Popular types of yogurt
Plain set yoghurt is usually made from dairy ingredients and fermented in the cups or tubs with no sugar or sweeteners.
Flavoured yoghurt is made by adding sugar and fruit or other flavourings to plain yoghurt. Often, the milk mixture is fermented in large vats, cooled and then stirred for a creamy texture with various fruits or other flavours. These stirred yoghurts are also known as Swiss-style yoghurts.
Greek yoghurt is a thick yoghurt. It’s traditionally prepared by straining the water known as whey from plain yoghurt to make it thicker, richer and creamier. It contains more protein than regular yoghurt and has no added sugar.
Frozen yoghurt is frozen ice milk with a typical yoghurt flavour. It tastes more like ice-cream with a hint of yoghurt.
Which is healthiest?
To determine the healthiest yoghurt the most important thing is to check the food label on the back of the packet. Some tips to look out for when choosing a yoghurt:
- Yoghurt can contain a lot of fat when whole milk is used so choose a yoghurt with less than 3g of fat per 100g.
- Watch out for misleading claims by food manufacturers - Some sneaky labels on yoghurts will claim to be 'Fat-Free' but the fat free tag may be being used as a way of disguising high amounts of other undesirable ingredients, such as sugar. Low-fat Greek yoghurts are generally low in fat and sugar.
- Yoghurt products incorporating fruit or nuts can provide additional nutritional and health benefits, but many of these can also contain added sugar. Adding fresh fruit or nuts to a yoghurt yourself is a healthier option.
- For gut health choose a probiotic yoghurt with acidophilus or bifidobacteria. Also some yoghurts will also include cholesterol-lowering compounds (such as stanol and sterol esters) and fibre aimed at improving gut health.
For more information on yoghurts check this out: https://theconversation.com/plain-greek-low-fat-how-to-choose-a-healthy-yoghurt-94295
