in search of a better yogurt - health/fitness

Anytime you hear people (and I don't mean trained dietitians, but people in general), talking about food and eating right and diets, yogurt seems to be at the top of the list of the things they believe they should be eating, or believe is good for them. And it is, of course, good for you. And you should, undoubtedly, eat more of it. But my personal opinion is that's only true if you're eating the right yogurt, and you'll only know that if you read the label. The entire label.

You can't stop reading after calories and fat, and completely overlook sugar content. And, frankly, a lot of people believe yogurt should taste like dessert, so sugar never even comes to mind. I'm just not one of those people. Remember when Yoplait was the only game in town? Ugh! I'm so thankful that's no longer the case.

I've been down this road before; the never ending quest for a yogurt that's actually good for me. I gave up Yoplait long ago when I purged all HFCS from my diet, and I'd been pretty regularly eating Wallaby brand yogurt for about a year. But aside from the "organic" label, the second ingredient listed on the Wallaby label was, essentially, sugar. Twenty-three grams of sugar in a single serving. Granted, about 10 grams of the total could be attributed to naturally occurring sugar in fruit, which has redeeming nutritional value. But I don't want that much added, refined sugar in my yogurt.

After reading through more and more labels in the yogurt aisle at Sprouts, I looked passed the $1.99/cup price tag and tried the Siggi's brand. The label spoke for itself:

Protein: 14g
Fat: 0g
Cal: 100
Sugar: 9g

That's huge to me when compared with so many other yogurt manufacturers - all of whom make the claim their yogurt is "healthy," yet continue to add refined sugar, organic or otherwise. (I haven't tried the Chobani brand, but probably will for comparison, although their label indicates, on average, about 19g of sugar per serving).

Be forewarned! I don't like my yogurt sweet. Siggi's is not sweet. I don't like my yogurt runny. Siggi's is not runny. In fact, if you load up your spoon with yogurt and turn it upside down, the yogurt will not fall off. It's seriously, seriously thick. But it's seriously, seriously addicting. I top it with some crunchy flax cereal and a drizzle of raw honey, and life is good.

So, if you're looking to cut refined sugar from your diet, check your yogurt label. You might be surprised to find you're getting too much of a good thing.

In the Valley, Siggi's can be found at Sprouts Farmers Market and Whole Foods. (Whole Foods sells Siggi's for $2.19/cup, which is pretty par for the Whole Foods course...the price you pay to be able to tell people you bought it at Whole Foods).


With love from The Valley of the Sun.