This Is What Happens When You Eat A Pint Of Ice Cream

As anyone who has ever done it will tell you, it's really not that hard to polish off a pint of ice cream, particularly when you are distracted or your mind is someplace else. Before you take a spoon to the pint that's sitting in your freezer as we speak, we'd like to ask you to take a moment and consider the potential impact consuming a pint of regular ice cream might have on your body.

Popsugar has very helpfully created a table outlining the nutritional values of our favorite Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors, with the average serving coming in at a half cup, or a quarter of a pint of ice cream. Given that your favorite flavors like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chunky Monkey, of Phish Food come in at between 270 to 280 calories a serving, consuming a pint in one go adds up to a hefty calorie intake. "A pint of ice cream could have up to about 1,000 calories, and for some people, that's more than half their daily intake," registered dietitian Edwina Clark tells Eat This, Not That!. So if this becomes a regular thing, you could see the needle inch up on your weighing scale. But this is not a regular thing, you probably don't have to worry about the calories too much.

Still, you can't expect to consume a pint of ice cream without having it affect your health and well being in some way. Ice cream contains plenty of fat, so "After eating a pint of ice cream, you're likely to see a spike in triglycerides and cholesterol, which are fancy names for 'blood fats'," Clark tells Eat This, Not That! "These levels may drop as the ice cream moves through your system. But if they remain high, they can increase your risk of heart disease, especially when combined with other risk factors like high blood pressure and being overweight." 

Ice cream's high fat content will also make you feel uncomfortable, since it "[takes] longer to digest, and often cause bloating and indigestion that interfere with a sound night's rest," registered nutritionists Lyssie Lakatos and Tammy Lakatos Shames told Eat This, Not That!

But it's not all bad news, because consuming a whole pint of ice cream can also affect you in a positive way. On the mental wellness front, indulging in something you love — like a pint of ice cream — is guaranteed to make you smile. Because ice cream is basically a frozen pint of carbohydrates, eating a pint can trigger the pleasure center of your brain. 

The pint will also give you a decent whack of calcium, vitamins A, C, D, and E. Plus, if you eat it at the right time of the day — before exercise instead of before you hit the sack — the carbs that make consuming a pint of ice cream such a joyful experience will also deliver a jolt of energy (via The Daily Meal).

So by all means, have the pint- and if you don't make it a habit, you could find that it could be reset button you needed, which makes a bad day better.