There are a lot of local signs that might tell you it’s summer: the end of asparagus season, the picking of strawberries or blueberries, taking a dip in the river or a swimming hole, family barbecues and, of course, the opening of creamie stands.
Now, this health page won’t tell you not to eat ice cream this summer, but it will suggest how to best go about your acquiring your seasonal treat without going over the top, and perhaps most importantly, help you make the ultimate summertime decision: creamie or hard ice cream?
After review of nutrition facts and ingredients and a conversation with longtime Baystate Franklin Medical Center nutritionist Lois Levin, the decision is not clear cut, but there are some guidelines people can follow.
As a general rule of the thumb: creamies, or soft serve, have a higher sugar content but less calories and less calories from fat per serving than traditional hard ice cream.
That’s the basics, but then everything else gets complicated from there.
One main issue with soft serve-style is that serving size is tough to predict. Sometimes you get a creamie that seems to climb to new heights with how tall it has been served. The same can be argued about a scoop of ice cream, yet a scoop is a scoop for the most part, leaving little variation in serving size.
“If you get a soft serve you certainly won’t get an extra sugar or fat unless you add them,” Levin said. “The downside is it’s much harder to know your portions.”
Further, soft-serve may have additives in it to help it mix together properly. Levin is not convinced that those additives, like artificial flavoring, monoglycerides and diglycerides or cellulose gum would actually have a significant effect on someone.
“If you’re only eating one ice cream treat a week, is that really going to make an appreciable difference when you’re exposed to those additives?” Levin said.
As for hard ice cream, a big issue is all of additional goodies like chunks of chocolate or cookie dough that can be found inside the typically all-natural ice cream made with ingredients that you would know when reading the label.
Other issues with either ice cream option is if you get a cone, do you get a high-caloric, but probably delicious waffle cone, and do you get additional toppings on your summer treat?
“I like to remind people that in the summertime you have such wonderful fruit available as a replacement to ice cream,” Levin said.
The dietician recommends remembering local fruits available, like strawberries, blueberries and peaches, that can be frozen and blended up together or eaten iced.
Nevertheless, Levin recognizes that it’s summer, so ice cream will be a part of people’s diets.
“Summer is an easier time of year in New England, and I don’t want to ruin summer for anybody should they have an identification with that,” Levin said. “Go with what you like and really think about what you’re adding — and don’t forget about fruit.”
Have a health tip for Joshua Solomon? You can reach him at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264