the label to observe the nutritional information, though. The amount of calories from fat in orange cream bars can range from about 10% to 35%, depending on whether they use real ice cream.

Healthy ice cream product #2: Ice cream sandwiches

Most store brand ice cream sandwiches are fairly low in fat content. Ice cream sandwiches are a great snack because they're low in calories but they're also pretty filling, so once you've eaten one, you don't need to snack the rest of the night.

Healthy ice cream product #3: Fudge bars

Most ice cream products involving chocolate are high in fat, but fudge bars are the lowest-fat ice cream product I've come across. Fudgesicle makes a fat-free variety, but even regular fudge bars contain only about 100 total calories and 10 calories from fat. Again, check the nutritional label. I noticed that the Publix fudge bar contains 63 calories from fat. I'm not sure what's going on there - are they adding lard to the recipe or something?

Healthy ice cream product #4: Jello Pudding Pops

Jello Pudding Pops are perhaps my favorite ice cream snack. With 28% of their calorie content from fat, they come in just under the cutoff. And each bar only has 90 total calories, less than a can of Pepsi, so you can indulge in a pudding pop every day without feeling guilty.

Healthy ice cream product #5: Fast food - soft-serve cones, Frosty, Blizzard

Many fast-food companies offer ice cream products, and while milkshakes and chocolate sundaes aren't healthy, a handful of fast food desserts do come in under the 30% line.

Most soft serve ice creams are acceptable. A McDonald's soft serve cone contains 150 calories, 23% from fat. The Wendy's Frosty also fits the bill of a healthy ice cream product. A small Frosty has 330 calories, with only 70 (21%) from fat.

Even the Dairy Queen Blizzard is fine if you opt for the smallest size and mix in fruit instead of candy or chocolate. A small Blizzard with strawberries gets only 26% of its calories from fat, so it's safe to eat. But it does contain 410 total calories, so if you decide to indulge in a Blizzard, make sure not to eat a big dinner that day.

For the sake of comparison, a large Snickers Blizzard contains a whopping 1,140 calories, 34% from fat.

Healthy ice cream products: Summary

These are the healthiest ice cream products that I eat most frequently. There are others - some companies like Breyer's make a few varieties of 100% fat-free ice cream. And smoothies or frozen yogurt can always be a good option. I'm partial to self-serve, pay by the ounce frozen yogurt.

Keep these options in mind when you're searching for a healthy form of ice cream that won't wreck your diet.

Healthy ice cream products: Sources
calorieking.com
dairyqueen.com