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Jodi or Emma-Leigh: Yogurt and Counting Carbs

GoalGetter

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I just read this about yogurt, kefir and buttermilk, and was wondering how accurate it might be, and if either of you had heard this and/or agree with it:

[font=arial, helvetica]...the lactose in the milk used to make these products has been digested by the "good" lactobacillus. For example, the actual lactose left in kefir made by a national manufacturer is 1% or less. IN THIS CASE ONLY, AND WITH THESE FOODS ONLY, don't count the carbohydrate on the package labels. Why not?

The problem with the stated carbohydrate content on the packages of fermented food products arises because the government makes manufacturers count the carbohydrates of food "by difference." That means they measure everything else including water and ash and fats and proteins. Then "by difference," they assume everything else is carbohydrate. This works quite well for most foods including milk. However, to make yogurt, buttermilk and kefir, the milk is inoculated with the lactic acid bacteria. These bacteria use up almost all the milk sugar called "lactose" and convert it into lactic acid. It is this lactic acid which curds the milk and gives the taste to the product. Since these bacteria have "eaten" most of the milk sugar by the time you buy it (or make it yourself.) At the time you eat it, how can there be much carbohydrate left? It is the lactic acid which is counted as carbohydrate. Therefore, you can eat up to a half cup of plain yogurt, buttermilk, or kefir and only count 2 grams of carbohydrates One cup will contain about 4 grams of carbohydrates.

i find this interesting and at face value seems to make sense... but am i being naive or is there actual science and truth behind this?
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Hrm, interesting. I've never heard anything like that before. Good find. Care to link to the article?
 
GoalGetter said:
I just read this about yogurt, kefir and buttermilk, and was wondering how accurate it might be, and if either of you had heard this and/or agree with it:


i find this interesting and at face value seems to make sense... but am i being naive or is there actual science and truth behind this?
[/size][/font]
Yup - it is true.

It is why natural set yoghurt has that 'bitter taste' - during fermentation the bacteria cleave the lactose into galactose and glucose and then the glucose can be used by the bacteria and is converted to lactic acid.

It is why people who are lactose intolerant can usually eat natural set yoghurt (with high bacterial culture numbers) without a problem. In the kefir is is the same principle.

As to how much is digested/used?? I am not sure if you can give an exact number... But halving the carb content probably seems about correct.

But you do have to make sure you get the yoghurt with high bacterial culture levels that are LIVE - otherwise the effect is not as marked (the bacteria never really get a chance to digest that glucose). And you have to make sure that the yoghurt doesn't then have a whole heap of sugar added to it to make it sweet...
 
Jodi, Emma...

Thanks, ladies... i knew i could count on you two to get to the bottom of this :)

and yeah the yogurt i was eating, which prompted me to look it up, is from a swiss company named Emmi (www.emmi.ch or www.emmiusa.com). It listed 10 carbs but no sugar carbs, and when i looked in the ingredients it was just cultures and low fat milk. So i started searching the internet for info about carbs in yogurt... that's how i found that information.
 
Yoghurt is great! :thumb: And it also has HEAPS of other beneficial properties other than the lower in carb thing... It is also very helpful for your intestinal health (it maintains natural flora, helps digestion, decreases the risk of colon cancer), it helps with cholesterol, helps boost your immunity and it has stacks of calcium (more than milk - as it is concentrated in yoghurt) which helps with your bones and helps to keep you lean.

I actually make my own using this Easiyo slimmers yoghurt starter. So I know it has a good number of the live cultures and I know it is not heat treated after fermentation - which means I know it has all those really beneficial properties that it is meant to have!

There is also some interesting reading:
http://www.aboutyogurt.com/lacYogurt/facts.asp
http://www.danonevitapole.com/
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/80/2/245


And here is some info about how it is all made:
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/73/2/374S


:)
 
P-funk said:
to bad it tastes like shiat! :barf:

Try mixing it with some wheat germ, and maybe a tiny bit of honey. Mmm...
 
