Yogurt is often advertised as a healthy food.
However, sugars and added flavorings in many yogurts can make this dish a snack.
For this reason, choosing yogurt at grocery stores can be confusing for you.
Follow these guidelines to find the most suitable yogurt as well as avoid unhealthy types.
Always read labels
Reading labels should always be the first step when you decide to buy any kind of food.
The reason is because reading labels is necessary, it gives you information about the substances in the food.
Looks like all yogurt looks the same. However, if you know what you should read, the content on each yogurt box will be completely different stories.
List of ingredients
Though all yogurt They are originally pure yogurt, but they are often added to various ingredients such as sugar, artificial flavorings, colorants, stabilizers and preservatives.
If possible, choose yogurt that has the least added ingredients. Instead choose a category with few components.
Ingredients should be milk, live bacteria used to turn milk into yogurt and a few other ingredients.
Ingredients are listed by weight, so you should not buy sugary yogurt listed at the top of the table.
It is best not to have any kind of sugar additive on the list.
Sugar can be listed by different names like sucrose, High molecular corn syrup , fruit juice, cane sugar and nectar.
Nutritional value
The nutrition information on the packaging can give you the most specific information.
The weight and calories in a serving are listed at the top. This section also tells you how many carb , fat, protein and sugar in one serving.
You should note that in a yogurt box may contain more than one serving, meaning it will contain more calories.
Currently, nutritional information on packaging does not differentiate the amount of sugar added and the amount of natural sugar in yogurt. This can make it difficult to know how much additional sugar is.
However, the principle of packaging Recently, additional sugar content in each serving will be listed on future labels.
Nutrition information will also tell you the amount of calcium and vitamin D in each serving of yogurt.
The most ideal yogurt will contain vitamin D and a significant amount of daily calcium requirements. These substances will be listed as a percentage of daily demand (% DV) on the label.
Conclude: Reading labels is the first thing you should do when choosing to buy yogurt. Nutrition information and ingredient lists can tell you a lot about what's in the product.
Avoid the type of sugar additive
The main culprit that makes yogurt from healthy foods become unhealthy is Street Additives.
The average sugar additive consumed by Americans increased from 9 kg of sugar per year in 1850 to over 73 kg / year in the early 2000s .
It is estimated that sugar sweetened beverages cause 40% of this increase.
However, processed foods with added sugar, including yogurt, also contribute a small part .
Eating too much sugar can be harmful to health. Studies have shown a link between sugar additives with obesity, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, liver disease, type 2 diabetes and many other problems .
Although yogurt contains a natural amount of sugar in the form of lactose, food companies often add a large amount of simple sugar to make yogurt taste sweeter.
In 245 grams of pure yogurt contains about 10-15g of carb, but sweetened yogurt can contain up to 30 g in each serving .
To choose a healthy yogurt, look for brands with less sugar per serving. Meaning in every 245 grams, the amount of lactose exceeds 10-15 g as little as possible.
Usually, the best choice is pure yogurt, without flavoring. But if you don't like this type, there are a number of ways you can make yogurt that suits your taste.
One way is to create a sweet taste for yogurt with fresh fruit you like.
You can also add chia seeds Let pure yogurt less sour. As such, you will be adding more the protein , Healthy fiber and fat from chia seeds.
It's easy to mix 473 ml (2 cups) of yogurt with 1.5-2 tablespoons (22-30 ml) of split seeds and leave yogurt in the fridge overnight.
Conclude: Sugar additives can turn a healthy food into junk food. You should choose pure yogurt if possible and always read the label to see if the yogurt has added sugar.
Low in fat and high in fat
Yogurt can be made from whole-fat or nonfat milk.
Health experts often recommend low-fat dairy products because most people are eating more calories than necessary.
Therefore most yogurt is made from low-fat or non-fat milk.
However, low-fat yogurt often contains the most sugar, as sugar is added to compensate for the loss of flavor fat . So, if you choose low-fat yogurt, look for a type that doesn't Additional sugar .
There are also yogurt made from high-fat milk. Although it contains more calories than low-fat yogurt, this does not make it an unhealthy dish.
In fact, the fat contained in these products may be healthy.
Some dairy products contain trans fat in natural ingredients that are different from Harmful trans fat in some processed foods.
These fats are specific conjugated linoleic acid ( CLA ), supposedly harmless and may even bring some benefits.
This substance can help reduce body fat, inflammation, risk of heart disease, and improvement Control blood sugar and against cancer cells in vitro studies (5, 6, 7).
Both types of low-fat and high-fat yogurt are good for health. Decide what to eat based on your habits, eating habits and intake calories you want to consume.
Conclude: Yogurt can be made from low-fat or high-fat milk. Low-fat yogurt must have no added sugar to contain low calorie. Both types of yogurt can be healthy choices.
Choose the type that has live bacteria
Probiotics used to make yogurt. These bacteria turn milk sugar (lactose) into lactic acid, making yogurt sour.
These probiotic bacteria are often called "living organisms" in yogurt, which can bring many health benefits.
Although probiotic studies are only at an early stage, studies have shown that these bacteria can:
- Improve lactose intolerance symptoms .
- Stimulating the immune system .
