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Ice cream is for many people a candy deal with saved for particular events, sizzling summer time days, or curling up on the sofa with a superb ebook or TV present.
However ice cream also can put a critical dent within the carb finances and make your blood sugar skyrocket for those who aren’t cautious.
Ice cream is very tough for those who dwell with diabetes as a result of the mix of fats and sugar signifies that it will possibly impression your blood sugar not simply once you eat the ice cream, but in addition for hours afterward (as a result of fats delays the digestion of the carbohydrates).
Fortunately, lots of low-carb ice cream choices can now be present in most supermarkets (not less than right here within the U.S.). Some are really nice whereas others fall flat.
On this assessment, I’ll have a look at a few of the low-carb iced lotions obtainable each in shops and on-line. I attempted all of them and the assessment relies totally on my private expertise.
Desk of Contents
How low-carb ice cream is made
The ice lotions included on this assessment have both a dairy or a non-dairy base. The bottom of the non-dairy ice lotions (technically not “lotions” however we’ll follow that wording for simplicity) included right here is coconut (So Scrumptious).
To scale back the carbs within the ice cream, a lot of the manufacturers have chosen to extend the fats and/or scale back the quantity of excessive glycemic sweeteners. That signifies that a few of the manufacturers are pretty excessive in energy and lots of are sweetened with pure sweeteners (resembling Stevia or Monk fruit) or sugar alcohols (resembling Erythritol, Sorbitol, Lactitol, Maltitol, and Xylitol)
Some individuals discover that sugar alcohols make them bloated and/or constipated. If that’s the case, select a model with fewer or no sugar alcohols.
How I ranked the totally different manufacturers
The manufacturers included all have lower than 23 grams of whole carbs per serving and fewer than 17 grams of web carbs per serving.
Web carbs are calculated as the whole carb quantity minus fibers and sugar alcohols. We have a look at web carbs and never whole carbs since fibers and most sugar alcohols gained’t get transformed into glucose and due to this fact don’t impression blood sugars.
For reference, a serving of Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream has 28 grams of web carbs, Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream has 19 grams and Breyers Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream has 32 grams.
I’ve given every ice cream a rating from 1-5 based mostly on:
- Style
- Texture
- Serving dimension (serving sizes different from 58-100 grams (2-3.5 ounces))
- How does it impression my blood sugar? (this could differ from individual to individual)
These are after all subjective measures, however I hope this assessment will nonetheless provide you with get a good suggestion of which manufacturers are good and which have room for enchancment.
I’ve listed the ice lotions based mostly on the web carbs per serving, from lowest to highest.
Ice Cream Pints
Mammoth Creameries – Keto Chocolate
Web carbs: 2 g
Energy per serving: 250
Overview rating: 2.5 stars
Sadly, I didn’t take pleasure in this ice cream very a lot. As with different high-fat ice lotions, it was very crumbly and the feel by no means obtained near what I’d count on from ice cream.
Should you care about energy, it’s additionally price noting that this was essentially the most calorie-heavy ice cream I attempted, coming in at 250 energy per serving.
The energy predominantly come from butter and heavy cream, which ought to have been the proper base for good ice cream, but it surely didn’t actually work for me.
From a blood sugar perspective, it’s an awesome selection. It’s sweetened with Xylitol and has little to no preliminary impression on blood sugars, however the excessive fats content material can imply a little bit of a rise within the hours after for some individuals.
Enlightened – Brownies & Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Web carbs: 2 g
Energy per serving: 100
Overview rating: 4 stars
It is a fairly awesome-tasting ice cream. They advocate that you simply depart it out for 5-Quarter-hour earlier than consuming however I discovered it scoopable and actually good already after 5 minutes (couldn’t wait).
The Brownies & Cookie Dough Ice Cream packs a punch on the subject of each taste and texture. It’s a white chocolate ice cream base with chunks of cookie dough, brownie, and chocolate chunks. Yummy.
The one motive I don’t give this ice cream a better rating is that the serving dimension is comparatively small and I did discover that it had a minor blood sugar impression regardless of solely itemizing 2 grams of web carbs.
