I don’t think anyone can fool themselves into believing ice cream is healthy. Even if we set aside the dairy issue, ice cream tends to come loaded with sugar, often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, and there’s nothing Paleo about that.
Paleo and HFCS
High-Fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been advertised as a healthy sweetener because fructose doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar. This means high-fructose corn syrup ranks lower on the glycemic index than table sugar (which is an even mix of fructose and glucose), but it’s far from healthy. Fructose goes straight to the liver, which then produces triglycerides (which are bad). It also promotes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which may be even worse than alcoholic fatty liver disease.
HFCS and Leptin
Sugar is already addictive, but HFCS might be even more so. It interferes with the body’s receptors for leptin, the hormone that regulates appetite. If the body can’t accept leptin, it never gets the signal that we’re full, leading us to eat more (which often means more sugar).
Fat + Sugar = Irresistible
We know how hard ice cream can be to turn down. It’s that magical combination of fat and sugar that keeps you coming back for more and tempts even the strictest healthy eaters. As with most desserts though, there are Paleo alternatives.
