Ok, so for the past year or 18 months i have eaten natural yogurt and cut back on fruit yogurt. Initially i had it for breakfast with oats and raisins…. then i dropped the oats then the raisins to have it with an apple…… now it goes with some cinnamon and pecans or red berries but as a pudding / treat rather than breakfast….. how things have changed from Cocopops to cinnamon yogurt.

Anyway, my natural yogurt of choice was Yeo Valley natural low fat, then moved on to the full fat.
Then i read that full fat greek yogurt is the way to go….. so i beetled off to read the nutrition and understand it.
Nutrition per 100g and my thought process with focus on reducing sugar & carbs:
– For reference – Light and Free greek style raspberry yogurt (yum) = 50 calories, 7.5g carbs, 6.4g sugar.
– Yeo Valley full fat = 82 calories; 5.6g carbs (All sugar) – better than fruit yogurt.
– Yeo Valley fat free = 56 calories, 7.5g carbs (all sugar) – see full fat is better for carbs! Great – its lovely and creamy!
– Fage 5% = 93 calories 3g sugar – ah – better still! Switch to greek required.
– Fage 0% = 54 calories, 3g sugar…… ooooooh interesting!!
So….. can someone explain why i should eat the 5% Fage instead of the 0%? Same carbs, less calories.

As I’m struggling to stick with the 800 calories i have become very conscious of every 50 calories so the 0% is tempting….in all honesty the fruit light and free is tempting and admittedly its an occasional treat….. but I am aware of the advice always to go for the full fat option and wanted to understand it better.
Is it just because the full fat is more filling? Kinda think i’d rather have a serving of 0% twice a day rather than one 5%…..

Thoughts from the wise people of the forum please?

I’m going to throw another spanner in the works – have you tried YeoValley Kerned Yoghurt? It’s more like Greek yoghurt in that it’s very thick and creamy.
Sorry I can’t help on the full fat vs 0% discussion, but I always go for the full fat option. For one thing, I find the 0% Greek yoghurts taste a bit chalky, whereas the others are very creamy. I can’t abide the taste of artificial sweeteners, so anything flavoured is out for me.
I do understand re. the 800cals though, it is not an easy balance.

Ooooo so i asked this exact question when i started……so i feel suitable qualified to answer!!
The Fage 0% has less fat (obviously) which means less nutritional value and therefore it will keep you sated for less time. Its not about whats NOT in it (calories) it is about what IS in it – good healthy fat which will fill you up and give your body essential nutrition to help it function better. Honestly, you would be better going 50 calories over and having the full fat yogurt.

Oh and I am 100% the same as you – went from cocopops / toast to yogurt, cinnamon oats and raisins to yogurt, cinnamon and apple and now I skip breakfast and have cinnamon yogurt with cinnamon pecans or coconut; or redberries and ginger! And as a treat / pudding!
🙂

Hi Jack

As Windy has said the full fat is much more filling so you can eat less of it but be more full. But also to add, the full fat is MUCH less tart, I find 0% any yoghurt to be lip pursingly tart, whereas the full fat is still a little tart but much more creamy – if I was having 0% I would NEED some berries etc. to sweeten it enough to be palatable, whereas I can eat the 5% perfectly fine with plain nuts and seeds and no added sweet!

Lauren x

One of the tricks that they do with the 0 fat yogurt is add all sorts of processed items into the mix to control the taste and consistency.

One of the things to check on the ingredient list is for artificial sweeteners. – they will technically mean less carbs and less calories. However, because our body is so sensitive to the levels of sugar in the blood it is designed to respond to anything which tastes sweet as if it has sugar, causing an insulin spike.