Believe it or not, ice cream turns out to be healthy. A small portion of your favorite delicacy will not only do no harm, but will also improve your health and even help you lose weight. The main thing is to know when to stop and choose a quality product.
Composition and properties of ice cream
The main benefit of ice cream is that it consists of natural milk containing essential amino acids and easily digestible fats, as well as vitamins and minerals. It is an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, carotene.
Some types of ice cream contain healthy additives (chocolate, nuts and berries), which also contain vitamins and minerals. Due to the high content of fast carbohydrates, ice cream has a beneficial effect on brain activity and improves memory.
For those who avoid fast food, ice cream is a surefire way to have a snack without harm to health, because it is a high-calorie product that is completely absorbed by the body. Some of its varieties can contain up to 20% carbohydrates and fats. Natural animal fats promote fast satiety and are not harmful to the body.
Ice cream helps hardening. If you regularly eat this delicacy in small portions, the throat will adapt to low temperatures, which will be a good prevention of colds.
Against depression and excess weight
Ice cream is a wonderful natural antidepressant. Its main components (milk and cream) contain the natural tranquilizer L-tryptophan. Usually it breaks down rather quickly, but in ice cream it perfectly retains its properties due to the storage conditions of the product. L-tryptophan promotes the production of the hormone of joy - serotonin, on which our mood depends.
In addition, L-tryptophan in ice cream reduces appetite and prevents obesity. There is even a special diet based on this property of ice cream, developed by American nutritionist Holy McCord.
How to choose healthy ice cream
The usefulness of ice cream depends on its composition. To choose a quality treat, you should carefully study the label. It is not recommended to drip a product in which there are vegetable fats among the ingredients. This means that there are practically no useful substances in such ice cream, but there are many chemicals that are simply necessary to make vegetable oil look like an ice cream.
It is undesirable to buy the so-called "popsicle". As a rule, there is no natural fruit juice in it at all, but a lot of dyes and flavors.
Do not be alarmed if emulsifiers and stabilizers are present in the composition, since these are necessary components: they do not allow ice cream to melt quickly. Most of them are made from herbal ingredients of natural origin.
