Wheyhey Ice Cream Review

When I first decided to cut back on sugars and starch, as much as I was looking forward to having more energy, better overall health, and being stronger and more toned, I was slightly (ok very) daunted as to how on earth I was going to enjoy life without sweet treats. I have a serious sweet tooth; not so bothered about actual sweets, but chocolate, cake, biscuits, cereal bars, puddings and ice cream. I’ve admitted this in numerous blogs; I’ve always been conscious not to over consume calories so as not to induce excess weight gain, so this only translates to eating sweet foods instead of a proper meal not as well as, so even worse for health as there is very little protein or fibre present to slow down the digestion and absorption of the sugar.

BUT I’m not addicted, not anymore anyway. The first couple of weeks of going low sugar/starch were the hardest, but I used every trick I know – I gradually cut down rather than going cold turkey, I drank green tea and cocoa powder with stevia and hot water, snacked on nuts, and made extra effort to consume enough lean protein and fibrous veggies. So I no longer crave sweet foods in the ‘body won’t rest until I get it’ sense. My energy is more balanced, my skin is great and I very rarely get ill. BUT…..

I still love the taste of sweet foods.

So when I come across products like Wheyhey Ice Cream, a sugar free, low carb, high protein dessert in a  tub, I always say a quiet thank you. No those of you who follow my blogs, posts and rantings regularly know how I am a dedicated advocate of ‘real food’ – home made everything where possible, fresh, organic ingredients. And that includes ice cream too – fat free Greek yoghurt is the perfect base – just add fruit/stevia/cocoa/whatever, bung it in the freezer in a tub, and take it out for a good whisk with a fork every half hour for about 4 hours (or use an ice cream machine and it does the work for you). And then some days I can’t be bothered or I am intrigued and enticed by some new product, and I eat those instead. I call these my ‘healthy naughty foods’, because they’re not homemade and fresh, but neither are they full of sugar, processed white flour, hydrogenated oils, and artificial additives. They’re often higher in fibre and protein than most convenience foods, and if they also taste good, I’ll always review them for you here to let you know. These include protein bars, shakes, and other products too. So back to Wheyhey. I’m not going to go into the benefits of protein, amino acids etc. as that applies to any protein food, I’ll just look at Wheyhey specifically.

INGREDIENTS (vanilla)

Water, Whey Protein Isolate, Xylitol, Whole Cream, Emulsifier: mono/diglycerides fatty acids, Stabilisers: locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageen, vanilla flavour

NUTRITION (per 100ml)

Calories: 118

Protein: 15g

Carbohydrates: 5g

Of which fibrous (starches): 4g

Of which lactose (sugars): 1g

Fat: 4.5g

Of which saturates: 2g

From a nutritional point of view, I’m happy with that. The main ingredients are simply cream, whey protein and xylitol (a natural sweetener), with the emulsifiers and stabilisers necessary to achieve and keep the right consistency. Homemade recipes don’t usually include these but won’t have the shelf life needed when selling through shops. A small pot provides over 20g protein and less than 10g carbohydrates, making them well balanced for anyone trying to burn excess body fat, build lean muscle, and boost their metabolism.

On to the taste test, it’s not the same as Cornish clotted cream, homestyle, full fat dairy ice cream, and you know that without looking at the label. It isn’t as rich (some might say not as cloying, not a bad thing) or creamy, and it’s one of those products which you can taste there’s something different about, but you can’t pick on what it is. That’s not to say it’s unpleasant, just not what you were expecting if you thought you were putting the real mccoy in your mouth. There’s a very slight granular texture, but this happens with commercial ice creams too, and is often due to not getting from shop to home freezer fast enough (I bought it in summer; 15 mins drive home might have done it) but not nearly enough to be a bother, and some people might not even notice. The sweetness (provided by xylitol) is just right, as is the balance of vanilla/chocolate/strawberry flavouring (yes I bought all three!). The ice cream is soft enough to eat straight from the freezer, but it doesn’t melt into a slush too fast either.

Do I recommend Wheyhey ice cream? I certainly do, and in future I’d be inclined to buy the larger pots and experiment with making ice cream smoothies and healthy sundaes too. It only amazes me no one thought of making protein ice cream before.

Available in 150ml and 500ml, www.wheyhey.com