The ice cream is sweetened with Erythritol and has traces of brown sugar, however I didn’t see a spike in my blood sugar instantly, so I count on the slight blood sugar enhance comes largely from the lactose because the ice cream relies on skim milk.
Since I examined this, Enlightened has modified the ice cream flavors barely and launched a variety of frozen yogurts. The ice cream remains to be nice however the frozen yogurt is simply too excessive in carbs and sugar for my style.
Insurgent Ice Cream – Cookie Dough
Web carbs: 2 g
Energy per serving: 210
Overview rating: 3.5 stars
That is one other high-fat ice cream and the consistency is thereafter. It by no means actually turns into creamy however the style is nice and I actually loved the beneficiant chunks of cookie dough and chocolate flakes.
In comparison with most of the different ice lotions I attempted, that is pretty excessive in energy due to the fats content material. It’s sweetened with Erythritol and Monk Fruit solely, and I discovered that it had a really restricted impression on my blood sugar, even hours after I ate it.
Keto Pint Ice Cream
Web carbs: Pints 3 g, Bars 2 g
Energy per serving: averages round 200
Overview rating: 4 stars
The idea behind Keto Pint is high-fat low-carb ice cream (which shouldn’t be a shock given the title). And so they undoubtedly ship on that. These are high-fat (very high-calorie) ice lotions with minimal web carbs.
I attempted the salted caramel, peanut butter, chocolate chip cookie dough, and chocolate, in addition to the mint crunch, and peanut butter bars.
Like most of the different ice lotions I’ve tried, this must thaw to turn out to be scoopable. The general style of the pints is pretty subdued and I discovered it to be a bit too fatty for my style.
From a blood sugar perspective, this ice cream is a dream. The ice cream is sweetened with Monk fruit, Stevia, and Erythritol and I hardly noticed any rapid blood sugar impression. However because of the excessive fats content material, I’d see a small enhance in a single day if I loved a bowl after dinner.
Easy Fact Keto French Ice Cream – Black Raspberry Chip
Web carbs: 3 g
Energy per serving: 190
Overview rating: 4 stars
This ice cream tastes superb and hardly impacted my blood sugars, however sadly, the consistency is past odd.
Quite a lot of the keto ice lotions it’s important to miss for 10-Quarter-hour earlier than they soften up and assume the feel of normal ice cream. I did depart this one out but it surely solely had two consistencies, rock-solid or melted, no in-between, making it an attention-grabbing expertise to eat.
The funky consistency apart, the style was very like Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, which simply occurs to be one in all my favourite “common carb” ice lotions. Due to the nice style and since it hardly had an impression on my blood sugars, I gave it such a excessive rating.
It’s excessive in fats and energy (190 energy per serving and 17 grams of fats) and is sweetened with erythritol and monk fruit.
So Scrumptious Dairy-Free – Butter Pecan
Web carbs: 3 g
Energy per serving: 210
Overview rating: 2 stars
This ice cream or frozen dessert (because it’s utterly non-dairy and gluten-free) is for my part utterly unedible. I couldn’t even get one spoonful down.
The bottom may be very grainy and the style is especially fats. And I do like coconut in order that’s not the rationale I didn’t prefer it.
It’s too unhealthy, I had excessive hopes for this one and needed to incorporate a superb non-dairy choice.
Should you do determine to strive it, know that it’s not scoopable immediately out of the freezer, so I like to recommend you allow it out on the counter for not less than Quarter-hour earlier than making an attempt to scoop it.
It’s sweetened with each Monkfruit, Stevia, and sugar alcohol (erythritol) so that you get a little bit of all the things.
I additionally tried one of many So Scrumptious “ice cream” bars. I may solely discover one which match the carb necessities for this assessment and that’s the Dipped Coconut Almond bars.
That one tasted fairly good. It has 190 energy per bar and 14 grams of web carbs. They had been okay however I noticed a somewhat aggressive blood sugar impression, most likely as a result of this bar being sweetened with cane sugar and syrup.
Breyers CarbSmart Frozen Dairy Dessert
Web carbs: 4 g
Energy per serving: 110
Overview rating: 4 stars
It is a primary vanilla ice cream. It’s scoopable immediately out of the freezer and for those who’re into vanilla ice cream, I believe you’d like this one. Of the entire ice cream I’ve tried, that is most likely the one that the majority resembles the consistency of normal ice cream.