- Significantly reduce depressive symptoms .
- Reducing the risk of antibiotic diarrhea in children and adults .
- Improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome .
Other studies show that probiotic yogurt can reduce cholesterol, weight and even signs of inflammation .
Eat yogurt with probiotic Bifidobacterium has also been shown to help improve the frequency of outreach in children and women .
Initially all types of yogurt contain live bacteria because they are ingredients that turn milk into yogurt.
However, the probiotic content in yogurt may vary greatly depending on a number of factors such as packaging methods and storage conditions.
To get the most benefits from yogurt, choose the most probiotic type. However, there is no way we can easily know the amount of live bacteria in each yogurt box.
The National Yogurt Association has put a stamp on "Live and Active Cultures" for yogurts containing 100 million live bacteria per gram at the time of testing. This is a seal image: 
Image source: .
However, to get this seal is very expensive. Many brands did not sign up even if their products achieved 100 million bacteria / gram.
In fact, a report of independently tested yogurt shows that products of many non-seal brands contain more than 100 million bacteria / gram .
Most importantly, you must avoid heat-treated yogurt, or be sterilized after probiotic supplementation. The sterilization process will kill bacteria that should have been lived to bring about health benefits.
These products are easy to identify because their labels will say "heat treated after culturing bacteria" .
Conclude: Probiotic is beneficial in turning milk into yogurt. Look for yogurt with the "Live and Active Cultures" seal and avoid pasteurized yogurt after production.
Which is better?
There are many types of yogurt available, and below will be the differences between the types.
Greek yogurt, yogurt without regular milk or yogurt?
Greek yogurt is the most popular yogurt used today. It differs from traditional yogurt because it has been modified many times, removed in part whey and lactose.
This makes Greek yogurt twice as much protein as traditional yogurt, but only half the amount of carb. This is a great option for a full snack as well as for people who are lactose intolerant .
However, this means that Greek yogurt also has higher calorie and fat content and less calcium than traditional yogurt.
Many Greek yogurt brands also contain lots of added sugar.
Non-dairy yogurts such as soy or coconut yogurt are also popular. Because these products are made from plants, they contain less fat than traditional yogurt and lactose-free.
These are ideal options for vegetarians and lactose intolerants. However, calcium Not a natural ingredient of this yogurt, so check the labels of calcium supplements and vitamin D.
Greek yogurt, non-dairy yogurt and regular yogurt can all be healthy choices, but it is unlikely that this will be better than others.
Organic or not organic?
To be closed from the US Department of Agriculture, milk must be obtained from cows that eat organic food without change gene and not treated with antibiotics or growth hormones.
However, whether the food is organic Is it really better or they are just not opposed by many people, and the use of GMO food as well as growth hormones in dairy farming is still controversial.
The nutritional content of organic food compared to conventional food is also controversial, though it seems that the difference only occurs when it comes to organic dairy products.
For example, studies show that organic milk has a better fatty acid composition and beta-carotene, vitamin E and Iron higher than regular milk .
However, it seems that organic milk contains lower amounts of selenium and iodine minerals .
Interestingly, these differences may stem from the cow's diet, not necessarily depending on whether the farming methods are organic or industrial .
The fact is that it is difficult to confirm whether organic milk is really better than regular milk in terms of nutrition and health benefits.
Conclude: Greek yogurt is high in protein and low in carb, while non-dairy yogurt usually contains less fat and no lactose. Organic yogurt can be rich in certain nutrients, but others do not have much.
Some types of yogurt should try
Although this list is not complete, below are some good yogurt for health.
Stonyfield Organic
The company provides yogurt from herbivores, full-cream yogurt, Greek yogurt and Smooth & Creamy product lines.
If you like flavored yogurt, Greek yogurt with this fruit flavor is all the best.
However, most of their other fruit-flavored yogurt contains sugar.
Product line All Natural by Dannon
This yogurt has only two ingredients: low-fat or non-fat milk and pectin - a natural sebum. This product is also stamped as "Living bacteria active."
Unfortunately, this yogurt is not supplemented with vitamin D.
However, with no added sugar ingredients, 8 grams of protein in each serving and 30% of daily calcium needs, this is still a very good choice.
Dannon's other yogurt types, though widely used, have more sugar and therefore are not a healthy choice.
Fage's pure yogurt
Fage is a great choice for those who love Greek yogurt.
Fage's pure yogurt product line contains only milk and a variety of live bacteria. The company also has 2% and 0% fat yogurt products.
However, because it is Greek yogurt, calcium content is lower than regular yogurt, only meeting about 20% of daily calcium demand. It also does not get vitamin D.
However, this is still a healthy choice.
But like other brands, you should still choose pure types. The brand's flavored or added yogurt also contains lots of sugar.
Conclude: There are many healthy yogurt brands you should try. Choose the type of sugar or no sugar added with a short list of other ingredients.
When choosing healthy, pure yogurt is still the best
When it comes to yogurt, healthy means simple.
Choose a yogurt that has as few ingredients and as little added sugar as possible. Pure and non-sugar yogurt is best.
In addition, most choices depend on personal preference.
Just follow the advice above, be confident that your chosen yogurt is a healthy and nutritious product.
