What Is The Healthiest Yogurt You Can Buy
Instead of settling for high-sugar, fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts, Langer loves the Fage Total Split Cup Greek Yogurt for a fruity treat that keeps the sugar in check. We love the cherry flavor, but you can choose one you love, from strawberry to peach.
what is the healthiest yogurt you can buy
This thick and creamy Icelandic-style yogurt is technically a strained cheese that boasts a protein-rich nutrition profile. We love this apple cinnamon with almonds option, which tastes like autumn in a cup.
For a more luxurious bite to your morning, this delicious pick offers real coffee extract in every spoonful for the gut benefits of yogurt and the pick-me-up perks of your cup of Joe. Just note that this option is a bit higher in sugar.
Packed with metabolism-revving protein and overflowing with gut-healthy probiotics, yogurt has all the makings of one of the very best weight-loss foods around. In fact, a 2014 study in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases found that adults who ate more than seven servings of yogurt per week were less likely to be overweight or obese than those who ate two or fewer servings per week.
The good news is that we're here to help! We asked dietitians for their expert advice on how to choose the healthiest yogurts. Whether you're looking for a low-fat, full-fat, or sippable yogurt, the next time you find yourself discombobulated in the dairy section, refer to this handy guide of the best yogurts for weight loss.
"While no one food is responsible for weight loss, yogurt can be a great addition to a balanced diet that can ultimately help you lose weight," says Elizabeth Matchett, RDN, CD, a registered dietitian and nutrition coach at NapTown Fitness.
"Yogurt has all sorts of ways to help you lose weight; however, some yogurts are better than others for weight loss," says dietitian Amanda A. Kostro Miller, RD, LDN, who serves on the advisory board for Smart Healthy Living.
Not just great-tasting, Siggi's is one of the lowest-sugar vanilla yogurts on the market. "With just 9 grams of sugar, it barely has any added sugars, as yogurt itself naturally contains about 6 grams. As opposed to most other vanilla-flavored Greek yogurts, with about 15-20 grams per serving, a moderate 9 grams of sugar in Siggi's is the winner," says Balk. The Icelandic yogurt is strained more than Greek varieties, which also ups the protein content.
While it's not technically a sugar-free yogurt (because dairy naturally contains sugars), Fage Total are all no-sugar-added. You can't get a much purer ingredient list than this: milk, cream, and live, active probiotic cultures.
Stephanie Nelson, RD, in-house nutrition expert and nutrition scientist at MyFitnessPal, prefers 2% Greek yogurts to nonfat because they tend to be more satiating and have a thicker, creamier texture.
"Lowfat yogurts are a good compromise between the lower-calorie benefits of nonfat yogurt and the better-tasting whole-milk yogurts," she explains. "And Greek yogurts in general are great for weight loss because they are higher in protein, which helps preserve muscle mass while you lose fat."
This all-natural yogurt is not only protein- and calcium-rich but contains no added sugar, additives, or preservatives. As it's unflavored, you can use it in smoothies, as a sour cream replacement, dips, cooking, baking, or even as your dessert!
If you want a high-protein yogurt but don't like the tart taste of Greek yogurt, try Icelandic Provisions' skyr. The Icelandic heirloom cultures Icelandic Provisions uses help transform their dairy base into a creamy, decadent yogurt. This vanilla skyr will fill you up with an impressive amount of protein for the fewest grams of added sugar.
The healthiest yogurts, like Chobani's Plain Greek yogurt, have low sugar content and are packed with plenty of satiating protein. Julie Upton, RD, co-founder of Appetite for Health, recommends reaching for plain Greek yogurt when you're trying to slim down.
She loves Chobani's because it's just 80 calories, but is triple strained to have a rich, thick and creamy texture. It also contains 14 grams of high-quality protein to keep you full for hours, and since it's unflavored, it has zero grams of added sugar. (Pro tip: you can add flavor to yogurt for far fewer calories by mixing in your own fruit, nuts, and seeds.)
Chobani's yogurt contains live and active cultures, and three different types of probiotics to keep your gut happy. As an added bonus, it has less than 5% lactose, making it an ideal pick for those who have to adhere to a low-lactose diet.
If you like flavored yogurts, Matchett recommends Wallaby Organic Aussie Greek No Sugar Added yogurt. "It currently comes in two fun flavors and is sweetened with fruit concentrates [rather than added sugars]," she says. So, again, while technically not a sugar-free yogurt, Wallaby is added sugar-free. Wallaby also offers countless plain low-fat Greek yogurt flavors. They're all tasty middle-of-the-road offerings for those who don't want to commit to the calories of a whole-milk-based yogurt, but like the idea of reaping extra nutrients from a bit of milk fat.
