Best Of PT Community : Yogurt - Good? Bad? Recommendations?

Yogurt - Good? Bad? Recommendations?

I'm really working hard to lose the last of my weight and I am looking for ways to maximize my losing potential. I have never eaten yogurt because A) I never thought I'd like it and B) a long time ago I did Atkins for a while and the carbs in yogurt really freaked me out.

But I keep hearing that yogurt is really good for weight loss, so I need some specific information. How does yogurt help you lose weight? When and how much should you eat? Which yogurts are best? Low fat? Nonfat? I don't really like fruit flavors so are there good vanilla ones?

Any help would be appreciated.

Wed. Nov 30, 3:40pm

I have a cup of plain nonfat yogurt as part of my basic daily mealplan. It has high protein, lots of Vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, and other nutrients that can be a bit hard to find in other foods. It has about 140 calories per cup. I think the brand I use (Hy Vee) comes in Vanilla. As I usually eat the yogurt with beans, however, I like the tartness of the plain flavor --- It does a lot for plain pinto beans.

Fit and Active Nonfat Yogurt a light yogurt, and I think it also comes in vanilla. I don't like this light yogurt as well as the higher-calorie brand I normally buy, but that is just personal preference.

Digby

Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 4:04 PM

I love yoplait french vanilla but if you're worried about the sugar content, you might want to stick with plain yogurt and add some granola

Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 4:45 PM

It also helps keep the bacteria in your stomach in check and the ph levels in your vagina balanced. If you are prone to indigestion or yeast infections - it helps prevent those.

just more fun yogurt facts ;-)

Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 5:54 PM

I really like the yoplait whips orange cream flavor. I usually eat it as a dessert.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 8:29 PM

Yogurt is very good for digestion. (It's the enzymes in the live cultures) If you're not too keen on the fruit flavors then definitely try vanilla. I like the Dannon low fat. It is so good on cereal. I understand what you're saying about the carbs and being freaked out after doing Atkins, but you're going to have to change your way of thinking if you're not doing a low carb diet. You really need a well balanced diet and yogurt is a great source of dairy product.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 8:49 PM

Dannon Light'n Fit Carb Control yogurt is awesome - they make a vanilla and it's yummy. The servings are small, so if you're just getting used to eating it, it's not a huge cup, and it's only 60 calories per cup (as in the cup it comes in, not as an actual, measured cup. I'd bet it's about 1/2 cup really).

Vanilla yogurt is really good mixed with dry cereal or dry oatmeal, or with a sliced banana.

Thursday, December 01, 2005, 1:37 PM

I'm a big fan of Fat Free Greek style yogurt. It's much higher in protien than regular yogurt and lower in sugar. I add a little honey or fruit to mine because it's pretty tart.

Thursday, December 01, 2005, 2:13 PM

greek style yogurt

Fage is the best! at least in the US- made in Greece and making it's way into more supermarkets, & health food stores - I don't know that it helps with weight loss, but it's too good not to try- no sugar, nothing artificial.

Thursday, December 01, 2005, 9:07 PM

I would go for sugar and low-fat to no fat yogurt daily!

Thursday, December 01, 2005, 10:36 PM

yogurt

Dannon makes a light vanilla that is great with a chopped up apple mixed in - some cinnamon and a few toasted nuts. It is by far my favorite breakfast.

Friday, December 02, 2005, 12:50 AM

As other have said, yogurt has some great health benefits, but a lot can get hidden in yogurt. I had a diabetic friend hooked on flavored non-fat yogurt until we analized the carton and realized it had as much sugar and calories per ounce as ice cream! There are so many varieties out there you really have to study the cartons and compart to other foods. I like Nancy's non-fat plain organic with some granola. A lot of yogurts are really yogurt; they don't have enough good bacteria in them to do you much good and they are really sort of a milk based jello product. Trader Joe's is good too, with real live cultures. This is why I don't like most of the mainstream brands, I don't think they provide enough nutritional bang for the calories and sugars. Sure, some have artificial sweeteners but I would rather avoid that.

Friday, December 02, 2005, 4:23 AM

live and active cultures

Consumer Reports did a feature on the quality and quantity of beneficial bacteria in yogurt products this past summer. They gave good ratings to Dannon Light & Fit smoothies and DanActive/Actimel.

Friday, December 02, 2005, 11:04 AM

I like it with oatmeal

I mix it in with old fashioned oatmeal for breakfast -- since I use sweetened yogurt (strawberry or vanilla), I don't need any other sweetener in the oatmeal.

I usually get low or nonfat. If you're mixing it in, you won't notice much taste difference anyway.

Friday, December 02, 2005, 3:48 PM

My absolute favorite brand is Stonyfield Farms. I know you can't find it everywhere, but it is wonderful if your grocery has it. The low fat vanilla is almost as good as ice cream to me (and I love ice cream), and it is the only brand of plain that I can actually eat plain. I often eat a bowl of fresh fruit topped with plain yogurt as dessert or as part of my breakfast.

This website has quite a bit on the research that's been done lately showing why dairy products help you lose weight: http://www.2424milk.com/ I'm not 100% convinced that the studies they quote weren't sposored by the dairy industry (like that study a while back that was sponsored by General Mills and found that eating cereal for breakfast helped you lose weight), but I do think that dairy can be a useful part of a healthy diet. (yay for calcium!)

Other ways I eat yogurt: a large dolop on lentils, mixed in to bean soups, added to pasta to make it creamy (I add it after I put the food on my plate and right before I'm about to eat it - heating yogurt is hard to do without curdling it), with oatmeal, with granola, in smoothies, instead of milk in my cereal.

