Nutritionally, cream gets bad press any time of year, and clotted cream seems to be off-limits for anyone hoping to lose weight. But if it's "naughty but nice," where does the naughty bit come from? Surely this delightful dairy product deserves closer inspection. Each 100g dollop of clotted cream looks like this:
- In terms of energy, there are about 580kcals, enough to propel a 80kg male approximately four miles at jogging pace and roughly equivalent to a large (200g) cheeseburger (1).
- Fat content makes up 64g/100g of which 40g is saturated fat – not good news if you are on the tubby side of slim.
- Total sugar (all lactose) makes up just 2.5g/100g in clotted cream, hence the temptation to include some jam with those scones. Pure cream tastes insipid.
- Cholesterol content is only 170mg/100g and since the body dismantles this and then makes it to order, this may not seem significant. However, if the total daily saturated fat intake is high, the liver has no choice but to store any excess, tastefully or otherwise, and some of this is tipped into the bloodstream as "bad" cholesterol (2).
- The high fat content does at least ensure a generous proportion of most fat-soluble vitamins (mainly A and E), but lower amounts of most water-soluble vitamins (B and C).
- The mineral content of dairy products tends to be high, particularly in relation to calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. Milk has come from the soil, via grass and the food chain.
Including Cream in a Weight Loss Diet
Dairy products are beneficial to health, so unless one has an allergy or intolerance to these, it is wise to include them in proportion to the body's energy needs. Cream is energy dense, so very small amounts will suffice, otherwise other meals may look a little thin for the rest of the day. On the other hand, one reason why so many diets fail is because they deny so many of the popular energy dense items. It's all about quantities – and a precise knowedge of the weight and calorie content of key high calorie items such as sugar and cream.
As a guide, one teaspoon of clotted cream weighs about 15g and contains approximately 90kcals, the same as the flesh of a small banana. A heaped teaspoon of table sugar (20g) contains approximately 80kcals, equivalent to about 20 grapes. By trading food items in this way, one can make informed choices. Fresh fruit and vegetables do not carry food labels, because their nutritional content is likely to vary with variety and season.
Are Clots and Curdles the Same Thing?
Cream, like milk, is an oil-in-water emulsion, containing large protein molecules held in colloidal solution. All of this is stable unless one of two things happens. When the acidity level rises (for example, during souring), the proteins in the milk curdle, producing the familiar threads of casein, the most abundant protein in milk. Secondly, boiling milk produces a degree of curdling on the surface, which is why it boils over. The vapour bubbles get trapped underneath the thin skin of curdled protein.
Clotting is a different process whereby casein combines with calcium in the presence of a protease enzyme such as rennet. The resulting mass is calcium caseinate, quite different to the thin curds of precipitated casein. A similar process happens in our stomachs during digestion. The term clotted cream of Cornish fame in the UK, refers to the heavier high fat product produced from the industrial process of cream making, rather than from the action of rennet. The cream is allowed to rise and separate overnight while being gently warmed. It has a minimum content of 55% fat, compared to 18% for single cream and 48% for double cream.
There are many more products derived from fresh milk which nature provides us from birth. In order to harness its nutritional potential, man quickly evolved ways of preserving and storing it, locking the energy of sunlight via photosynthesis into the food chain and onto the supermarket shelves. That herd of cows shown on a wide range of dairy products, including margarine, reminds us that sometimes it's ok to give ourselves a treat, eat the real thing – but remember to walk to the shops in future.
References
- Food Standards Agency (2008) Manual of Nutrition. HMSO London.
- McArdle W.D, Katch F. Katch V. (1996) Exercise Physiology. Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance. Williams & Wilkins.
Allan Johnson - With 26 years experience in the field of Education I enjoy sharing my interest in things scientific, whether they crawl, glow in the dark ...
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