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Low carb chocolate ice cream recipe – If you need a reason to include chocolate in your diet, ask neurophysiologist and wellness coach Will Clower, Ph.D., a guest speaker at Cancer Wellness at Piedmont—he can give you plenty. “Chocolate is the perfect metaphor for healthy eating,” says Clower. When eaten in moderation, chocolate has numerous health benefits, says Dr. Clower.
It works as an antibiotic and an anti-platelet (similar to aspirin), increases HDL (“good”) cholesterol, decreases LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and contains polyphenols that prevent DNA damage.
Cocoa also contains flavonoids and flavanols that prevent cell damage and inflammation, and promote blood health. The health benefits of chocolate come from the cocoa itself—not fillers or sugars—so the key is to choose a treat that has the highest percentage of cocoa.
How to select the healthiest chocolate
In its unprocessed state, chocolate is slightly bitter and acidic, which is why many chocolate makers add sugar and other fillers to raise its pH level to neutral. Unprocessed or “raw” chocolate is better for you, says Dr. Clower, so look for these key words on the label, as well as the percentage of cacao or cocoa the product contains.
Sugar-free chocolate contains 100% cocoa.
Dark or bittersweet chocolate contains 35 to 99 percent cocoa.
Milk chocolate contains at least 10% chocolate liquor.
White chocolate does not contain cocoa.
“The higher the cocoa percentage, the more you can have,” he explains. “Low-cocoa chocolates are high in sugar and fillers, so those are the things to avoid.”
A chocolate bar with 85% cocoa solids, for example, has less sugar than milk chocolate varieties and more healthy cocoa butter. As a bonus, richer dark chocolate is generally more satisfying, meaning you may eat less because you feel fuller faster.
The Energy-Boosting Power of Chocolate
Dr. Clower says that eating chocolate with a high cocoa content regularly improves the growth of capillaries in your muscles. This applies not only to skeletal muscles, such as those in your arms and legs, but also to your heart. These capillaries supply oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. The byproduct of this process is that there are more mitochondria in your muscles, which create energy.
High-cocoa chocolate can boost your energy levels “because you’re actually building more energy at the mitochondrial level, at the muscle level,” says Dr. Clower. “The best thing in the world you can do is have a little bit of high-cocoa chocolate every day,” he says.
See Also:
Low carb lemon flavor ice cream
Low Carb Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
Low carb chocolate ice cream recipe | Ingredients
- 200ml heavy cream (or full-fat coconut milk)
- 1 egg yolk
- 30g of 85% cocoa chocolate
- Sweetener equivalent to 40 grams of sugar (Xylitol, Erythritol)
Low carb chocolate ice cream recipe | How to make it
Place the heavy cream or coconut milk in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
Chop the chocolate and melt it in a bain-marie or in the microwave.
Beat the cream or coconut milk until it forms a thick whipped cream. Click here to see how. Be careful not to overdo it and turn it into butter. Beat it while it is very cold at maximum speed until it forms waves, then reduce the speed to minimum and beat a little more until it becomes thick.
Mix the egg yolk and sweetener well.
Mix 2 tablespoons of whipped cream into the melted chocolate to equalize the temperature.
Mix the chocolate mixture with the egg yolk, mixing well and then gradually add the rest of the whipped cream, always mixing.
Place in the freezer in a tightly sealed container for 6 hours.
Every hour, take it out of the freezer and stir well with a spoon to make the dough homogeneous, breaking up any frozen pieces.
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