Fro-yo or ice cream? Is one healthier than the other?

With these summer temperatures, it’s common to want to cool down with a sweet treat. If you choose frozen yogurt or ice cream, which is healthier? Are they the same? Claire Edgemon, a registered dietitian at Baylor College of Medicine, explains the two.

Ice cream contains at least 10% milk fat from cream used to make it. Frozen yogurt is made by adding milk and cultures, fermenting it into yogurt, then mixing it with sugar and other ingredients to complete the treat.

“The biggest difference is the fat content. For ice cream, there are about 7 grams of fat for a half-cup serving. For frozen yogurt, a half-cup serving is 3 to 4 grams of fat,” Edgemon said. “The fat content has a purpose. It adds to the product’s creaminess. When you remove that, you have to replace it with something, and most often it is sugar.”

This doesn’t make one treat healthier than the other. Your choice of which to eat depends on what you want – less fat or less sugar.

“If you really want to indulge in your favorite ice cream, do it. Don’t feel bad about it. Enjoy the taste and savor the flavor,” Edgemon said.

Both ice cream and fro-yo also provide low-sugar options.

“They may be sweetened with sugar alcohols, but some people can have a reaction to them just like how people can have a reaction to consuming lactose,” Edgemon said. “If you have issues with lactose, frozen yogurt might be the better option because of the bacteria in there that can break down the lactose.”

Also use the packaging or the nutrition labels as a guide. If you prefer low sugar or low fat, Edgemon says two-thirds of a cup of either would be an appropriate serving size.

To make ice cream or frozen yogurt healthier, you can add fruits and nuts for fiber and healthy fats.

“One thing I tell my patients is to take any container of yogurt you like and add in a half cup to two-thirds of a cup of any frozen fruit you like, blend it and you’ve got your own frozen yogurt,” Edgemon said.

If you want your ice cream to have added protein, a few brands offer this option. Edgemon says that with these, a two-third cup serving is about 100 calories, which is about a half cup serving of regular ice cream.

By Taylor Barnes