Greek and natural yogurts also contained higher levels of protein and the sugar is more likely to be naturally occurring than added. Health chiefs say kids aged four to six should have no more than 19g of sugar a day — meaning just one pot could take them over the limit. Sugar is often used as a sweetener to counteract the sourness of the lactic acid, which is produced by live cultures in yogurts.
Study leader Dr. Public Health England has challenged food manufacturers to reduce the sugar content in many products, such as yogurts, by a fifth by Sugar can be listed under many different names , including:. The serving size and calories per serving are listed at the top. The nutrition facts can also tell you how many carbs, fat, protein, and sugar are in each serving.
In the past, the nutrition label did not distinguish added sugar from naturally occurring sugar, which could make it difficult to tell how much sugar had been added. However, labeling guidelines have recently changed so that by mid, the grams of added sugar per serving must also be listed on labels. The nutrition information will also tell you how much calcium and vitamin D each yogurt serving contains. Ideally, your yogurt will contain vitamin D and a significant part of your daily calcium needs.
Reading the label is the first thing you should do when choosing a yogurt. The main ingredient that can turn yogurt from a healthier food into a less healthy one is added sugar. Current statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find that adults ages 20 years and older on average consume 17 teaspoons of sugar daily 2. However, processed foods with added sugar can include sweetened yogurts and help contribute to total sugar intake. Eating added sugar in excess has been linked with the development of many health conditions, including:.
Although yogurt already contains some natural sugar in the form of lactose milk sugar , some food companies add sugars to give it a sweeter taste. Plain yogurt typically contains around 9—12 grams of carbs per cup grams , but the same amount of flavored or sweetened yogurt can easily contain 30 or more grams for the same serving size 6 , 7 , 8. When selecting yogurt, the better option is to pick brands with the least sugar per serving. This means as little as possible over the around 7 grams per cup grams that is already present from lactose.
Typically, the best choice is plain, unflavored yogurt. You can also make your own chia seed yogurt to make plain yogurt less tart. Simply mix 2 cups mL of yogurt with 1. Added sugar can reduce the benefits of an otherwise healthy food. Choose plain yogurt when possible and always read the label to find out if sugar has been added. While low fat or fat free dairy may be lower in calories, reduced fat yogurt typically contains more sugar, which is added to compensate for the loss of flavor from fat.
So if you choose low fat yogurt, be sure to look for one without added sugar. Full fat yogurt is also available. Although it does contain more calories than plain low fat yogurt, that does not necessarily make it a less healthy choice. In fact, the fats found in full fat dairy products may be beneficial. Dairy products contain some naturally occurring trans fats. They are unlike the trans fats found in some processed foods that may have negative health effects.
Dairy fat, namely conjugated linoleic acid CLA , can offer some health-promoting benefits, including:. Both plain unsweetened low fat and full fat yogurt can be healthy. You can choose which type to eat based on your dietary habits, food preferences, and calorie goals. Yogurt can be made from reduced fat or full fat milk. Reduced fat yogurt is only lower in calories if it has no added sugar. Both can be healthier choices.
Healthy probiotic bacteria are used to make yogurt. They turn the milk sugar lactose into lactic acid, which causes the yogurt to taste sour. Although research on probiotics is still in the early stages, studies suggest that they may:.
Other research has found that probiotic yogurts may help lower cholesterol , blood sugar, and blood pressure Eating yogurt with probiotic Bifidobacterium may also help improve constipation in adults, though results are mixed 18 , All yogurts contain these live cultures at first, since they are the ingredient that turns milk into yogurt.
In the body, it is thought that yogurt can encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. These organisms help to digest food more efficiently and protect against other, harmful organisms.
Another health benefit of yogurt is for people that are lactose intolerant. These people have difficulty digesting milk products however, they typically can tolerate yogurt. In general, yogurt is made with a variety of ingredients including milk, sugars, stabilizers, fruits and flavors, and a bacterial culture When the milk arrives at the plant, its composition is modified before it is used to make yogurt.
This standardization process typically involves reducing the fat content and increasing the total solids. Once modification occurs, it is pasteurized to kill bacteria and homogenized to consistently disperse fat molecules.
Lactobacillus bulgaricus. During fermentation, these organisms interact with the milk and convert it into a curd. They also change the flavor of the milk giving it the characteristic yogurt flavor of which acetaldehyde is one of the important contributors. The primary byproduct of the fermentation process is lactic acid.
The acid level is used to determine when the yogurt fermentation is completed which is usually three to four hours. The suppliers of these yogurt cultures offer various combinations of the two bacterial types to produce yogurts with different flavors and textures.
To modify certain properties of the yogurt, various ingredients may be added. For reduced calorie yogurts, artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharin are used. Cream may be added to provide a smoother texture. The consistency and shelf stability of the yogurt can be improved by the inclusion of stabilizers such as food starch, gelatin, locust-bean gum, guar gum and pectin. These materials are used because they do not have a significant impact on the final flavor. The use of stabilizers is not required however, and some marketers choose not to use them in order to retain a more natural image for their yogurt.
To improve taste and provide a variety of flavors, many kinds of fruits are added to yogurt. Popular fruits include strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and peaches, but almost any fruit can be added. Beyond fruits, other flavorings are also added. These can include such things as vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and even mint.
Recently, manufacturers have become quite creative in the types of yogurt they produce using natural and artificial flavorings. The general process of making yogurt includes modifying the composition of and pasteurizing the milk; fermenting at warm temperatures; cooling it; and adding fruit, sugar, and other materials.
Milk products such as yogurt are subject to a variety of safety testing. Some of these include tests for microbial quality, degree of pasteurization, and various forms of contaminants. The microbial quality of the incoming milk is determined by using a dye reaction test. This method shows the number of organisms present in the incoming milk. If the microbial count is too high at this point, the milk may not be used for manufacture. Since complete pasteurization inactivates most organisms in milk, the degree of pasteurization is determined by measuring the level of an enzyme in the milk called phosphatase.
Governmental regulations require that this test be run to ensure that pasteurization is done properly. Beyond microbial contamination, raw milk is subject to other kinds of contaminants such as antibiotics, pesticides or even radioactivity. These can all be found through safety testing and the milk is treated accordingly.
In addition to safety tests, the final yogurt product is also evaluated to ensure that it meets the specifications set by the manufacturer for characteristics such as pH, rheology, taste, color, and odor. These factors are tested using various laboratory equipment such as pH meters and viscometers and also human panelists. The future of yogurt manufacturing will focus on the development of new flavors and longer lasting yogurts.
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