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i take that back....I don't like the natural shit that she eats. way to bitter!! I do like the stuff with the sugar fruit syrup built in. i love when they build the flavor in and then throw granola on top. there goes you carb count though....lol
 
P-funk said:
i take that back....I don't like the natural shit that she eats. way to bitter!! I do like the stuff with the sugar fruit syrup built in. i love when they build the flavor in and then throw granola on top. there goes you carb count though....lol
LOL...

:eek: You don't like the natural stuff??!! **gasp** But.... it is so tasty! I mix it with oats and let it soak overnight before adding some whey and strawberries (and creatine) in the morning before training... Just like bircher muesli and the best pre-workout meal EVER! :chomp:


ps: But I agree - everything tastes better when you add granola to it! :nanner:
 
weightwatchers nat yog vs normal yog

ok sorry gate crashing this thread but am rather thinking i shud be starting to eat this natural yog....my question is.....

whats the differance between natural yoghurt and weightwatchers yoghurt as i have to pt what i eat in losing weight

I just want to know whether its worth using teh extra points on the normal stuff or using less pts on teh lower fat one the weightwatchers do


thanks Will
 
Willsnarf said:
ok sorry gate crashing this thread but am rather thinking i shud be starting to eat this natural yog....my question is.....
whats the differance between natural yoghurt and weightwatchers yoghurt as i have to pt what i eat in losing weight

I just want to know whether its worth using teh extra points on the normal stuff or using less pts on teh lower fat one the weightwatchers do


thanks Will
well the one i ate last night, was pretty low fat - so compare these stats to your ww yogurt: 2.5g fat, 10 carbs (0 sugar 0 fiber), and 5g protein in one cup, which was 150g.

the ingredients were just low fat milk and live cultures, no sweeteners, no prservatives, etc. - compare that to your ww yogurt as well.

I have issues with a LOT of the ww-brand food because yeah, though ultimately they may win the calories in vs calories out battle over the healthier, natural alternatives, they are sometimes so loaded with CRAP (fillers, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, etc.) that you're better off just having the healthy version, and counting your calories with that instead.

Just because something says "weightwatchers" on it, doesn't necessarily mean it's "healthy" or nutritious. It just means usually that it is low-calorie either because it lacks real food (as it is mostly fillers) OR it is such a small portion that it can't help but BE low-calorie.

Anyway, didn't mean to go off on a tangent... if you are very overweight, and you are doing weight watchers and sticking to your points system, at this point in the game, you are better off than you were when you weren't dieting at all, because the portions and calorie levels are tailored to your individual stats more or less and you WILL lose weight. I have various clients on weight watchers and they have all had success doing their ww points and working out a few times a week.
 
GoalGetter said:
I have issues with a LOT of the ww-brand food because yeah, though ultimately they may win the calories in vs calories out battle over the healthier, natural alternatives, they are sometimes so loaded with CRAP (fillers, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, etc.) that you're better off just having the healthy version, and counting your calories with that instead.


i also have major issues with ww branded foods more on the money making side u can find cheaper and sometimes healthier options if we just look. The reason why i originally asked was because i thought it was fairly high in pts yoghurts but as i have been down the local tesco its not to bad.

i will stick with ww for the foreseeable future as i still have bout 30lbs to lose but ma trying to incorporate more of the healthy eating ways such as yoghurts and oats which i tried tonight, i shoved 50g of sultanas in as well and it was vvv nice i have to say.

anyway now i am tangeting.

thanks for the reply

Will

ps i don't pay for ww just follow the scheme on the boards
 
Willsnarf said:
ok sorry gate crashing this thread but am rather thinking i shud be starting to eat this natural yog....my question is.....

whats the differance between natural yoghurt and weightwatchers yoghurt as i have to pt what i eat in losing weight

I just want to know whether its worth using teh extra points on the normal stuff or using less pts on teh lower fat one the weightwatchers do


thanks Will
As GG said - natural yoghurt = yoghurt that has milk solids + live cultures only.

Not only that, but it is also processed differently - natural yoghurt is fermented for longer and it is not heat treated after this process.

