Some Nutritional Advice: A Grain of Salt Needed

Sometimes I am amazed at the advice doled out by so-called nutrition experts.

A client recently told me that a dietitian had recommended Skinny Cow “ice cream” as an acceptable dessert. Excuse me? Here is the ingredient list for the chocolate fudge brownie flavor that my client had in her freezer:

Skim milk, sugar, corn syrup, cookie bits [bleached wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, cocoa processed with alkali, corn syrup, natural and artificial flavor, baking soda, salt, soy lecithin], polydextrose, cocoa processed with alkali, cream, whey protein, microcrystalline cellulose, Propylene Glycol Monostearate, Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose, monoglycerides, guar gum, sorbitol, carob bean gum, carrageenan, citric acid, salt.

I am sorry, but this is not ice cream. Ice cream needs to be only milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks and a flavoring, the principle behind the Häagen-Dazs Five ice creams. Are the calories and grams of fat saved worth the awful flavor and the health dangers posed by the unpronounceable chemicals that are used to (poorly) imitate the texture and taste of real ice cream?

Know that, even in high-quality ice creams, add-in flavors (such as the "cookie bits" listed above) are often the source of questionable ingredients. Stick with the simpler flavors and, as always, read the ingredient list.

By the way, my client also eventually told me that the dietitian drank Diet Coke. Enough said.