Is it possible to have your cake and eat it too? For the sake of this article and in terms of ice cream rather than cake, that's exactly what I attempted to find out. Are "healthy" ice creams really out there or are these dessert alternatives a consumer ploy to trick health enthusiasts into trying a "better for you" treat? I tried all the "healthy" ice creams and this is what I found.
Arctic Zero
A lower calorie equals the perfect diet-friendly dessert, right? Unfortunately, Arctic Zero's lengthy ingredient list with some questionable suspects begs to differ. Gum? Fruit Concentrate? Arctic Zero may be low glycemic, lactose-free, gluten-free, and GMO-free, but in the end is very processed and essentially taste free as well.
Halo Top
It is no secret Halo Top rises above regular ice cream in every nutritional category. Halo Top contains less calories, fat and sodium while using a trio of sweeteners to bring down the overall sugar content. Halo Top is a solid alternative to fatty ice creams if you don't mind the side effects. From personal experience and research on other consumer reviews, Halo Top has been known to cause bloating, digestive discomfort and headaches. Eat at your own risk!
Enlightened
Enlightened promotes their pints as "high protein, high fiber, low sugar and low fat" — seems too good to be true. I taste tested the Frozen Hot Cocoa flavor and was fairly impressed considering it was not the full fat ice cream I'm accustomed to eating. Overall, Enlightened is a solid healthier ice cream alternative if you can bypass the aftertaste in certain flavors.
Talenti
Didn't think Talenti would make the "healthy" ice cream review, did you? Talenti is technically gelato, so it has 30 percent less fat than ice cream. They also recently came out with a dairy-free sorbetto, which lactose intolerants everywhere are raving about. However, when you get down to it, the added sugar and unclean ingredients should keep Talenti off the diet dessert list.
The New Barn
The New Barn was truly the cherry on top of my taste test. The organic banana and chocolate chip was amazing and the ingredients are ON POINT! All easy to pronounce and real foods like water, organic bananas, organic almonds, organic cane sugar and organic chocolate chips to name a few. Did I mention it's called Almond Crème aka Dairy Free?
If you're still reading this, put down the pint of ice cream and let's regroup. Yes, some of these brands are great healthy swaps, but that does not mean you should neglect portion sizes completely. They're desserts for a reason and meant for eating on occasion. In my opinion, if you have the mindset to eat a whole pint of ice cream, try having a small bowl of the real thing instead! This will satisfy your sweet tooth way more than a pint of chalky, tasteless "ice cream."