Most commercial yoghurts (such as ww) is fermented for a very short period of time and it is then heat treated after the fermentation process. This prevents it from getting too bitter - as it prevents large numbers of bacteria forming and it then kills most of the bacteria too (this therefore prevents them from making a lot of lactic acid via the conversion of lactose to lactic acid - so it means the carbohydrate content is not decreased as much). It also destroys half of the other benefits of the yoghurt (eg: anti-oxidants formed by the bacteria).


Natural yoghurt is not all that energy dense anyway! For skim/ff natural plain yoghurt you are looking at something like:
100g is:
50-55 cal
~ 5-6g protein
~ 6-7g carbs
~ 0-0.2g fat
 
Emma-Leigh said:
As GG said - natural yoghurt = yoghurt that has milk solids + live cultures only.

Not only that, but it is also processed differently - natural yoghurt is fermented for longer and it is not heat treated after this process.

Most commercial yoghurts (such as ww) is fermented for a very short period of time and it is then heat treated after the fermentation process. This prevents it from getting too bitter - as it prevents large numbers of bacteria forming and it then kills most of the bacteria too (this therefore prevents them from making a lot of lactic acid via the conversion of lactose to lactic acid - so it means the carbohydrate content is not decreased as much). It also destroys half of the other benefits of the yoghurt (eg: anti-oxidants formed by the bacteria).


Natural yoghurt is not all that energy dense anyway! For skim/ff natural plain yoghurt you are looking at something like:
100g is:
50-55 cal
~ 5-6g protein
~ 6-7g carbs
~ 0-0.2g fat

how do you sweeten it up to eat it?? a little splenda, some fruit? Do you use it in recipes like greek food?
 
thajeepster said:
how do you sweeten it up to eat it?? a little splenda, some fruit? Do you use it in recipes like greek food?
I actually like the taste! :shrug: So I do not usually sweeten it if I eat it plain.

I mostly use it pre-workout (early morning shake). In this I add some oats and yoghurt and let it soak overnight (so the oats soften - easier to digest) then in the morning I add whey, strawberries and creatine and then eat up. :nanner:

As a general rule I don't use sweeteners anyway (I don't like splenda). If anything I add some cinnamon and that is usually enough.

But you can use it both for sweet and savoury - that is the great thing about natural yoghurt.

For sweet just add fruit, sweetener, cinnamon, SF syrups, whey, PB, SF jam, SF jello etc etc

For savoury you can use it in greek recipes, add mint/garlic/lemon juice and black pepper for a 'cooler' in curries etc etc...

Just experiment and see what you can come up with.
 
Emma, i just found what has to be the BEST tasting natural yogurt with live cultures. It is FAGE TOTAL GREEK YOGURT (http://www.fageusa.com/0_yogurt_info.html). A 150g ccontainer of fat free yogurt is made with skim milk and live cultures, and is only 80 calories, 6 carbs, and 13 protein! But that's not even what I love best - no... IT IS CREAMY LIKE WHIPPED CREAM. It has no whey in it. You can hold the container upside down and it won't budge!

I bought a single-serve container just a while ago to try this one out, and I'm hooked.

As for sweetening it - i add one or jsut one-half packet of splenda (i kinda like the sour taste so i don't sweeten it too much), and sprinkle a little bit of pumpkin pie spices into it... tastes friggin awesome.
 
GoalGetter said:
Emma, i just found what has to be the BEST tasting natural yogurt with live cultures. It is FAGE TOTAL GREEK YOGURT (http://www.fageusa.com/0_yogurt_info.html). A 150g ccontainer of fat free yogurt is made with skim milk and live cultures, and is only 80 calories, 6 carbs, and 13 protein!
:thumb: I found this stuff a little while ago when looking for natural yoghurt for some of my clients in America... I really liked the look of it so I recommended she look for some. It is certainly really good for macro numbers and it seems to be processed correctly too!good stuff!

Good to know it tastes great too! :thumb:


There is also a good read about making yoghurt here:
http://www.trulylowcarb.com/YogurtTLC.htm

And if you want to make it even lower in lactose you can also use it to make yoghurt cheese as the lactose is drained out with the liquid fraction:
http://www.healthgoods.com/Shopping/Appliances/Yogurt_Information.asp


:)
 
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