On a hot summer day, it’s lovely to cool off by eating an ice cream. Soft serve, ice cream in various flavors. You would love to have an ice cream every day. But how many calories does an ice cream contain? What is a wise choice?
A popsicle, you would think. It has mostly water, right? And water is healthy. A logical thought, but not entirely correct. The Nutrition Center has developed guidelines for ice cream. According to the health institute, ice cream does not fit within the Wheel of Five, although you can have an ice cream within a healthy diet.
Calories per type of ice cream
Popsicle
Back to the popsicle. According to the Nutrition Center, this is a daily choice, so you could eat it daily without feeling guilty. The type of popsicle you choose does make a difference. For example, a rocket contains 45 calories, but if you choose a Twister, it is quickly more than twice as much, with 103 kcal.
Ice cream
Ice cream is made from milk, cream, sugar, and water. Depending on the flavor, more ingredients are added. It is quite a calorie bomb: two scoops of ice cream are good for 200 kcal. Ice cream contains at least 8 percent fat and about 30 percent sugar, quite a lot. Fortunately, there is also a light version of ice cream, which contains 136 kcal. The fat percentage is lower, about 4 to 5 percent, but the amount of sugar is the same.
Soft serve
Soft serve is also delicious, it melts on your tongue. Soft serve has the same composition as ice cream but remains a liquid mixture. It contains 16 grams of sugar per swirl, equivalent to four sugar cubes, and 5 grams of saturated fat. It can also contain many artificial ingredients, making it not a particularly healthy choice. This also translates into the number of calories. A 75-gram soft serve contains 154 kcal.
Yogurt ice cream
Yogurt ice cream sounds very healthy, but that is deceptive. A scoop of yogurt ice cream contains quickly 70 calories. That’s not all. There is actually no real yogurt in yogurt ice cream. The Commodities Act states that you cannot simply add lactic acid bacteria to products. Therefore, dried yogurt powder is often used. The lactic acid bacteria have been removed from it, while it still retains the fresh taste of yogurt.
What remains then is mainly cream and milk, so actually yogurt is not much ‘slimmer’ than, for example, chocolate ice cream.
Sorbet ice cream
Sorbet ice cream consists of about the same ingredients as a popsicle but can also contain fruit extracts. Two scoops of sorbet ice cream contain 110 calories, so less than yogurt ice cream. That seems reasonable, but looking at the amount of sugar, the balance is still negative. In those same two scoops of sorbet ice cream, there are still about 30 grams of sugar. Those are five sugar cubes.
Calories per type of ice cream
How many calories are in which ice cream? Below is an overview, from low to high calorie.
• Rocket: 45 kcal
• Scoop of sorbet ice cream: 40 kcal
• Pear popsicle: 50 kcal
• Split: 85 kcal
• Scoop of yogurt ice cream: 70 kcal
• Calippo: 90 kcal
• Solero: 98 kcal
• Scoop of ice cream: 100 kcal
• Twister: 103 kcal
• Small soft serve: 154 kcal
• Medium soft serve: 193 kcal
• Cornetto: 233
• Magnum: 275
Which ice cream is the healthiest?
Which ice cream should you choose now? If you look purely at the calories, a popsicle is clearly preferable. Sorbet ice cream also performs well. But that also becomes boring, so treat yourself to something tasty occasionally. Also, pay attention to the toppings, which contain extra calories and sugars. Such as whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or nuts.
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