Dietary fiber is a necessary part of everyone’s diet, but as we age, fiber plays an increasingly important role in not just digestive health, but overall health as well. Sometimes convincing older adults to increase their fiber intake falls on deaf ears. High fiber foods like nuts, grains, beans, and raw fruits and vegetables can be difficult to chew for some. Others simply don’t like these foods.
The benefits of dietary fiber are impressive. Fiber has been shown to fight heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels and can help some seniors lower their cholesterol. A high-fiber diet can also help decrease the risk of certain types of cancers, such as colorectal cancer. For those with diabetes, fiber can help control blood glucose levels and help control appetite. And of course, fiber is best known for relieving constipation. And yet, it’s still a challenge getting some folks to add fiber to their diets.
Fortunately there’s an unlikely solution: ice cream. Thrive Ice Cream to be exact. This Real® Dairy certified ice cream was formulated specifically for the healthcare industry. In addition to added protein, 24 vitamins and minerals and four active probiotics, this innovative product also contains inulin, a natural soluble prebiotic fiber. Jeff Holtz, the Thrive food scientist who created Thrive Ice Cream, explains the logic behind the unlikely high-fiber formulation for ice cream.
“Our goal at Thrive was to provide a solution for the many nutritional challenges dietitians and foodservice professionals face on a daily basis. Our goal was to make a product that delivered much needed nutrition, but was also enjoyable to patients and residents. Because of the many benefits of natural soluble fiber, which has been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases, it made sense to include it in our recipe,” Holtz explained.
“Even better, people who eat Thrive never know the fiber is there. It’s a lot easier to get people to eat a serving of ice cream than it is other high-fiber foods,” he added. “After all, everyone loves ice cream.”
Thrive Ice Cream is available in four flavors that deliver complete nutrition plus fiber: Creamy Vanilla, Simply Chocolate, Fresh Strawberry, and No Sugar Added Vanilla. It is packed in six-ounce, single-serve cups for ease of serving. Creamy in texture and rich in natural flavors, Thrive Ice Cream is also gluten free, certified kosher dairy, contains no palm oil or HFCS. Thrive is appropriate for those on low lactose diets. It’s also a good option for individuals with dysphagia as it melts to a nectar consistency and is rated “mildly thick” on the IDDSI scale.
To learn more about Thrive and to oder online, visit us here.
* The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies