Ice Cream Is Healthier Than A Multigrain Bagel, According To One Study

With many foods, it's easy to say whether they're healthy or not. For example, watermelon is considered a healthy snack, while potato chips are deemed junk food. However, some foods are harder to place on the healthy/unhealthy spectrum, and others are incorrectly placed on this spectrum.

When comparing ice cream and a multigrain bagel, you'd think it would be easy to say which of the two is a healthier option. Obviously, it's the bagel, right? Multigrain foods just sound healthier, especially compared to a Ben & Jerry's chocolate lover's dream topped with chocolate syrup and sprinkles.

But even though a multigrain bagel is widely believed to be healthier than a big bowl of chocolate ice cream, this isn't actually the case. Yep, you're reading this correctly; nutrition experts say chocolate ice cream -– and ice cream in general –- is actually healthier than a multigrain bagel. But how is this possible? Don't worry; the experts have data.

According to People Magazine, nutrition experts at Tufts University in Massachusetts recently published a study regarding the healthiness of various foods. As Tufts University explains, experts analyzed food items across nine different categories to calculate Food Compass Scores on a scale of 1-100, with a score of 100 being the healthiest possible. For context, experts recommend minimizing the consumption of foods given a score of 30 or lower.

So how do ice cream and multigrain bagels score? Well, per Tufts' data, a multigrain bagel with raisins receives a score of 19. Just for fun, cooked pasta scored a 9 and General Mills' Cheerios scored a 95. Meanwhile, an ice cream cone with nuts or a bowl of chocolate ice cream received a score of 37. Ice cream bars, however, scored a 17, and ice cream sundaes scored a 10.

As is usually the case, ice cream being healthier than a bagel isn't a hard-and-fast rule. The more toppings and sugar you add to ice cream, the lower it's going to score on the Food Compass. Still, it's pretty fun to be able to say ice cream can be healthier than a multigrain bagel.