American Yogurt vs. Greek Yogurt

I'd like yogurt for breakfast, please. Hold the sugar.

I was looking at the ingredient lists of some common yogurts in the grocery store...Yoplait/Yoplus, Dannon, store brand, etc. Did you know all of the light or fat free yogurts I picked up contained aspartame? To manufacturers, light or less fat typically = less sugar. But that sweet taste has to be replaced by something, so they use a chemically engineered sweetener such as aspartame.

I finally found a lowfat fruit on the bottom Publix brand yogurt with no aspartame; it's 2nd ingredient was sugar and it also had artificial coloring. (Regular or full fat yogurts contain sugar, too. Lowfat was just the most abundant so it's what I picked up to look at.)

It should be easier than this to have a sugar/sweetener-free breakfast.

I picked up Greek Yogurt. I had heard it was the most natural of any yogurt. Cha-Ching! The only thing in the ingredient list was cultured pasteurized organic nonfat milk & 5 live active cultures. All the good bacteria without any of the junk. (We'll save the pasteurized debate for another day)

Greek Yogurt is comparable to sour cream. It's thick and creamy with a bit of a tang and is actually a good substitute for sour cream, even in baking. I'm not a calorie-counter, but sour cream has 60 calories for 2 tbsp compared to Greek yogurt's 60 calories for 1/2 cup.

I tried Stonyfield Farm's Oikos Greek Yogurt. Go here for Stonyfield coupons (they also make regular yogurt, yogurt for baby, milk, and ice cream).

Greek yogurt is less likely to curdle when heated. It is also richer in protein and has less lactose than regular yogurt.

Some Ways to Eat Greek Yogurt

1. On a baked potato, in place of sour cream.

2. In a smoothie, in the place of milk. Careful what kind of smoothie you add it to. Greek yogurt won't make it sweet like common American yogurt.

3. With honey, nuts, berries, or other fruit. (Though honey is technically a "sweetener," so I try not to include it too often.)

4. Tzatziki - a Greek cuisine often served with (or over) kabobs or fish.