Should you eat flavored or fruit flavored yogurt or plain? The truth is, switching to healthier snacks is a great first step. I don’t want anyone to think that I am saying you must eat super strict if that isn’t your particular goal. What I do want to make this post do is bring to light that so many flavored and fruit yogurts are almost worse for you than a candy bar. Many are loaded with sugars and additives and many people don’t take the time to read the nutritional labels. If you do, you may only be looking at calories and fat – but what about sugars, carbs and sodium? What about the ingredients? These are all things to take into consideration when choosing the right yogurt for you.
Personally years ago I loved flavored yogurt: from french vanilla to mocha – anything that made the yogurt taste like pudding. Many were around 200 calories, not bad – but the sugar I never looked at!
Let’s take a look at a plain fat free yogurt’s nutritional information versus a flavored yogurt:
Chobani Plain Fat Free Greek Yogurt:
140 calories
0 grams of fat
9 grams of carbs
9 grams of sugar
23 Grams of Protein!
Chobani Strawberry Yogurt:
140 Calories
0 grams of fat
20 grams of carbs
19 grams of sugar
14 grams of Protein!
As you can see the fruit yogurt has more carbs, sugar and has LESS protein! For me, I am all for protein and if I am going to have a yogurt cup I want it to be at least 20 grams of protein. This is why I prefer to use plain, fat free yogurt and then to add some flavor I might add a half of a sliced organic banana and a handful of berries, like blueberries or strawberries. At least I know the fruit is good/organic and that the banana will also give me some good fiber and potassium to fill me up.
Let’s also take a quick look at a non Chobani yogurt that is flavored to see even more difference:
This is a Yoplait yogurt:
170 calories
1.5 grams of fat
33 grams of carbs
26 grams of sugar
ONLY 5 grams of protein!
Next time you head to the grocery store to buy yogurt, I highly recommend spending some time reading the back. Make sure that if you are going to get yogurt that it has a high protein content, that it is low in sugars and also in carbs. You can get carbs and sugar from adding real fruit to a plain yogurt, or maybe add a drop or two of liquid stevia – but honestly this is just a bad trap to get something like a Danon or Yoplait. You are working so hard to eat well, just be aware next time you shop 🙂
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