Like most food, in moderation you can enjoy cream pies without sacrificing your calorie budget or your health. Depending on how you make the chocolate cream pie or where you purchase one pre-made, the dessert treat can significantly add unwanted empty calories or provide a day's worth of effective nutrients.
Substitutions
To maintain a healthy weight and keep your heart pumping freely, you should avoid heavy creams, whole milk and 2 percent dairy products, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Commercially baked pies, milk chocolate, palm oil and whipped toppings also should be avoided. Instead, look for chocolate cream pies made with dark chocolate, fat-free milk, soy and sweeteners that include aspertame and sucralose.
Content
A 9-inch chocolate cream pie purchased in a grocery store contains about 3,047 calories, enough for two days worth of calories. One slice, equal to about one-eighth of the pie, has close to 380 calories, according to FatSecret website. About 165 of those calories come from fat. The slice of pie also brings with it 73 mg of cholesterol and 320 mg sodium.
Alternative
You can cut the fat and calories by making your own chocolate cream pie with ingredients recommended by MayoClinic.com. Try a recipe using instant chocolate pudding, fat-free milk and a graham cracker crust, and get only 211 calories in a slice. The homemade pie has about 7 g of fat in each slice and only 2 mg of cholesterol.
Benefits
Pies made with fat-free or low-fat milk also are effective sources of calcium, according to MayoClinic.com. A single slice of the homemade chocolate pudding pie has about 76 mg of calcium. Other healthy nutrients include the 4 g of protein and 32 g of carbohydrates you will receive.
Considerations
Magnesium is an important nutrient the body needs for more than 300 biochemical reactions, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. Magnesium is vital for muscle development, nerve function, strong bones and a healthy immune system. While a chocolate pudding pie doesn't have as much magnesium as a piece of halibut, which contains about 90 mg in a 3-oz. serving, a 4-oz. serving of chocolate pudding pie delivers about 24 mg of magnesium.
Warning
While dark chocolate is gaining favor as a healthy superfood high in antioxidants, there usually is very little of the healthy flavonoids in processed chocolate, according to the NIH Record. The processing actually removes the healthy flavonoids. So unless you make your pies from pure dark flavonoid-rich shaved chocolate, you can't count the dessert as heart-healthy.
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