Vanilla Pudding vs. Vanilla Ice Cream

Are you craving some dessert? I am actually craving one right now while sitting here and writing this post.  I have a no sugar added - light ice cream in the refrigerator, but is there a healthier alternative to a dessert?  

I decided to make a quick trip to Safeway just down the street from me in search for another alternative. This is what I found: A sugar free – fat free vanilla pudding.   Sounds very delicious, but more delicious than no sugar added – light vanilla ice cream?  Let’s figure out which one is healthier and yummier.

While shopping at Safeway for a second alternative dessert, I also grabbed fat free milk for the pudding. 

In order to decide which one was yummier, I had to prepare the pudding.  The pudding took me about 1 minute to prepare and then about 5 minutes to refrigerate.  

Trick to preparing a pudding:  Put milk and the pudding powder in the blender and put it on high for about 1 minute. No need to stir. It comes out perfect!!!!

To test the yumminess of the pudding and ice cream, I decided to rate them on my top 5 criteria for a delicious dessert. (See chart below) The two items were rated on the scale of 1-10 (1 = low/not yummy. 10 = high/very yummy.)

To test the healthiness of the pudding and ice cream, I decided to refer back to the nutritional facts. (See chart below)

Green means good. 
Orange represents a little high. 
Red represents bad.

From the nutritional facts, it shows that both the ice cream and the pudding are pretty close in calorie count.

As far as my opinion on five dessert factors and the overall rating, they also came in very close. 

Since the taste rating and the calorie rating are both similar, I need to find something that will help me determine which one is the better choice. 

Sodium in the pudding is very high.  The recommended amount of daily sodium intake is 1500mg - 2300mg which includes added sodium (salt) and already what's inside food. 300mg of 1500mg  is 20% of the daily recommended intake of sodium.

If you are going to eat the pudding, make sure the rest of the day’s sodium intake is low.  The ice cream has very low sodium in the ingredients. On the other hand, ice cream is higher in total fat, carbohydrates and sugar.  Even thought the ice cream doesn’t have any added sugar, there is still a small amount.  

My overall option:  If you are looking for a healthy dessert, both Sugar Free - Fat Free pudding and the No Sugar Added - ligh ice cream are  good choices as long as you stick with the serving amount.  If you want to pick one, then I would pick the ice cream. However, if you are planning on eating more than one serving, then stick with the pudding.  But make sure to watch the sodium intake for rest of the day.  

The pudding is extremely fast and easy to make and it tastes great - which makes pudding a wonderful dessert dish without a strict limit on the serving size. 

Prices:

Pudding 1.5 oz pack is about $1.50.  Makes 6 servings

Ice Cream 1 pack is about $5.50.  Contains 12 servings

Feel free to tell me which one you prefer.  I would love to hear your opinion. 

Comments

[Maria]

Thank you for the post. I love the way you explained good and bad sides of both desserts. I really liked "no sugar added" ice cream for a dessert. But wait; I guess there is more choice of having yummy desserts. I tried the pudding, and it turned out delicious.

I love sweets, but I need to watch what I eat. I am sure that I am not alone with this problem.
If you can please let me know what time of a day is better to eat my desirable sweets; and also would it be better to eat sweets with tea or water, or after the meal, or alone as a meal? Thank you for the article. I love it.