When I started feeding my son actual food at 6 months old I followed all the guidelines about healthy eating for kids to the letter. No salt, no processed food, no added or processed sugars and I avoided anything that didn’t have a natural origin.
I knew this could only last so long, that I wouldn’t be able to avoid added sugar forever (although I swore I’d try!).
I have a sweet tooth myself. Sugar is addictive after all! And I know that if I can’t exclude sugar from my own diet, eventually I’ll allow Josh to have it too.
The inevitable question that followed was, what would I allow him to have? I figured, I’d follow my own boundaries:
No fizzy drinks, cartons of juice or milo - ever. I don’t have them either so it’s out of sight, out of mind.
I’d replace chocolate with cacao in small amounts, i.e. he can have an small handful 2-3 times a week.
No cake, unless it’s someone’s birthday party.
No “white” food. All whole grain where possible.
If we go out and we want dessert we can share a scoop of ice cream.
And that’s where I got stuck.
Inside Scoop is great, but it’s waaaaay too much sugar for a toddler.
Kind Kones was my obvious next choice because I’d tried it before and it tasted GOOD! Like… good enough to replace normal ice cream for me. Here’s Josh trying it for the first time.
So I did some research on vegan ice cream to see whether it really was better than traditional ice cream.
Disclaimer: I’m NOT a nutritionist, I’m just a health-obsessed mom who likes to research.
Here’s what I found:
#1 The majority of speciality vegan and non-dairy brands tend to have NO processed sugar at all.
First of all, it's hard to find a standard recipe across the board to compare traditional dairy ice cream with a vegan brand because the nutrition panels are not consistent.
But I had to choose something, so I picked Haagen Dazs, which is touted as “premium ice cream made with only the highest quality ingredients”. I figure that’s comparable to Kind Kones since it’s also a premium brand made with all natural ingredients.
Source
**Supplied by Kind Kones
That’s 36% less sugar you guys. And, that’s similar for total fat and total carbohydrates too!
If you want something even lower in sugar, try their sorbets. They’re fruit based. Here are some yummy options:
Watermelon Strawberry Mint
Dragon Fruit Banana
Chocolate Sorbet
Or for the creamier options:
Chocolate Sorbet
Matcha Coconut
Hojicha
And if you’re still worried about Kind Kones having too much sugar for your kids, you can ask them for a kid’s scoop!
#2 “Nice Cream” has some nutritional benefits that traditional dairy ice cream doesn’t
“Nice Cream” = Ice cream made with nut milks, I actually hooted out loud when I hear this term - insert crazy eye, tongue out emoji. I am SO current.
Anyway, back to the nutritional stuff.
Kind Kones uses a coconut cashew milk blend for their ice creams, so I compared this to dairy ice cream.
Source
A quick rundown of what we see above:
Cashew milk and coconut milk has virtually no naturally occurring sugars, so it won’t send your blood sugar into a spike.
Coconut milk has almost double the amount of calcium that cow’s milk has.
A cup of cashew milk contains 50% of your daily Vitamin E needs, which is good for your skin and helps protect against sun damage. Normally you’d have to give your kids seeds, nuts, leafy greens and vegetable oil to get their dose of vitamin E so it’s kind of awesome that it’s in Kind Kones ice cream.
A cup each of coconut and cashew milk has half the calories that cow’s milk has.
Sugar, fat and protein are low in the chart, but we get plenty of those from other parts of our diet so it doesn’t really matter that those are non-existent here.
I’m never going to say that it’s “healthy” to eat ice cream, but this looks pretty good to me!
#3 - You know what you’re getting
The thing with Kind Kones is that you can find out what every ingredient is in their recipes. They’re very open about their ice cream having a 3-4 day shelf life so you know it’s fresh. All natural, no preservatives. And I trust that because a mom is in charge. I don’t think I’d be so certain about the purity of the ingredients otherwise.
I’ll still be careful with sugar for my son and myself. I won’t load him up with vegan ice cream like it’s a compulsory dietary requirement, but it’s nice to know that it’s a healthier (guilt-free!!) alternative to traditional ice cream, which is usually loaded with sugar and unhealthy fats.
If you’re a Kind Kones fan or a recently converted vegan (maybe you are now?!) you’ll want to know that they just launched vegan breakfast:
Toasted bagel with probiotic cashew cream cheese
Granola & yoghurt parfait with coconut yoghurt, homemade strawberry chia jam, and granola.
For those with gluten intolerances, they have sweet potato brownies, baked chocolate donuts, or Ferrero Rocher Bliss Balls.
For tiny appetites still craving something sweet, try their vegan and gluten free Oatmeal Almond Crisp Cookie.
Want to try vegan ice cream at Kind Kones? You’ll find them in 1 Mont Kiara, Plaza Damansara, Bangsar Village 1, Midvalley and Empire Shopping Gallery.
Kind Kones also offers catering for events with a mobile ice cream cart, healthy bites and savoury food as well as sweet treats. Find out more: https://kindkones.com/events-catering/