Recently, it seems that the yogurt industry has taken off. More than ever before I am seeing advertisements preaching the health benefits of various yogurt products. Messages about probiotics, prebiotics, DHA, and the ability to lose weight by eating yogurt. It all sounds so wonderful, but is all yogurt good for you? Are some better than others? When yogurt is left standing naked for all to see, the answers to these questions become more clear.
With all these dollars being spent on advertising yogurt. I thought it would be helpful to compare some of the leading brands that claim to be so beneficial for our health. This calls for a strip search! Below, I have compared 5 types of yogurt. The four to the right are heavily advertised to convince consumers of their health benefits. Let’s see if they have anything to hide and how they stand up to our “plain” Jane option on the left.
There are a number of other yogurt brands on the shelf that would score much lower on the health scale than the brands above. The trick is to read the ingredients and the nutrition label. If you only look at the fat, or the calories, or the messaging telling you that it has probiotics, you will miss the big picture. It’s this big picture that really tells us what’s in the food we eat. My general rule of thumb for buying yogurt is to stay away from products that have large lists of unknown ingredients and that contain added sugar, sweeteners, and cream. Based on the above comparison my choice would be Astro Original.
Now I know some of you are probably squirming in your seats thinking about having to eat plain yogurt because it doesn’t taste as good. Here is a quick tip to help you make the switch. If you already eat plain yogurt, keep up the good work!
TIP: How to start eating plain yogurt.
When my boyfriend and I started dating, coming home from the grocery store was always an event. You should have seen his face when I unpacked things like quinoa, tofu, spinach, and plain yogurt. In the past he ate yogurt with added sugar and was having trouble making the switch. To help him, I put fresh fruit and a bit of honey or real maple syrup into his yogurt. After a while he would eat it with just the fresh fruit. This tip provides you with a great way to still enjoy the benefits of yogurt without all the added sweeteners and hard-to-pronounce ingredients.
Happy eating and enjoy your yogurt!
