Sugar Free Ice Cream: The Bitter Truth About Sugar-Free Ice Cream (2024)

Whether you are diabetic, trying to control your sugar cravings, following a diet or just want to stay off sugar, having sugar-free ice creams are considered to be the safe bet. There are a lot of options available in the market too and if you thought they taste like flavourless ice, think again! Sugar-free ice creams can taste just as sweet as your regular ones. But, does that mean it is actually healthy? Can it take care of sugar habits without actually making you eat sugar?

IS SUGAR-FREE ICE CREAM A HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVE? Summer is the right time to enjoy ice creams. Though for people who love ice cream, weather doesn’t really matter. But what about people who are on a diet and love ice cream? Nobody wants to give up their favourite treat, so sugar-free ice cream may seem like the perfect solution to those ice cream cravings while on a diet.

But is sugar-free ice cream healthy? You'll be surprised to know that there's a lot hidden beneath the pack. Sugar free ice creams do not mean you can have this calorie-laden snack guilt-free. We tell you why.

Just because a product reads 'sugar-free' doesn't mean its automatically healthier. One must always read the nutritional label carefully before diving in.

Read on to know three truths about sugar-free ice cream before you think of it as a permanent solution.

CALORIES: Having sugar-free ice cream might sound like a guilt-free way of enjoying it. But wait, this seemingly healthy ice cream is still far away from being healthy. It is not always calorie-free. One scoop of this ice cream has 25 per cent fewer calories than normal ice cream, which seems like a good amount. But when people eat food that is labelled as sugar-free, they end up eating more than what they do while they eat normal food.

So, when you treat yourself with two scoops of sugar-free ice cream, you end up eating 200 calories, which is more than 130 calories present in one scoop of ice cream with sugar.

Here's something we probably don't notice on the label. While ice-cream generally is a calorie-laden snack, low sugar or no sugar variants of the frozen snack can seldom contain high traces of saturated fat. Consuming the snack without moderation, or overdoing it can lead to weight gain, raise cholesterol levels and increase your risk of developing heart ailments.

SUGAR SUBSTITUTES USED IN MAKING SUGAR-FREE ICE CREAM: The sweet taste in this ice cream comes from sugar alcohols. These are used in most foods that are labelled as sugar-free, like ice-cream, gum and sweet treats. Sugar alcohol contains a fair amount of carbohydrate, which can be dangerous for diabetics. Eating sugar-free food can increase blood glucose level in diabetics.

When consumed in excess quantity, sugar alcohols can cause bloating and diarrhoea. Though many sugar alcohols occur naturally in fruits, they are not really sweet, so the manufacturers add more of them in order to make the ice cream taste sweet. Sugar alcohol may also promote obesity.

Some products can also include artificial sweeteners, in small quantities, which have been linked to increase your energy intake and make it difficult to manage weight.

IT HAS HIGHER FAT CONTENT: Many sugar-free ice creams have high saturated fat content, which can raise the LDL (bad cholesterol) and increase your risk of cardiovascular diseases.

VERDICT: Eating sugar-free ice cream is not the right solution to ice cream cravings. Though they might be a little better than the regular ice cream, but in order to let it remain healthy, do not forget to consume it in moderation.