QUESTION: I love ice cream, but after reading all the stuff about lowering the amount of fat in the diet I would like to change the type of dessert I eat to something with lower fat. Would you please tell me which ice cream-like dessert is best?
ANSWER: I can understand your feelings because I too love dessert. There must be others who share this craving because last year over 1 billion gallons of ice cream, ice milk and frozen yogurt were scooped up and eaten. Luckily, there are desserts that taste good and are low in fat. I'll briefly review some of the choices available from an article in the August issue of Runner's World.Ice cream. A mixture of cream, milk and sugar with flavorings, ice cream must be at least 10 percent fat by weight just to be called ice cream. Fat provides about 40 percent of the calories in less expensive ice cream and close to 60 percent in expensive ice cream such as Haagen Daz.
Ice milk. A better choice for lowering the total fat in your diet, fat accounts for only about 30 percent of the calories in ice milk.
Reduced-fat frozen dairy desserts. These desserts are made from a combination of skim and regular milk, sugar and various flavorings. Many of these desserts are labeled "95-percent fat-free." This sounds better than it really is because it refers to how much of the total weight of the product is from fat. In the case of reduced-fat frozen desserts, fat accounts for only 5 percent of the weight but about 30 percent of the calories, similar to ice milk. Be sure to check the percent fat of any food you purchase by multiplying the number of grams of fat by 9 (since there are 9 kcals per gram of fat) and divide this number by the total number of calories per serving (the "nine rule").
Nonfat frozen dairy desserts. These desserts are usually made from a mixture of skim milk and sugar, and fat provides from 0 to 12 percent of the calories. This is the category of dessert that uses the fat-substitute Simplesse, which tastes like fat but isn't.
Frozen yogurt. This is my own personal choice of a dessert to replace ice cream. While generally lower in fat than ice cream or ice milk, frozen yogurt can vary widely in the percent of calories from fat. I usually choose a no-fat or low-fat variety and check the content using the "nine rule."
Sherberts, sorbets and fruit ices. Made with sugar, milk and fruit or fruit flavorings, sherberts average about 135 calories per 1/2 cup, but only 13 percent of the calories come from fat. Sorbets and fruit ices are combinations of crushed fruit and sugar and have no fat. Watch out for sorbet and cream combinations; the added milk or cream can increase fat calories up to 40 percent.
Rice and tofu frozen desserts. Although these desserts contain neither cholesterol nor lactose, they are not necessarily low in fat. Be sure to check fat calories if you decide on this option.
The major problem with any of these desserts is that most of the calories come from sugar. Even if the fat content is low, sugar can have a negative effect on those who eat a restricted number of calories because most of the calories are low in nutrients. So, you need to be careful that you are not overloaded with sugar from other sources if you eat much dessert.