I’d have appreciated it to have a bit extra taste, however I’d most likely have stated that about any vanilla ice cream.
It’s milk-based ice cream and it’s sweetened with Maltitol and syrup. I discovered it to have a really restricted impression on my blood sugar.
Replace: Breyers has had a lot success with this model that they’ve expanded the product line. Now you can get a wide range of flavors, all with very restricted carbs.
Should you don’t eat dairy, in addition they have oat-based “ice cream”. I haven’t tried it but as a result of the carb rely is considerably larger than the dairy-based ice cream.
Halo Prime Creamery, Peanut Butter Cup
Web carbs: 7 g
Energy per serving: 110
Overview rating: 4.5 stars
That is the low-carb ice cream I purchase most frequently. I can discover it in any of the grocery shops close to me and I benefit from the general taste together with the wealthy peanut butter swirl.
I want the style of this model to the heavier high-fat ice lotions. My husband, who doesn’t take into consideration his carb consumption, truly prefers this model to common full-fat, full-carb ice lotions which says rather a lot (he’s a fan of the caramel swirl).
The consistency is nice and it’s pretty scoopable immediately out of the freezer. The one actual draw back to this ice cream is that it has a blood sugar impression extra in keeping with the whole carbs somewhat than the online carbs. It could be because of the ice cream being sweetened with Erythritol in addition to cane sugar.
However having to bolus for the total quantity of carbs (21 grams) is price it to me.
Nick’s Mild Ice Cream
Web carbs: 4-8 g
Energy per serving: 100
Overview rating: 4 stars
Nick’s has a couple of totally different flavors together with chocolate, mint chocolate chip, strawberry, and Cherry Choka-Fläka.
I actually take pleasure in Ben & Jerr’s Chocolate Garcia, however not the blood sugar headache that may include it so I attempted Nick’s Cherry Chocolate ice cream and the flavour was very comparable. Plus to make it even higher, they’ve added chewy brownie bites to this combine, yummy.
It’s after all not a full-fat ice cream so I’m not going to lie and let you know it’s nearly as good, but it surely’s good.
My important grievance is that it’s a bit watery.
Nick’s ice cream base is cream and it’s sweetened with Erythritol, Allulose, and Stevia, so like a few of the different ice lotions it’s a little bit of a sweetener combine.
I couldn’t discover a place to purchase Nick’s on-line, however you should utilize their retailer locator to discover a retailer close to you that has it. It’s in a lot of the main grocery shops close to the place I dwell.
Ice cream bars
Enlightened – Vanilla Darkish Chocolate Almond
Web carbs: 13 g
Energy per serving: 140
Overview rating: 4 stars
I like the pints of Enlightened ice cream so I made a decision to strive one of many Enlightened ice cream bars.
There are a couple of choices, so it’s important to take note of the carb rely so that you simply select the one which fits you greatest.
This bar was marketed as a decreased sugar choice however the second ingredient listed after milk is sugar. It additionally has Monkfruit and Stevia so you understand this bar is good sufficient.
I didn’t see an enormous spike in my blood sugar and the bar tasted actually good, so I believe this can turn out to be one in all my stables.
You need to use their retailer locator to discover a grocery retailer close to you that has these ice cream bars.
Yasso – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Web carbs: 17 g
Energy per serving: 100
Overview rating: 3.5 stars
The flavour is 5 out of 5 however you’ll almost certainly will see a rise in blood sugar after consuming it. However it’s nonetheless one in all my favourite ice cream bars.
It’s a Greek yogurt base with large chewy chunks of cookie dough. I’m an enormous fan of that mixture.
It’s sweetened with sugar and molasses, so for those who don’t wish to wreak full havoc in your blood sugars, stick to 1 bar.
Earlier than you allow to buy low-carb ice cream, you also needs to check out my different low-carb product opinions:
Let me know for those who don’t see your favourite low-carb ice cream on the checklist and I’ll add it (after making an attempt it myself). I’m all the time on the lookout for nice low-carb and diabetes-friendly merchandise.