Diet: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Low FODMAP, Nut Free, Paleo, Pescatarian, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Serves: 4
Total Time: 5 minutes

Description

The most delicious two-ingredient ice cream that is also suitable for those who are vegan or dairy-intolerant. What could go wrong?

Coconut meat is high in saturated fat. But hold up a second… isn’t saturated fat bad for you?

You may be surprised to hear that this isn’t necessarily the case (read my article on saturated fat to find out more).

In fact, saturated fats such as lauric acid (found in coconuts) are incredibly beneficial for our health.

Lauric acid is a precursor to a compound called monolaurin, which we are first introduced to as newborns (it is a natural component of breastmilk).

Monolaurin is the reason we want to be consuming coconuts because of its myriad of health benefits. It works as an antimicrobial agent (Carpo et al. 2007) and also holds antifungal properties, helping to ward off opportunistic pathogens such as Candida albicans (Seleem et al. 2016).

Then there’s the yummy strawberry fruit! Strawberries are of course a fantastic summer berry, rich in vitamin C. The red colour of strawberries provides a protective effect – these are due to anthocyanins which are considered to have a role in health, including the prevention of inflammatory conditions, heart disease and various cancers (Skrovankova et al. 2015).

By pairing these two ingredients together, I have nature’s answer to ice cream… no refined sugar, just the sugars that are naturally present in the strawberries and coconut. Nutritious and delicious!

Ingredients

• 400g virgin coconut meat (defrosted)
• 500g pack of frozen strawberries

Method

1. Pour the ingredients into a food processor and blend.
2. Place into the freezer to set and once frozen, enjoy!

 

References:

Carpo, B.G. Verallo-Rowell, V.M. Kabara, J. (2007). ‘Novel Antibacterial Activity of Monolaurin Compared with Conventional Antibiotics Against Organisms from Skin Infections: An In Vitro Study’, Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 6 (10), pp. 991-998, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17966176 (Accessed: 19 June 2018).

Seleem, D. Chen, E. Benson, B. et al. (2016). ‘In Vitro Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Monolaurin Against Candida Albicans Biofilms’, PeerJ, 4, pp. 1-17, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4924139/ (Accessed: 19 June 2018).

Skrovankova, S. Sumczynski, D. Mlcek, J. et al. (2015). ‘Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Different Types of Berries’, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 16 (10), pp. 24673-24706, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26501271 (Accessed: 19 June 2018).