I remember a funny line from a movie I watched years ago. One of the characters said: “ There are two types of people in the world…those that like Neil Diamond music and those that don’t”.
I am going to change this around a bit to come up with my own quote: There are two types of people in the world…those that like yogurt and those that don’t.” Clearly there are a number of people out there that despise the texture and taste of yogurt and therefore will not eat this. However, there are many other people that will turn to yogurt as a snack.
Yogurt is certainly compatible with the SP Weight Program. However, there are soooo many different types of yogurt including the ones that have fruit on the bottom, others have crushed oreos, M&Ms and other enticing “sweets”, whereas others tout their protein content.
Today, let’s dive into the difference between Greek yogurt and regular yogurt. Regular and Greek yogurt are cultured (or fermented) dairy products, along with sour cream, buttermilk, and kefir. Fermented dairy products are made by converting lactose — milk’s naturally occurring sugar — into lactic acid by using certain bacteria, also called starter cultures.
In fact, both regular and Greek yogurt are made with the same main ingredients — fresh milk, plus Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus as starter cultures.
Yet, their taste and nutrients differ due to how they’re made. Greek yogurt, also known as concentrated or strained yogurt, is made by eliminating the whey and other liquids from regular yogurt.
Greek yogurt, although containing slightly more calories contains almost double the amount of protein and 50% less carbs than regular yogurt.
Several recommendations concerning yogurt intake:
- Select the lowest calorie containing yogurt
- Stay away from the crushed cookie and candy containing yogurts
- If you go to a frozen yogurt place, stay away from the “fixings bar” (that is obviously the most fun of those places)
- Choose Greek yogurt instead of regular
- Do NOT count the protein content of Greek yogurt as the same vale of proteins from eggs, fish, chicken or meat.
And for those Mel Brook’s fans out there, here is Mel playing “Yogurt” (NOT Yoda) in his classic spoof of Star Wars, called “Space Balls”.
