What's the deal with Greek yogurt?

If you've visited a grocery store, eaten lunch in a cafeteria, or watched any television commercials in the past few months, chances are that you've heard about Greek yogurt.  I'm always wary of new food trends with cult followings, even ones that seem harmless or inconsequential, so I decided to do a little research.

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Companies that initiated the craze were largely Greek only brands like Fage, Chobani, and Oikos by Stonyfield Organic.  Now that Greek yogurt has gone mainstream you can get it in almost every brand and flavor.  The original Greek yogurt tastes kind of like a cross between regular yogurt and sour cream.  I know that there are people out there who are seriously addicted to this tart and tangy flavor, but I'm not one of them.  This creates a problem because most of the fruit flavors have added sugar and are not low carb friendly.

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I went to the grocery store and filled my cart with all the Greek yogurts I could find with less than 10 carbs.  The awesome boyfriend and I sampled them all and decided that the hands down winner is Dannon Light & Fit Greek.  Each 5 ounce serving has 9 carbs and 12 grams of protein.  That's more than double the protein of regular yogurt which means that this snack will keep you fuller, longer.  In addition, this yogurt has only 7 sugars compared with the 14-16 that most of it's competitors have.

The only downside to this power food is that it will cost you.  A four pack of Dannon Greek is about $4.00.  The awesome boyfriend and I have been limiting ourselves to one a day, either after lunch or before bed.

Is Greek yogurt really better?  The short answer is yes, due to sugar and protein stats alone.  The long answer is also yes.  Greek yogurt goes through an additional straining process that removes a lot of the lactose and sugar that you'll find in regular yogurts.  Lactose and sugar are what cause regular yogurt to have a high carb content so reducing these dramatically lowers that number.

Additional resources on Greek yogurt:
Greek Yogurt Vs. Regular Yogurt
What is Greek Yogurt?
Why You Should Eat Greek Yogurt

Got a question that I didn't answer here?  As always, feel free to email me at lifelovelowcarb@gmail.com.