Protein yoghurts are the food industry’s response to the demand on higher protein in an already protein-containing food.
What is yoghurt
At its simplest, yoghurt is a fermented dairy product made by adding specific bacterial cultures to milk. While there are non-dairy yoghurt alternatives, we will be talking about dairy yoghurt in this article.
Why yoghurt?
I recommend regular yoghurt consumption to most of my clients. This is because yoghurt is a source of protein, calcium and probiotics.
Adequate protein intake is fundamental for every aspect of life. Moreover, individuals who are highly active, who are looking to improve body composition or who need to mitigate muscle and/or bone mass should make sure they are consuming enough protein.
Calcium is also an essential nutrient, most commonly linked to bone health. The more efficient way of obtaining dietary calcium is from dairy products, such as yoghurt. There is evidence that fermented dairy products such as yoghurt can be more beneficial to bone health than plain milk.
Finally, yoghurt is made with bacteria, which make it a potential source of probiotics. The actual availability of probiotics in the final product is depending on how it is made.
Yoghurt and protein
While yoghurt is a source of protein, the actual content depends on the style and brand of yoghurt. Moreover, many people eat a couple of spoonfuls as part of a meal (for example, with their morning muesli), translating into very little protein in that meal.
This is why manufacturers have developed protein yoghurts (a.k.a. high protein yoghurts), which typically have double the amount of protein than regular yoghurt.
Protein yoghurts
Below is a comparison of some protein yoghurts currently available in Australia.
Ingredients
- Chobani Fit Vanilla: Skim milk, water, rice starch, natural flavours, enzyme (lactase), sweetener (steviol glycosides), vanilla bean (0.01%), salt, vegetable gum (guar gum), acidity regulators (citric acid, sodium citrate), live cultures (milk)
- Coles Perform: Skimmed milk, live cultures (milk)
- Evia Vanilla: Strained yoghurt [skim milk, skim milk powder, live cultures (including Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus paracasei), vanilla preparation (6%) [water, rice starch, natural flavours, sweetener (steviol glycosides), vanilla bean (0.12%), lemon juice concentrate]
- Farmers Union Greek Style Protein: Skim milk, milk solids, yogurt cultures (milk) (S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus)
- mooPRO Greek Style: Skim milk, milk solids, enzyme (lactase), live cultures (milk)
- mooPRO MAX Banana: Skim milk, milk solids, enzyme (lactase), live cultures (milk), whey protein concentrate (milk), milk protein concentrate, whey protein isolate (milk), emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavours, mineral salt (sodium chloride), thickeners (Xanthan gum, guar gum), emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), digestive enzymes (amylase, bromelain, papain, lactase), sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame potassium), colour (tartrazine)
- Pauls Plus+ High Protein Natural: Skim milk, milk solids, live cultures (from milk).
- Pauls Plus+ High Protein Vanilla: Skim milk, water, milk solids, thickener (1442), flavours, lemon pulp, sweeteners (950, 955), vanilla bean (0.01%), salt, live cultures (from milk)
- Woolworths High Protein Plain: Skim milk, skim milk solids, lactic starter cultures (milk) (including S. Thermophilus, L. Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, L. Casei)
- Yoguri Plain: Skim milk, live yogurt cultures (milk)
- Yoguri Vanilla: Skim milk, rice starch, butter (milk), salt (0.12%), apple and hibiscus concentrate, lemon pulp, natural flavour, sweetener (960), enzyme, live yogurt cultures (milk) (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus)
- YoPRO Plain: Fresh milk, enzyme (lactase), live yoghurt cultures (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus).
- YoPRO Vanilla: Fresh milk, water, rice starch, natural flavours, lemon pulp, enzyme (lactase), live yoghurt cultures (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus), stevia leaf extract, vanilla bean (0.013%), milk minerals, sea salt
Nutrients per serving
Unflavoured yoghurts
Flavoured yoghurts
Nutrients per 100g
Unflavoured yoghurts
Flavoured yoghurts
Recommendations
- Choose a yoghurt that suits your budget and preferences
- Choose a low fat yoghurt if you have a weight loss goal or have health issues that may be affected by dairy fat
- Choose a yoghurt with no added sugar. When checking for added sugar, check the ingredients list and not the sugar content in the nutrition panel as this value will include the lactose content in the yoghurt (lactose is a sugar).
- If you are after a specific protein content, be aware of the serving size. Some of the yoghurts with higher protein content per serve have a larger serving size.
- Yoghurts are naturally lower in lactose than milk due to the fermentation process. Some yoghurts contain lactase enzyme to lower the amount of lactose in the final product and make it more digestible for people with lactose intolerance.
- Some yoghurts have a higher protein content to the addition of milk solids (a.k.a. milk powder). This is an old trick used by dietitians to fortify milk-containing foods. In other cases, the higher protein content is due to the manufacturing process (for example, straining or filtration).
- Besides eating protein yoghurt as a snack (with or without fruit), you can add it to your breakfast (e.g. cereal, porridge, overnight oats). Natural/plain varieties can be used in cooking and baking, also dolloped on meals or desserts instead of cream or sour cream.
[Photo by Anshu A on Unsplash]
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