The Yogurt Debate - once and for all?
 

Okay... the whole yogurt thing has me terribly confused... I read the following article at www.lowcarbluxury.com

The Yogurt Exception

Most people on our site when suggesting yogurt always point you toward whole milk yogurt w/ active cultures. The above article says any fermented milk product (low fat, fat free) has 4g per cup... and additionally, eating it daily will increase the flora in your body to make you even more efficient in digesting whatever carbs do remain...(???)

So, I'm still in a conundrum about this so-called "exception" - because I bought the product they are praising, Blue Bunny Lite 85 Yogurt sweetened with Splenda. Please read this review: Blue Bunny Yogurt Review

I bought some despite the fact that I don't really buy the testers premise that "you can put yourself into a really deep ketosis" (well, I can, but it usually means I'm not drinking enough water...) and that is how they verified it only has the 4g per container (each tester ate 3 containers and remained in full, deep ketosis)

I ran it through the hidden carbs inspector... which declared this product at 14.14; the label reads 14. I suppose that the carb inspector isn't designed to calculate fermented dairy products...

The yogurt is delish, and I've remained in pale ketosis (if I can be bothered to check) but I find it hard to believe that this particular yogurt has only 4g of carbs per cup because it has "modified food starch" listed as an ingredient (twice; once in the flavoring and again as the next to last ingredient). I contacted the company, but guess what? No response as of a week later. (note to self: always take your glasses to the market so you can read the fine print )

Anyone want to take a stab at it? Should I just treat the "Bunny" as a YMMV thing? What is the real truth about unadulterated yogurt?? This is the one LC thing that makes my eyes cross.... :daze:

(and yep, I ran it through the search engine...lots of journal entries and a few info threads, but I'm still lost... :help:

If it's the "modified food starch" that concerns you, why don't you buy plain yogurt and flavor it yourself with Spleda and berries? Or SF flavored syrup? That's what I do.

I was under the impression (from where, I don't know) that one should only buy yogurt where the label reads "with live cultures" and has at least 2 bacteria listed. I never see that on pre-flavored yogurt at all. As a matter of fact I can only find that at the health food store.

Sorry, I didn't help answer your question. I probably only added to your confusion!!

Hmmm....
 

I guess the reason I like the Bunny brand is because it tastes nothing like yogurt - more like a pudding! I really don't care for the bitter/sour bite of yogurt, but I'm trying to include more healthful foods in my diet... as for the actual cultures, it doesn't name names, and I agree, I've never seen that listed before at the grocery store (I thought just the "live active cultures" was the buzz phrase) Maybe next shopping trip I will try the plain yogurt...it's really the only food where the label is wrong is a good way, huh?

On something totally unrelated, I was in the market yesterday, and my cart looked really good!! All fresh, non-processed foods (we are even starting to slowly drop so many cured meats from our diet) and my DD Madeline is down to one junky thing every other shopping trip (and most times now she takes a bite and pitches the rest in the garbage!)

The two cultures are usually acidophilus and bifidus. And they do have to be live and active. ;)

There are many plain organic brands of yogurt that are barely sour. The whole milk ones do tend to taste better because of the highter fat content.

But, you don't have to eat yogurt to get the benefits. Taking acidophilus or probiotics will do the same thing.

If you want a tutti frutti yogurt that doesn't taste like yogurt and don't mind eating SF Jell-o, here's what to do:

Dissolve 1 pkg Jell-o in 1 cup boiling water. Let it cool to room temperature then stir in 1 cup whipping cream and 2 cups yogurt. Chill until set. You will barely be able to tell its yogurt.

Karen

I eat yogurt
 

When I came back on atkins in January, I considered a modified program. I eat yogurt if I don't have time to fix eggs with bacon or sausage. The fact that it tastes really good to me doesn't hurt also. I guess I figured that since it wasn't something sweet, like a pretzel or cinnamon roll or something like that it wasn't too bad for me, carb wise. I know it still has carbs, but it is my one luxury. It doesn't seem to stall me. Now the ketosis thing, ever since starting atkins, I have only registered light ketosis once one the sticks. Even though I have lost continously. So, there is my take on yogurt. Hope you find out what you need to.
Belle

I believe in yogurt!
 

Here's a link to an article I posted recently. This has been a hot topic around here of late.

Eat the full fat yogurt!

The brand I buy is Stonyfield Farms organic whole milk yogurt which has live and active cultures. The trick is that these little guys eat away the sugars.

Blue Bunny Lite 85 yogurt, raspberry flavor, has 13 carbs listed in the nutrition facts. It contains the following active yogurt cultures: L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus. I got this right off of the container. This brand is sweetened with Splenda and contains no aspartame.

I will never eat yogurt again! Thats Gross! The little guys eat the sugar!! I hope what I just read I am confused by, because the thought of eating little guys scares me!
Hey, I had to put this one in because if anyone else had wanted to they probably did not have the nerve.
Good Luck eating Yogurt!
Brenda

Think about yeast and that eating the sugar in your bread! That ought to turn you off bread too!

Really, there are little guys in most drinking water and it hasn't killed us yet... ;)

To back on topic, I can maintain with yogurt but I don't usually lose. YMMV.

Beth

Here's my favorite thread about it. I'm choosing to count the stated carbs on the label.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...ogurt+exception

Yougurt is one of the healthiest foods but it has to be full fat and must have life cultures. It is rather helpfull for weight loss, has lots of calcium and is great to support healthy flora in our colon. It's also a meal by itself, containing protein, fat and some carbs, easy to digest, etc. If you are concern about the carb count, try Greek yougurt, which is strained and has only 8 g of carbs compare to 11 g of plain full fat yougurt. It's thick and taste delicious, even without a sweetener or with some fresh berries. It makes a delicious dessert mixed with chocolate flavored Davichi sf syrop opr savory with chopped herbs and cucumber. :yum:You can make your own by straining plain full fat yougurt. You can even make your own yougurt using either some store bought or yugurt cultures. I buy Greek yougurt in TJ.

Greek Yogurt is teh yum.

Hate to break it to you, but you, personally, have POUNDS of the little guys in you right now. And what's worse, they live in your BOWELS. Strangely enough, you're NOTHING without them. They have near-total control over your immune system, and in fact, ARE the immune system of the planet. All animals and plants evolved with the little guys around, and truthfully, they run the whole show. The predominant theory among evolutionary biologists is that humans evolved so that bacteria would have a better place to live and reproduce.

The happier THEY are, the healthier YOU are.

And their connection to a healthier you is increasingly hard to ignore. Even the Arthritis Trust of America http://www.arthritistrust.org/Artic...teria/index.htm can't shut up about them. As more and more of our ill health is revealed to be a consequence of immune system dysfunction, we might, in the future, be kinder to them. Or at least know that they are in charge of us.

In yogurt, the little guys eat sugar and poop B vitamins. No a bad tradeoff, I'd say.

And if the little guys inside you weren't gross enough, there's the wee tiny insects (mites) that live off the crud in your eyelashes and eyebrows. In fact, be happy they're there because if they weren't, your eyelashes and eyebrows would be all crudded up!

....sometimes late at night... I hear them munching on my dead skin cells and saying, "Pass the guacamole, please".

Breakfast for me is often steel cut oats, yogurt and walnuts all mixed together. Maybe some blueberries. Yum. E. Very low glycemic, around 30-40 g of carbs.