Posted March 28, 2017

By ETTY GROSSMAN

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream and that’s kind of the same thing …

Back in 2005, neuroscientists at the Institute of Psychiatry in London found evidence that just one spoonful of a sweet, cold stuff lights up the same pleasure center in the brain as occurs when winning money, listening to favorite music, or simply enjoying something. Therefore, scientifically speaking, ice cream really does make us happy.

Ice cream has been prescribed by mothers, girlfriends, experts and others for generations. It has become the remedy for anything that hurts, a sore throat or even a broken heart. However, there’s all the fat and sugar and calories to consider before making it more than an occasional treat.

Fortunately, ice creameries are becoming more conscious of the need of creating healthier options for those who want to indulge in a sweet treat without ruining their diet and South Florida stores are not an exception.

Today, Miami has a lot of options for those who want to maintain their bikini body and, at the same time, satisfy their sweet cravings.  Out of the extensive list, so far CocoWhip and D’Lites would be the best and most complete place for a guilt-free ice cream or dessert.

Located at the heart of Brickell, CocoWhip offers a soft-serve frozen treat and the first of its kind, by using only coconut water, Organic Bio-Fermented Coconut Powder & Vegetable Sourced stabilizers.

Even though healthy food is though to be tasteless, CocoWhip’s soft serve is very tasty and it happened to have just the right amount of sugar.

There are five CocoWhip flavors, however, at the store you would only be able to find two of them: Original Coconut and the flavor of the month, which could be any of the following: Cacao Bliss, Super Berry, Minty Matcha and African Mango and Turmeric.

Original Coconut is customers first choice, Cacao Bliss has also been an acclaimed flavor and that’s why it last for more than three months in the store.

Since coconut is a rich source of “healthy fat,” it provides the necessary amount of fat to make the soft serve creamy and smooth.

There are also plenty of toppings that can be added to your ice cream. If you want to go lighter you can pick between strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and pineapple; but if you want something a little bit richer, you could choose to add brownie bites, cookie dough balls, cheesecake bites, carrot cake chunks and a syrup. Don’t be afraid of doing so, remember every thing is vegan, gluten and dairy-free.

As always, good is expensive. They charge you $6 for the base and $1.50 for each additional topping. The place does not have a great atmosphere. It lacks personality, probably because it is located inside another restaurant “100 Montaditos,” which doesn’t have the same eco-friendly, healthy, green, vegan mentality. So be prepared to go and pick up your order and enjoy it somewhere else.

From the day it opened, back in 2016, CocoWhip has added other options, both salty and sweet, to its menu. Snicker tarts, key lime tarts, marbled brownies, panacottas, chocolate mousses, healthy arepas (corn pancakes) and toasts, are some of them.

Without a doubt, CocoWhip is the latest and greatest dessert treat creation from health food innovators.

The food is not only delicious, it is also packed with a far superior nutritional value to any other dessert on the market. Its ice cream contains only 96 calories per 100 grams’ cup, 7.2 grams of sugar and 3.7 grams of healthy fats.

However, if coconut is not for you and you want to still traditional, then go and indulge yourself in D’Lites Emporium. Its soft-serve is real ice cream, not yogurt.

D’Lites has been out there for a while. It started in Plantation, Fla., in 1982 and five years later it opened its first store in Aventura. The place is very simple, it only has some in and out tables, a counter with the different ice cream flavors and some soft serve machines in the back, it is colorful but it doesn’t have much decoration.

Although the atmosphere is not the best, the product itself is worth it. Its ice cream is simply delicious, it uses delectable, wholesome ingredients to create the creamiest soft-serve ice cream; but the best part is that it starts at just 12.5 calories per ounce.

No matter what flavor you choose, D’Lites ice cream is is low in sodium, sugar, fat and carbohydrates. It is cholesterol free, and a healthier alternative to regular ice cream. Also, the concept of their dietary products includes every type of diet including allergies, diabetes, reduced carbohydrates, gluten free, low fat, salt free, vegetarian, sugar free, religious reasons and the list goes on and on.

They have a huge variety of flavors, some of the public’s favorites are mocha, peanut butter, Nutella, blueberry tart, cheesecake and turtle brownie. Flavors change seasonally but chocolate and vanilla are always available. You can also add toppings to your ice cream, but in this case they are not very healthy.

Prices are very reasonable; you would be charge $3 for the smallest ice cream, which is 4 ounces, $3.99 for a 6-ounces ice cream, $4.99 for 8 ounces and $6.99 for their 16-ounces pint.

D’Lites ice cream is a delightfully different treat that won’t destroy your waistline, half a cup has only 50 calories, 3 grams of sugar and 1.5 grams of fat and a lot of flavor and texture.

No matter which place you visit, you will definitely end up with a smile on your face without adding pounds on your waist.

• CocoWhip
• Address: 1401 Brickell Ave., Miami, Fla., 33130
• Phone: 786-409-3107
• Website: https://cocowhip.com.au/
• Hours: Mondays-Thursdays: 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Fridays: 8 a.m.-11 p.m., Saturdays: 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Sundays: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Payment: Cash, credit card
• Review: 4.5/5

• D’Lites Emporium
• Address: 20695 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura, Fla., 33180
• Phone: 305-932-2554
• Website: http://www.dlitesemporium.com/
• Hours: Mondays-Sundays: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
• Payment: Cash, credit card
• Review: 4/5