What’s the most important scientific research in the world, you ask? Obviously it’s the quest to transform ice cream into a healthy food. Of course, the brain freezing goodness will still be chock full of fat and calories, but hey, toss in some healthy stuff and you can binge guilt-free, right? Right?
Via LiveScience:
In addition to ice-cream’s fat- and calorie-filled ingredients, the researchers hope to add dietary fiber, antioxidants and probiotics (gut bacteria that support a healthy digestive system) to your delectable dessert. Antioxidants could protect cells from damage caused by molecules called free radicals and are suspected of helping to prevent a slew of diseases.
Researchers hope to have a taste-testable prototype within six months, but it may not be entirely delicious; some antioxidant ingredients have a bitter flavor, the researchers note, and adding fiber might give the ice cream a gritty texture. Still, the research team is optimistic they can strike a balance between health and taste, and they hope to have shelf-ready tubs within two years.
Check out the video below of these scientists working in the best laboratory ever.
Related Content:
Discoblog: Fighting Child Obesity, One Bake Sale at a Time
Discoblog: Researchers Discover How Ice Cream Controls Your Brain
Discoblog: Let Them View Cake: Looking at Food Pics Equals Less Eating
<p> <div id="player">
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="320" height="240" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.eurekalert.org/eutube/jw3/flvplayer.swf" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /> <param name="width" value="320" /> <param name="height" value="240" /> <param name="file" value="http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/18221.flv" /> <param name="image" value="http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/web/18221_web.jpg" /> <param name="flashVars" value="file=http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/18221.flv&width=320&height=240&image=http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/web/18221_web.jpg"> <embed src="http://www.eurekalert.org/eutube/jw3/flvplayer.swf" quality="high" width="320" height="240" play="true" loop="false" quality="high" flashVars="file=http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/18221.flv&width=320&height=240&image=http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/web/18221_web.jpg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed> </object> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> var image = 'http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/web/18221_web.jpg'; if (swfobject.hasFlashPlayerVersion("9.0.0")) { // has Flash 9; use JW Player 4 var s1 = new SWFObject("http://www.eurekalert.org/eutube/jw4/player.swf","ply","320","240","9","#FFFFFF"); s1.addParam("allowfullscreen","true"); s1.addParam("allowscriptaccess","always"); // Note: "file" location is relative to the player's location (i.e. in "jw4/"); "image" location is relative to this page's location s1.addParam("flashvars","file=http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/18221.flv&image=" + image + "&stretching=none"); s1.write("player"); } else { // has Flash < 9; use JW Player 3 var s1 = new SWFObject("http://www.eurekalert.org/eutube/jw3/flvplayer.swf","single","320","240","7"); s1.addParam("allowfullscreen","true"); s1.addVariable("file","http://media.eurekalert.org/multimedia_prod/pub/media/18221.flv"); s1.addVariable("image",image); s1.addVariable("width","320"); s1.addVariable("height","240"); s1.write("player"); } </script> </p>
