People with high cholesterol, triglyceride advised to eat less ice-cream

BANGKOK, May 12 (TNA) - The Department of Health, under the Thai Ministry of Public Health, has advised overweight people and those with high triglyceride and cholesterol to consume appropriate amount of ice-cream to prevent alarming cholesterol and triglyceride levels in their blood. The department's director-general, Dr. Pornthep Siriwanarungsan, said ice-cream is a great refreshment during summer months, suggesting recently, however, that people select ice-scream carefully because its ingredients can lead to a weight gain. According to the senior health official, typical ice-cream contains dairy products such as egg, cream, milk, milk powder, yogurt, sugar and other sweeteners, namely glucose, fructose and honey, and fat, including vegetable fat and coconut cream. The senior health official recommended that people with high cholesterol should consume low-fat and fat-free ice-cream, for example, sherbet or water ice, while those with high triglyceride should consume less amount of ice-cream because it can cause high triglycerides. Besides, those on diets should avoid high-fat and high-sugar ice-cream and everyone should consume less than six teaspoons of sugar per day. The senior Thai health official added that everyone should choose ice-cream produced by reliable manufacturers and read nutrition facts labels on ice-cream packages to check the amount of calories, fat and sugar in ice-cream.(TNA)