If You Must Scream for Ice Cream, Scream Wisely

It’s a scorching summer day, and it’s time to cool off with something frozen and delicious. Yet many ice-cold treats come packed with saturated fat, sugar and calories you don’t need.

Happily, there are plenty of smart and nutritious choices among frozen confections.

Let’s start with portion size, where much of the peril lies. For most frozen desserts, the serving size is half a cup. This is about one scoop of ice cream--far less than the typical human wants or eats at a time, whether it’s an afternoon snack or an evening dessert.

If you can hold yourself to half a cup of practically anything, you can’t do too much harm. For example, you can choose something as rich and gooey as Dreyer’s Grand Chocolate Caramel Swirl and get just 170 calories and 9 grams of fat, six of them saturated, in a half-cup serving. But suppose you have three scoops, enough to half-fill that cereal bowl you’re serving it in. Suddenly you’re adding 510 calories and 27 grams of fat to your day.

One trick for serving such treats at home is to use ramekins, those small circular ceramic dishes. It’s a handy way to control serving size, especially compared with those cereal bowls.

If you don’t have 4-ounce ramekins, use small coffee cups.

Of course, it does matter what you’re putting in that cup--or on that stick. Fudgsicles, for instance, pack just 90 calories and 1 gram of fat; Smart Ones chocolate mousse bars have about half that.

Following is a guide that will help you navigate some of the more popular home and in-store frozen indulgences.

* Baskin-Robbins: If the gang is headed to one of these stores, pick the low-fat ice cream, ices and soft-serve yogurt, which have just a fraction of the fat and calories of the regular 31 flavors. A scoop of low-fat espresso ‘n cream has 180 calories and just 2.5 grams of fat, only half of it saturated. Peach sorbet is 110 calories, with zero fat. But avoid the shakes, which can contain up to 750 calories and 43 grams of fat.

* Breyers: This popular home brand has several healthy choices, including frozen yogurt, which ranges from about 130 to 140 calories per serving and has less than five grams of fat, including three or less as saturated fat. Fruit sherbet shaves a few more calories and has just 1.5 grams of fat per serving. For something extra, try calcium-rich vanilla ice cream, which supplies as much of this bone-building mineral as a glass of skim milk, although it packs seven grams of fat, four of them saturated.

* Dairy Queen: For just 100 calories and no fat, indulge in a nonfat frozen yogurt cup. Other low-fat choices include: a small Strawberry Breeze (320 calories, less than 1 gram of fat), a DQ Fudge Bar (50 calories, no fat), a Lemon DQ Freez’r (80 calories, no fat) and a medium yogurt cone (260 calories, 1 gram of fat).

* Good Humor: The Sundae Twist provides 160 calories and just 2.5 grams of fat, two of them saturated. Other cool choices: Great White, a lemon ice with 70 calories and no fat; Hyper Stripe with swirls of cherry, blue raspberry and lemon ice, 90 calories.

* Haagen-Dazs: Beware the full-fat premium flavors and try the low-fat yogurts and sorbets. Dulce de Leche has just 2.5 grams of fat per serving and 190 calories; chocolate sorbet has 120 calories and no fat.

* McDonald’s: Even the Center for Science in the Public Interest likes some of the fast-food chain’s desserts. The fruit and yogurt parfait (without granola) has just 4 grams of fat, only two of them saturated, and 280 calories. The reduced-fat ice cream cone clocks in at 150 calories and just 4.5 grams of fat.

* Popsicle: Sure, it lacks the “mouth-feel” of fat-laden ice cream, but it definitely says summer. And at just 45 calories and no fat, it’ll hardly put a dent in your eating plan.

Go ahead, have another.