Dairy Free Coconut Ice-Cream Nushies Natural

Dairy Free Coconut Ice-Cream – Nushies Natural

Without getting too jealous of my Australian friends leading into Summer (yes I know, I was the one who selected to move to NYC right before winter hits here..smart move Kara, smart move!?). I thought an ice-cream alternative could be a suitable #TDapproved product for those of you back home, as you lead into the warmer summer months!

Ice-cream, known as a food loved by kids and adults a like, and often being high in fat, sugar and a whole bunch of food additives such as preservatives, thickeners, emulsifiers etc. has now started to be innovated on in the food supply system, with some fantastic (and more nutritious) alternatives on the market now being created to satisfy that sweet tooth.

Today I thought we could have a look at one product in particular – Nushie’s Natural Ice Cream.

Whilst we are looking at Nushie’s as todays example, as I said, there are plenty of other alternative ice cream products available on the market.

Some are soy based, but I find they can often be a little watery and tasteless; Ice creams made from a coconut milk base are becoming more commonly available, and they really do often have a much kinder nutritional profile (and taste) than their soy and dairy counterparts.

Nutritional Information
Strawberry 500mL
Servings per package: 8.00
Serving Size: 62.00g

Ingredients
Strawberries (27%), Coconut Milk, Water, Agave Nectar, Cashew Nuts, Irish Moss, Soy Lecithin, Salt

nushies dairy free icecream made with coconut

Per serving (which is a fairly generous 60g), Nushie’s strawberry flavoured ice cream has 3.4 g saturated fat and 1.8g sugar.

That is miniscule for such as delicious, luxurious tasting treat! I compared this with ‘Light & Creamy’, a low fat dairy ice cream by an unnamed manufacturer and found it had around the same kilojoules, but around a fifth of the sugar content!

Nushie’s did have a higher fat content, however we must keep in mind that coconut milk is known for it’s medium chained fatty acids, which as I have discussed in previous posts, do not seem to have as negative an effect on our health and wellbeing; Of course, we can’t forget, that being a plant based food, Nushie’s products have no cholesterol either (winning!).

This product is from a certified organic producer, and is made up of all natural ingredients. The refined sugar replacement, agave syrup, has received quite a bad wrap due to its high fructose content (albeit having a lower GI than regular sugar), however in my opinion, the negligible amounts used in this product make me not even hesitate to say that the end product is still a healthy one.

nushies dairy free icecream in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry

Irish moss is another interesting addition to the ingredient list here (I can’t say I see it on a daily basis when I look at food products! Do you?!); It is used as a vegan emulsifier and thickener (you can check out more on seaweed based products in my #TDApproved post here from a few weeks back if this category of food items sparks your interest!).

From my reading, Irish moss is often the base that carrageenan is extracted from and used in products for similar purposes to those mentioned above. Carrageenan seems to get mixed reviews around its safety and health related properties.

Some studies do show links between inflammation in the gut and carrageenan ingestion; However, my thoughts, as usual, are that although there may be some associations here, given this food product by nushies would be expected to be consumed as an “extra” food, and this is the Irish moss, not even the extracted carrageenan, in my eyes, is still a far better option than the consumption of a sugar rich artificial ice cream that we definitely know is associated with internal inflammation.

It is also only found in relatively small quantities in this product; and on a positive, it is good to know that Irish moss brings all the benefits of seaweed based products, being rich in iodine, meaning it actually does add to the nutritional profile of the ice cream in a positive way!

nushies icecream

Lastly, I can vouch that this ice cream is d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. It may not be available on shelves in the U.S but you can certainly keep your eyes peeled for similar products.

Aussies can buy this in most of the specialised health food stores (here is the list of stockists around the country).

Nushie’s also make some incredible snack products such as flaxseed and chia crackers, granola, and organic nut packs..so my guess is that we should keep an eye out for more innovations from this company.

nushies crackers

Have you tried a similar product?

Until next week,

TD x