If the mashup of the phrases "sugar-free" and "ice cream" sounds completely bonkers to you—you might as well have coffee without the caffeine, or The Office without Steve Carrell!—then you can stop reading right now. But if you're one of the millions of Americans looking to cut your intake of added sugars, which the American Heart Association advises should be no more than 25g per day for the average woman, then keep on reading for some tasty news.
Supermarket freezers are now full of ice cream, in pints, bars, and sandwiches, that proudly proclaim they have "no sugar added." Many of these brands are marketed as "keto-friendly," for dieters who are cutting carbs and sugars, but still want the sweet taste of a chocolatey ice-cream cone or a scoop of vanilla bean. "These ice creams are also a good choice for people with diabetes, who don't want their blood sugar to spike, or for people who are cutting added sugars for their dental health," says Good Housekeeping's nutrition expert, Stefani Sassos, RDN. "But just like the label 'fat-free,' 'sugar-free' doesn't necessarily equal healthier or more nutritious. You have to ask, if they're taking out the sugar, what else are they adding in?"
In most cases, the sweetness in these frozen desserts comes from sugar alcohols such as xylitol, maltitol, and erythritol. These are natural sweeteners that come from plants and berries, and contain fewer calories than regular sugar. "A lot of sugar alcohols are from 200 to 2,000 times sweeter than regular sugar," Sassos explains. "Sometimes they can taste hyper-sweet." Sassos also points out that if you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or other GI conditions, these types of sweeteners can trigger symptoms.
We sampled a whole freezer-full of sugar-free, no-added-sugar, and low-sugar ice creams. While the texture of most of these treats wasn't as creamy as sugar-loaded ice creams, there were still plenty of yummy options if you're cutting sugars and carbs: