White, sparkling, creamy, fresh and with that pleasant dash of acidity: talk about yogurt!
Yogurt is a nutritious and valuable food in our diet, it belongs to that category of products that are recommended to be consumed every day and is obtained by fermenting milk with specific microorganisms that are allied to our health.
There are several varieties on the market, among which we will try to find an order and make a buying guide! Let us always remember that there are no wrong products, only correct quantities, and begin our journey into the world of yogurt.
How does yogurt come into being?
The history of yogurt is rooted in the mists of time and probably began by accident. Milk exposed to heat, the right bacterial contamination et voila: primordial yogurt is served!
The earliest evidence for the existence of yogurt in the human diet dates as far back as the Neolithic period, between 10,000 and 5,000 B.C. in the Middle East. At that time, milk was traditionally stored in pouches made of goat or cow stomachs that were then strapped onto mounts. After a day of walking in the sun, in an unsterilized environment and subjected to constant agitation from the movement of animals, quite a few chemical reactions took place. Once we discovered that it was not only edible but also tasty, we also noticed how this transformation helped the milk last longer. Yogurt had just earned a ticket into the human diet.
CURIOSITY
The oldest texts mentioning “yogurt” are attributed to Pliny the Elder who reported that some nomadic tribes knew how to “thicken milk into a substance of pleasant acidity.” However, in the Bible, and more specifically in the Book of Job written between 600 B.C. and 400 B.C., the phrase “Land of Milk and Honey” is interpreted by some historians as a reference to yogurt!
What is yogurt?
Yogurt is a food that is produced from cow’s milk that is heated, filtered, concentrated through filtration, homogenized and brought to high temperatures. It is then cooled until it reaches the optimum temperature at which to add two milk enzymes: Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, which proliferate and ferment, feeding on the milk sugars.
During this process, in fact, lactose is partly transformed into lactic acid, which is responsible for the acidity of the yogurt flavor. And it is this reduction in pH that causes the milk’s casein protein to coagulate and precipitate, resulting in the creamy texture of yogurt.
The health effects of yogurt
The bacteria in yogurt help maintain the balance of intestinal flora and promote the synthesis of B vitamins and vitamin K. Several studies then confirm that consumption of milk or yogurt is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, colorectal cancer, metabolic syndrome, obesity, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and osteoporosis.
How much should we consume?
The decalogue prepared by the Ministry of Health and dedicated to the proper consumption of milk and yogurt begins, “Worldwide, all healthy eating guidelines indicate that milk/yogurt consumption is associated with maintaining good health and recommend daily consumption; the Italian healthy eating guidelines recommend consumption of 3 servings of milk per day equal to 375 ml per day. At the national level, a recent consensus document recommends milk and yogurt consumption among examples of a nutritionally adequate breakfast.”
But when can I consume it?
We tend to think we have no space or time in the day to consume yogurt, making three meals on average and not wanting to associate it with either lunch or dinner. Another obstacle is breakfast, which despite showing itself to be an ally of yogurt instead becomes averse to those who, complicit in our being habitual, consume other products and struggle to change. But we often forget that the guidelines of proper nutrition recommend having not three, but five meals a day! It then becomes very easy to imagine incorporating a mid-morning or afternoon snack of yogurt and fruit, or yogurt and cereal. It only takes a little effort to discover how enjoyable it is to incorporate new foods into our routines and those of the people we love, knowing then that they are good for us.
How many yogurts exist?
So many, including whole, low-fat, sweet and fruity. Let’s try to provide some clarity in this brief buying guide, which is not meant to tell us which product is better, but more to promote informed purchases. It seems obvious but better to specify: any reference to yogurt, unless otherwise specified, refers to cow’s milk, not milk from other animals.
That’s right: nutritional values can change even a lot, for the same amount, if we consider goat’s milk or buffalo milk.
Whole white yogurt
Whole white yogurt is made from whole milk to which the milk enzymes we named earlier, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, are added.
Average nutritional values per 100 g of product:
- 68 Kcal
- protein 3.8 g
- fat 4.0 g
- Carbohydrates 4.3 g (of which sugars 4.3 g).
Some yogurts have sugar added to increase their sweetness. In these cases the caloric intake will also vary, increasing a little. By how much is the difference? It depends! The advice is to read the labels and make comparisons. Of course, it will be necessary to spend some time reading and concentrating, but after the first few times, memory will come to our aid and we will identify the products that best meet our tastes and needs.
Low-fat white yogurt
Low-fat white yogurt is made from skim milk and milk enzymes without the addition of other ingredients.
Average nutritional values per 100 g of product:
- 36 Kcal
- protein 3.3 g
- fats 0.9 g
- Carbohydrates 4 g (of which sugars 4 g).
Again, the caution described for whole yogurts applies: the labels are very interesting, let’s read them.
Yogurt (whole or low-fat) with fruit
These are whole or low-fat yogurt fortified with fruit and sugar. Often dyes, flavorings and/or thickeners or cereals and/or nuts and seeds are also added to some products.
The content of these added elements, and thus also the caloric intake, varies from product to product.
Greek yogurt
Greek yogurt is made by removing whey and other liquids from regular yogurt. Because the straining process reduces the total volume, Greek yogurt requires much more milk than regular yogurt to produce the same amount. Traditionally, yogurt was strained in cloth bags until it reached the desired consistency, while today modern production methods use centrifuges to achieve the same effect. Because most of the liquid is removed, Greek yogurt is much thicker and has a significantly more intense flavor than regular yogurt. The remaining mass consequently has a higher protein and fat content and a lower sugar content than conventional yogurt.
The average nutritional values per 100 g of product:
- 115 Kcal
- protein 6.4 g
- fat 9.1 g
- Carbohydrates 2 g (of which sugars 2 g).
Like traditional yoghurt, Greek yoghurt can be made using skim milk, so the fat content is zero, or fortified with fruit, sugar, and in some cases also colorings, flavorings and thickeners, grains or seeds.
Kefir
It is a product very similar to yogurt that is produced by fermenting milk through the addition of a very rich mix of microorganisms. To produce Kefir, one starts with milk, whole or semi-skimmed, to which kefir grains are added. These grains are a concentrate of probiotic microorganisms, resulting in a mostly heterolactic fermentation. Kefir grains are a symbiosis composed of lactic, acetic and yeast bacteria of different types. If we wanted to go into a little detail, here are some of the species that are part of it: Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Saccharomyces, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter, Lactobacillus casei. Kefir is visually similar to a liquid drinking yogurt. It is creamy, acidic, and slightly carbonated due to fermentations. Its distinctive flavor is due to the presence of lactobacilli and carbon dioxide. The average nutritional values per 100 g of product:
- Energy 58kcal
- Protein 3.3g
- Fat 3.6g
- Carbohydrates 3.5g (of which sugars: 3.5g)
- Lactobacillus casei >1MLD
Not only cow
We are used to consuming and thinking of yogurt as derived from cow’s milk, but there are tasty alternatives! For example, goat yogurt, with a stronger flavor. Or buffalo one, very creamy and enveloping. The nutritional values differ and, basically, are higher in fat and energy value. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it’s good to know: if you are curious about new flavors, trying these yogurts is almost a must!
Plant intolerances and alternatives
The field of research and development has enabled the creation of products that embrace the needs of more and more consumers.
Lactose-free yogurt: those intolerant to lactose, the sugar found in milk, can in fact refer to milk and its derivatives that through industrial processes manage to eliminate it. Yogurt included! For nutritional information on these types of products, it is always best to refer to the various labels found on the market.
Vegan yogurts: Sensitivity to animal-derived products has led more and more people to choose a vegan eating style, thus giving up foods such as eggs, cheese, milk and yogurt. The commodity sector of milk, dairy and cheese has been in great turmoil for the past decade, and there is no shortage of plant-based alternatives to these products now. Plant-based yogurt is a fermented product derived from beverages extracted from the seeds or fruits of certain plant species. Basically, vegetable yogurts can be an excellent alternative to cow’s yogurts if they are free of added sugars, so be careful to read the ingredient list well. There are a couple of though. To be precise, there is no mention of either yogurt or milk. According to the Court of Justice of the European Union, plant products cannot be marketed under names proper to animal products, such as “milk,” “cream or custard,” “butter,” “cheese,” and “yogurt.” They are, then, similar foods in terms of how they are consumed, but their nutritional characteristics and production process are different.
The products that can be called yogurt substitutes in the market are many with different textures, flavors and compositions. It is unthinkable to give general characteristics of these products here, but it is important to remember that the nutritional profile of vegetable yogurt is not that of cow’s yogurt, just as vegetable beverages are not, in nutritional terms, associated with animal milk. To shorten the distance, vitamins and minerals are often added to vegetable yogurts to make a product as similar as possible. Especially B vitamins, vitamin D, and calcium, referred to as calcium phosphate, which is useful for skeletal health. The Italian Society of Human Nutrition indicates that these products can be very useful for those on a vegan diet.
As for flavor and characteristics, all that remains is to explore the supermarket aisles and try the different varieties!
Sources:
- CREA Center for Food and Nutrition Research, Food Composition Tables.
- INRAN (National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition), Milk and functional products: the new generation, 2006
- The Yogurt Council, The History of Yogurt, 2013. 2. Batmanglij N. Comerford et al., 2021 Zhang et al., 2021
Dehghan et al., 2018 - IEO
- SINU – Reference Intake Levels of Nutrients and Energy for the Italian Population (LARN)
Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 14 June 2017 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Trier – Germany)-Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb eV / TofuTown.com GmbH
