It also makes a nice substitute for sour cream.
OK, I’ll try a different brand. I think I got dazzled by the Chobani label-- it looks very classy. I’m definitely not a no-fat guy, on the whole, but I like to eat fats strategically, and I figure yogurt is one place to not have it. I’ll try the regular stuff next time.
Thanks for all the info, guys. This has been great!!
Oh, and there is nothing sweet about plain yogurt (which is what I buy). Even when I add ripe berries, it’s still more on the sour end than “sweet”. Which is OK with me-- I like the sourness of yogurt.
I’ll echo the love, especially for FAGE. I eat the plain by itself, or sometimes add things like a dab of cherry preserves. I like the flavor and texture, and find it more satisfying.
I buy the 0% Fage all the time. It’s what my local supermarket carries in the bigger tub.
I’m not a fan of Fage. Good texture, but I don’t like the flavor. I concur with Greek Gods as having good flavor. Another good one is the Trader Joe’s brand - both flavor and texture.
I’ve read of cheaper brands adding thickeners to regular yogurt to save money. Is that something that really happens?
I never liked the soupy yogurts. When I was in high school, there was “swiss style,” also called “thick and creamy.” Much more appetizing. But since we are cutting carbs, yogurt is not something I indulge in often now.
That’s what low-fat and non-fat do. Take out the fat and you have to replace it with something.
Yeah, I know about that. But any cheep brands of Greek yogurt that just artificially thicken regular yogurt?
I tried it and found that I prefer regular low fat yogurt.
It may be that I just tried the wrong brand, but apparently there are lots of people who prefer the regular yogurt, because the supermarket shelves are full of many different brands and flavors of it, which wouldn’t be the case if there weren’t many people who prefer it.
Yes, usually gelatin.
I used to work with a woman who refused to eat meat, but she would always have a Yoplait yogurt with lunch. I could not bring myself to tell her that it contained gelatin, presumably of animal-bone origin.
Fage full-fat is the bomb. I’ll eat Greek Gods in a pinch, but I go out of my way to buy the Fage full-fat at the one store in my area that carries it.
Never buy the flavored or sugared variety. If you want it sweet, it’s much better with a couple spoonfuls of jam mixed in, or fresh fruit.
I started eating Greek yogurt when I spent the summer of 1990 in Greece. I longed for it for many years after coming back. Nowadays, you can barely find non-Greek yogurt. What a world we live in!
Greek yogurt has a LOT more protein for the same number of calories as regular yogurt. That makes it a more nutrition dense food, since it seems to have the same calcium, and other vitamins and minerals you’d expect from yogurt, the the same percentages as regular. Slight differences of a percent or two by brand, maybe.
If you want yogurt to taste like it tastes in Greece, get Fage full fat, and eat it with honey. That’s what yogurt tastes like in Greece. It’s probably 400 calories for a 1/2 cup, but it’s heavenly.
When I make Indian food, I buy plain, fat free Greek yogurt, low fat sour cream, and mix a half cup of yogurt with a 1/4 cup of sour cream, and then water it down with skim milk (what we have in the house-- if you have 2% or regular, that would work just as well) until I have something I can spoon on, like the yogurt in the Indian restaurants. The sweet taste the restaurant yogurt has comes from the addition of grated vegetables, mostly carrots. You could try thinning it with carrot juice if you are feeling adventurous, or add a finely grated carrot and a tiny bit of tomato juice, I suppose. But anyway, that’s how it gets that vaguely sweet taste that you can’t replicate with sweeteners.
I think the Indian yogurt topping is called “raita.” You could google recipes.
Unless you’re a vegetarian, I don’t think the extra protein really matters. Most of us already have more than a sufficient amount of protein in our diets.
Buy and eat what you want, but “more protein” isn’t a good reason to do so for most people.
Actually, I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop on greek yogurt for a while. The speed with which it became popular and all but totally displaced all other yogurt types on nearly every grocery shelf is not something that happens very often in consumer product lines, especially not grocery staples. Greek yogurt pushing the regular stuff to one or two shelf feet of three flavors, in a matter of what, 3-4 years?, is equivalent to a variant of root beer knocking colas off the market.
I’m not sure what that other shoe might be, but it won’t surprise me when it lands.
Food with more of something also means less of something else. Whatever the value or lack of value of a relatively high protein diet more protein in a particular food means less of either fat or carbohydrate. In this case the less is carbohydrate and the carbohydrate is sugar, lactose to be precise.
Now I am not a low carb advocate (fine for those who are) but protein does satiate longer than a simple sugar does and I personally prefer my simple sugars in my fruits and getting my other carbs inside other foods. Most practically I can eat Greek yogurt without getting gassy.
The other point to satiety is that the protein in Greek yogurt is casein with much of the whey protein coming out along with the lactose. Casein is slow to digest and thus helps one stay less hungry longer.
Nothing magical and nothing major. But neither are those slight differences fictional.
Of course buying Greek yogurt in which they’ve added back a ton of sucrose offsets the less lactose bit …
Chobani also has less of the good probiotics that other yogurts have. I found this out recently from my doctor. If you’re eating yogurt to help grease the tracks, it’s not a first choice.
That’s very good to know. I don’t eat a lot of meat (I’m a slacker semi-vegetarian and just don’t care for it, anyway) so I eat Greek yogurt for the protein. I can eat a regular yogurt without it even registering that I ate something, but Greek stays with me for quite awhile. I like Trader Joe’s and Oikos Triple Zero when I run out of TJ’s but can’t get back by there.
I’ve no idea why I haven’t tried Fage! I most certainly will. I do love yogurt.
Regarding probiotics, I quote current medical opinion on the topic, as put forth in the medical website uptodate.com:
In other words, yeah, they probably help in certain circumstances. But anyone stating that a particular brand or route is superior, especially as regards commercial food products, is not basing their statement on good evidence at this time.
As for greek yogurt, it’s handy for cooking but I like to mix bran and fruit in my yogurt, and the extra liquid of standard yogurt hence is a plus for me.
And I like the full fat, unsweetened, unflavored varieties. Including goat and sheep yogurts, when I can get 'em.