Gelato Calories

As the gelato ice cream continues to gain popularity all over the world, we can't help but wonder what are the calories which we might be adding to our already ample calorific intake every day. The gelato is no doubt one of the most delicious ice cream to hit the shelves, but if you're on a weight loss diet, no doubt you need to keep an eye one the calorie content of each product you consume irrespective of whether it is delicious or not. You will always have one eye on the fat and calorie content of each product you consume because no doubt, you do not want to wreck your dieting efforts till date.

Nutrition Facts About Gelato

First of all, I would like to dispel all misconceptions that gelato has anything to do with gelatin. The name 'gelato' is derived from Italian and vaguely means 'frozen'. Since the word 'gelato' is Italian, one would be inclined to believe that the ice cream comes from Italy. Such an assumption would certainly be correct has gelato is very much an Italian ice cream recipe which is made in a completely different way.

Now the completely and different and ingenious way of preparing gelato as devised by the Italians is probably not much of significance to you, especially when you consider that you are here to know more about calories rather than anything else. But let me still underline the fact here that the process of making gelato ensured that it contains considerably less percentage of butterfat than ice cream. Gelato on an average is said to contain 4%-8% butterfat as compared to the 14% in the normal ice cream. Also, despite the fact that it is so delicious, it also contains 16%-22% sugar as compared to the 21% in normal ice creams.

Now let's get down to the numbers, now that the revelation that the gelato contains a lot less sugar and fat has really gained on you quite a bit. Well, a fair bit depends on the flavor of gelato you have.

Calories and Fats
Now assuming that you have cup gelato, which is about one 4 oz serving, you will be consuming about 157 calories. The total fat content in the above-mentioned serving is about 6 g, out of which 4 g are saturated fats. So, out of the 157 calories that you consume in your normal cup of gelato, about 54 of those are from fat.

Proteins
On to proteins. Being a milk product, you expect there to be at least some amount of protein in it, but the protein content in the gelato ice cream is terribly disappointing. Only 2 g of protein in your cup of ice cream.

Carbohydrates
Being a largely sugar based product, you would expect there to be quite few carbohydrates in it and on this assumption you will certainly not be disappointed. There are about 24.4 g of carbohydrates in your serving of which the dietary fiber content is a big zero. The sugars on the other hand are about 21.6.

Other Facts
Amongst other things, the cholesterol is said to be somewhere in the region of 34 mg and there are also about 69 mg of sodium present in the gelato ice cream. Being primarily derived from milk, one would expect it to have some calcium in it as well.

At the outset one would feel that the calorie content in the gelato makes it unfit for the consumption of one on a diet. But I guess treating yourself to one occasionally, once in a month, ought to be a fair deal.