Can we please just take a moment to talk about yogurt? Some people are not yogurt fans. My mom for example will choke down some now and then because she thinks it is healthy, but has never really liked something about it. I on the other hand have always been a yogurt fan! I downed those little cartons like candy! And when I was on Weight Watchers (one of the many times) or just looking for a healthy breakfast option yogurt was my go-to.
HOWEVER – as I started to look into yogurt more and more I started to realize just how much of a nutritional gloss the industry has been putting on yogurt. In fact, the big yogurt makers have gotten in trouble with the FTC for making all these grand claims about how their yogurt will keep your digestive system healthy and will boost your immunity because they don’t have the scientific evidence to back it up.
Just take a look at the list of ingredients on a carton of Yoplait Light Strawberry Yogurt:
Ingredients
Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Nonfat Milk, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Strawberries, Modified Corn Starch, Whey Protein Concentrate, Kosher Gelatin, Citric Acid, Tricalcium Phosphate, Aspartame, Potassium Sorbate Added to Maintain Freshness, Natural Flavor, Red No. 40, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3
HFCS, artificial sweeteners, thickeners, food dye – this isn’t a health food! This is just another example of chemistry creating a food-like substance and an advertising industry telling us it is the answer to all our problems.
Now let’s look at the ingredients in Dannon All Natural Plain Yogurt:
Ingredients
Cultured Grade A Milk
Yep…that’s it! Milk. Just like yogurt should be. Now granted, it isn’t organic and the “All Natural” label isn’t anything that has a set of standards behind it, but when compared with the 14 different ingredients in a carton of light strawberry yogurt this is such a huge difference!
Something else to notice here – I did not get the “Fat Free” plain yogurt and I will tell you why. #1 because fat is satiating, when you eat a little fat in your food it is more satisfying, it fills you up, and it makes those calories stick with you longer. Not saying I am going to eat a stick of butter for breakfast to fill myself up, but for 1/2 cup of whole milk yogurt it is 75 calories, 4g fat and 5g protein. Nonfat would take that down to 40 calories, 0g fat and 5g protein. Let’s be honest, is 40 calories really enough to make much of a dent in breakfast hunger? Not for me it isn’t!
Reason #2 is because fat tastes good! Seriously, the difference in flavor between nonfat and whole milk yogurt is INSANE. It is the difference for me between having to add a bunch of honey to make it palatable, and being able to eat scoops straight from the carton. Why suffer with the nasty, flavorless, bitter nonfat yogurt when you can enjoy the real stuff and maybe just eat a little less of it (I personally like this policy with a LOT of stuff, salad dressing, cheese, cookies, ice cream…get the real stuff – it will be real food with probably a lot less ingredients and chemicals and a smaller amount will totally satisfy you).
So, I am having some yogurt love this morning. Topped with a handful of my homemade granola (this batch was made with peanut butter, honey, vanilla, dark chocolate almonds and orange cranberries…fabulous!) it was simply delicious and satisfying, the way food should be
Now I am just watching the snow and wondering how bad it is going to get again. They have already cancelled the first day of classes on Monday in anticipation of the forecast blizzard. It is coming down steady, but not doing much sticking yet. Looks like knitting, WoW and Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix for me this weekend!
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