Maple Hill Creamery's yogurts are made just two ingredients: grass-fed milk and live cultures. That difference in milk might be reflected in the price, but it's well worth the extra cents if you can afford it. "Grass-fed yogurt contains more omega-3s and conjugated linoleic acids, both of which help prevent heart disease, inflammation, diabetes, and various cancers," registered dietitian Stephanie Middleberg, MS, RD, CDN explains. That's why grass-fed milk makes the healthiest yogurt. Bonus: Maple Hill Greek yogurts are rich, creamy and taste way more decadent than they are.
Although there is no naturally-occurring fiber in yogurt, Dannon's addition of chicory root fiber allows the yogurt's six grams of naturally-occurring sugar to be matched with an equal amount of digestion-slowing fiber. The source of fiber, chicory root, is a source of inulin, a prebiotic that may help feed those live active probiotic cultures and can help minimize spikes in insulin after a carb-heavy meal.
Not only is this yogurt easy to digest, but it contains both prebiotics and billions of probiotics to support digestive and immune health. It contains no artificial sweeteners, and instead, gets its tasty flavor from real vanilla extract, natural flavors, monk fruit extract, and stevia leaf extract. Did we mention that it provides all nine essential amino acids as well as 10% of your daily value for calcium? Now that's what we call complete.
If you want to enjoy Noosa, be sure to pick a flavor that comes in a 4-ounce container. If you can't find these smaller packaged yogurts, you could end up consuming over 30 grams of sugar before breakfast!
As far as fruit-flavored yogurts go, Chobani's Less Sugar line is a safe bet. Especially since it's so rare to find a fruit-flavored yogurt with more protein than sugar. This one's also gluten-free, kosher, and free of artificial ingredients. Pick some up if you haven't been able to give up on your fruit-flavored yogurts, but we'd always recommend a plain Greek yogurt with real blueberries before any pre-packaged container.
Brown Cow Farms makes a great cream-on-top yogurt because they keep things simple and basic. As a general rule, we recommend choosing brands that have a short ingredient list. Brown Cow's non-GMO Greek yogurt contains just two ingredients plus cultures.
It's not the healthiest yogurt, and it's not even our second pick (you can see where it actually ranks in our ultimate ranking of vanilla yogurts), but this is your best option if you're a die-hard traditional Yoplait yogurt fan. (Especially since their other lines are riddled with artificial sweeteners.) Their Original French Vanilla has reasonable calorie, fat, and protein counts. However, because it is still fairly high in sugar, don't rely on this container to keep you full all morning. To counteract the high sugar count, we recommend pairing it with digestion-slowing, high-fiber chia seeds.
Compared to other drinkable yogurts on the market, Chobani has churned out a drink that has about 33 percent less sugar. Not only is it lower in sugar than their competitors, but it also contains belly-filling fiber and 10 grams of muscle-building protein. With its moderately high sugar count, it may still be good to keep this drink to a post or pre-workout snack.
Kefir is 99 percent lactose-free, making it a great yogurt alternative for those with lactose intolerance. This tangy drinkable yogurt is easy to eat on the go and is loaded with 16 grams of protein. Whether or not you can handle dairy, throw it into your shopping cart to mix up your morning routine!
Yogurts are already a staple in most people's kitchens, as much like healthy cereal (opens in new tab), they're a quick and easy go-to for low-calorie breakfasts (opens in new tab), dessert and afternoon snacks. But the debate around yogurt, everything from whether Greek yogurt is actually good for you (opens in new tab) to whether frozen yogurt is a good replacement for ice cream, carries on as myths around the food seem to be created and debunked almost every day.
To figure out the healthiest yogurts, we've ranked 17 different yogurts from best to worst. These rankings are based on the yogurts' nutritional values per 100g, looking particularly at calories, sugar and salt content. Particularly high or low values are spotlighted throughout, so you can pick the yogurt that works best for you.
With the help of nutritionist Dr Sana Khan, we've compared different varieties of yogurt ranging from kids' favourites like Munch Bunch and Petits Filous, well-known healthy yogurt brands like Onken and Danone, to other favourites like Greek yogurt, so you know which healthiest yogurts to bulk buy and those to leave on the shelf.
Verdict: Cow's milk doesn't necessarily agree with everyone's skin and digestion, but nut milks (cashew, almond, coconut) can be expensive. Goats' milk, however is relatively easy to find and easier on the purse, plus it's not as allergenic at cow's milk. St Helen's Farm specialises in it and the yogurts are delicious. Plus they're pretty good for us too. Two scoops of this with some berries in the morning and you'll be ready for anything. 041b061a72