With the grand opening of Flavors on York Street, you can get your frozen yogurt fix fast no matter where you are on campus. Keeping up with the coast-to-coast fad, frozen yogurt joints such as Froyoworld, Flavors, and Mochi have opened for business in New Haven. Ashley’s, New Haven’s original ice cream shop, has taken a hit as students satisfy their sweet tooth with this trending “low-cal” treat. But is the health halo surrounding frozen yogurt all hype or are you actually making a healthier choice when you go froyo?
The good news: frozen yogurt does sport health benefits that traditional ice cream lacks. The Probiotics found in froyo boost the immune system, improve digestive health, and can prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in the body. Unfortunately, not all products listed as “frozen yogurt” actually contain live and active cultures. Moreover, Froyo is not subject to federal composition standards; there is no formal regulation to guarantee what you are consuming is, in fact, frozen “yogurt.”
The bad news: many processers add a mixture of cream, sugars and milk to improve consistency, and, of course, taste. In consequence, frozen yogurt does no more to stave off the freshman 15 than a dish of Ashley’s ice cream. Take Froyoworld’s ‘original tart’ flavor, for example, a ½ cup serving serves up 90 calories and 15 grams of sugar. Compare that to a ½ cup of Breyer’s Original Vanilla Ice Cream, which contains 130 calories and 14 grams sugar. While you are shaving off a few calories, you are actually consuming more sugar. Counterintuitive, right? Additionally, the “premium” frozen yogurt blends offered at Froyoworld and Flavors, such as Red Velvet, Cake Batter, and Peanut Butter cup pack up to 140 calories per ½ cup serving and 19 grams of sugar. All of this, before you even reach the toppings bar! Unfortunately, the health benefits of frozen yogurt do not negate the added calories of the cookie dough bites, brownie chunks or sprinkles topping your treat.
Don’t be deceived by the health halo, the benefits of frozen yogurt lie in the health gain not weight loss.