Link

Saturday, December 03, 2005, 12:40 PM

2nd Stonyfield Farms

You can find it at Whole Foods. I buy the non-fat plain and make homemade smoothies w/ fresh fruit and a touch of honey for sweetness. The flavored yogurts have WAY to much sugar so I figure it's better to flavor it myself with some berries.

If you have to go for flavored - try getting low fat options rather than non-fat. They have less sugar usually.

Sunday, December 04, 2005, 10:22 PM

Stonyfield Farms makes YoBaby, right?

Monday, December 05, 2005, 1:11 AM

Fage rocks

The fat free Fage (greek) yogurt is the best.

You can mix in a bit of the fat free & sugar free pudding mix to sweeten and flavor it w/out calories (good if you're on Weight Watchers) but it is essentially chemicals. I use this, but only a couple of times per week. I like the "cheesecake" pudding flavor and also add strawberries.

Monday, December 05, 2005, 12:11 PM

After checking the labels at Whole Foods, I found a brand named "Nancy's" that is not only organic but MSG or carrageenan or "Natural Flavor"-free...

Good yogurt! I am lactose intolerant and find that if I eat a bit of yogurt before drinking milk, I won't go running to the bathroom!

Thursday, January 05, 2006, 11:34 PM

a third or fourth fan of Fage

Not only is it tasty, but the consistency is so much better than other yogurts I've tried. It's incredibly thick and creamy. I am ADDICTED!

I get it at Trader Joe's. TJ's also has a great variety of different kinds of yogurt, including yogurt made from soy.

Friday, January 06, 2006, 1:17 AM

Another advocate of Fage!

I'm in love with Fage-- authentic Greek yogurt! It's strained unlike many other yogurts on the market and it's different and much better in texture as well as flavor. It's smooth, creamy & thick, (as the previous commenter noted), and surprisingly filling. Once you try it, you'll never go back to the other brands; or at least I haven't. =] I usually eat it with some frozen mixed berries and unsweetened to get the whole experience. But sometimes I'll add some Splenda.

I'm not too big a fan of soy yogurt though. Mind you, I love tofu, soy milk, and lots of other soy products. But when it comes to yogurt, I'd rather stick to the dairy type.

As for yoplait, dannon, and so on, I find them to be too sweet and not as satisfying. Fage (the fat free kind--the original with all the fat has more than twice the calories as the nonfat version) is only 120 calories per cup, lower in sugar thus lower in carbohydrates and is just as good or even better for you than the other brands, although I typically am only able to eat a 1/2 cup of it at a time anyway because I add fruits, nuts or cereal with it, making it quite filling. Granola, though yummy, is high in sugar and I hear it's bad for your teeth. But if you like it as much as I do, I say just add some.

Lastly, if you don't really like fruity yogurts, try adding a bit of sugar/ Splenda/ some sweetener and a dash or two of ground cinnamon to plain yogurt.

I love yogurt! <3

Friday, January 06, 2006, 2:18 AM

I love Greek yogurt, too. I buy a British brand that has 0% fat and nothing artificial in it at all. I have that for breakfast nearly every day with a few fresh strawberries sliced up, and a good dollop or organic honey. It's delicious and healthy and gives me a great energy boost for the day.

Friday, January 06, 2006, 11:12 AM

I'm intrigued... I just bought a container of the Greek yogurt to try. but haven't tasted it yet.. I figured that if it's the same kind used in gyros, it should be pretty good, not too tart... :-)

Has anyone tried to make their own yogurt? I understand it's not too hard to do!

Friday, January 06, 2006, 5:35 PM

ok, just tried Fage yogurt... actually had never heard of it before reading this thread... it's GREAT!!!
as others have mentioned, the plain is rather tart... I put a squirt of honey in it and YUMMMY!!!!
it's spendy, but worth it. zero fat! 13 grams protein! how great is that?!
thanks for the tip!!

Saturday, January 07, 2006, 4:06 PM

I love my Stonyfield, lowfat plain. Mixed with a banana and I can't have a better breakfast.

Saturday, January 07, 2006, 4:43 PM

Uh-Oh!

the greek yougurt I got by a brand caleld "Krinos" was what I bought.
I tried a 1/2 teaspoon of a taste-- tastes good, like sour cream. But then, I looked on the label... No wonder it was so good--apparently, I forgot to look when I bought it, it's not a low-fat or fat-free version! .... Doh!!!! will have to sparingly use it until it's gone-- or maybe mix it with LOTS of fruit or veggies!!

Saturday, January 07, 2006, 5:34 PM

My BEST Yogurt Recommendation

i picked this up when i was doing south beach - it sounds weird, but it's awesome and a way to add veggies to your daily diet! just slice up (or buy frozen) rhubarb stalks, about five of them, and put them in a sauce pan with some water and half of a packet or so of splenda. simmer it, adding water, until it's totally broken down and become a pinkish sauce. let that cool, and then stir in as much as you want into plain non-fat yogurt. it's super tangy, so it's a great side with spicy foods like indian, but i eat it for breakfast and mid-day snacks all the time just because it's wonderful and much better than the super processed flavored yogurts you can buy premade. even makes a rad dessert!

i keep a container of the sauce in the fridge separate from the yogurt so that the yogurt doesn't separate - only mix them when you're about to eat it.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006, 1:03 PM

and...

i'll bet rhubarb would rule with the greek yogurt!

Tuesday, January 10, 2006, 1:04 PM

I read in a health magazine that eating yogurt everyday helps women by not getting a yeast infection.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006, 6:41 PM

by: Habib, Wednesday, August 09, 2006 9:46 PM