Saturday, May 5, 2012

Gone Greek

In recent years, it seems that countless numbers of diets, cleanses, health food trends, etc. have been popularized, phased out, & popularized again.  But one health food trend that emerged 2-3 years ago - the Greek yogurt - seems to be sticking around; at least for the next little while anyway.  First popularized as a snack, the Greek yogurt's utility has expanded & it is now a widely promoted substitute for mayonnaise, sour cream, & creme fraiche.

Just exactly what is Greek yogurt?  From my research (a.k.a. Wikipedia), Greek yogurt is a type of yogurt called strained yogurt.  Strained yogurt is exactly what its name says; it is yogurt that has been strained through a cloth or filter in order to remove the whey & excess water.  By doing so, the end product is thicker & has a more substantial texture.  So Greek yogurt = dried regular yogurt, what's so special about that?  According to LiveStrong, Greek yogurt is superior to regular yogurt in 6 ways:
  1. Greek yogurt can have 2x as much protein as regular yogurt.
  2. Greek yogurt can have up to 50% less sodium than regular yogurt.
  3. Greek yogurt has about 44% less carbohydrates than regular yogurt.
  4. Greek yogurt contains less lactose which makes it easier to digest.
  5. Greek yogurt has more utility in cooking than regular yogurt.
  6. The rich texture of Greek yogurt leaves eaters feeling more satisfied.
Recently, I have hopped onto the Greek yogurt train because I really do enjoy its tangy flavor & rich full'bodied texture.  But I have realized that there are quite a number of brands of Greek yogurt out there.  In order to make sure that I pick the best one for the long run, I conducted a taste test using all blueberry flavors & here are my evaluations:

Specimen #1: Yoplait Greek
     4 ounces
     110 calories.  0g fat.  18g carbohydrates.  13g sugar.  8g protein.
     Purchased as a 4 pack, each container has plain Greek yogurt with a blueberry "sauce" on the bottom.  While the "sauce" is made of real blueberries, it was not blueberry'y @ all.  The yogurt had a fairly thick consistency & it was tart; however,the tangy'ness was short lived.

Specimen #2: Fage Total 0%
     5.3 ounces
     120 calories.  0g fat.  18g carbohydrates.  16g sugar.  13g protein.
     This was a blueberry & acai flavor & it was a container of plain yogurt with a separate container of "sauce."  I thought the design of the container was very clever since I could add as much or as little of the "sauce" as I wanted.  The yogurt was very thick & it was tart even after I added in the fruit.

Specimen #3: Trader Joe's Nonfat Greek Yogurt
     5.3 ounces
     120 calories.  0g fat.  16g carbohydrates.  14g sugar.  13g protein.
     This yogurt came already mixed together & it smelled really sweet.  The texture was thick but it was a bit gritty & it was not as tart as Fage.

Specimen #4: Chobani 0%
     6 ounces
     140 calories.  0g fat.  20g carbohydrates.  20g sugar.  14g protein.
     The yogurt was mostly mixed together but there was extra blueberry @ the bottom.  It was too sweet & not very tangy.  It was also very smooth like regular yogurt.

Specimen #5: Oikos Organic
     5.3 ounces
     120 calories.  0g fat.  16g carbohydrates.  15g sugar.  13g protein.
     This was another one that had the fruit "sauce" at the bottom.   While it was not very sweet, it didn't taste like blueberries.  The yogurt was think & it was very much like regular yogurt.

Specimen #6: Lucerne Greek Nonfat Yogurt
     6.0 ounces
     140 calories.  0g fat.  24g carbohydrates.  22g sugar.  11g protein.
     The yogurt itself was sweet, runny, & did not taste anything like blueberry.  In terms of nutrition, it has disproportionately more calories, more carbohydrates, more sugar, & less protein; this is everything you don't want in a Greek yogurt.

As you can probably see, the nutritional content across different brands is pretty similar; except for the sugar so that's definitely something to look out for.  In terms of flavor and texture, the Fage was definitely my favorite, albeit it was the most expensive one.  I will be continuing my search in order to increase my sample size, but in the mean time I am going to grab a Fage out of my fridge & have a little mid-afternoon snack.



     

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