We've all read that yoghurt is a very healthy alternative to milk. Yoghurt is what you get when "good" bacteria feast on fresh milk. It is easily digested and very rich in calcium, as well as riboflavin, zinc, protein and vitamin B12. Occasionally we can find added vitamin A and D. As if those weren't big reasons enough to switch to yoghurt, some studies show that yoghurt might even help prevent colon cancer and intestinal sicknesses!
But, not all yoghurts are equally healthy... So here's a little review on what's best to buy. If you don't live in Norway it doesn't matter. Just make sure you check this information when you choose your yoghurt! I have compared all these products and here's the results:
Q-melk Skyr: This yoghurt comes in 3 flavours (blueberry and vanilla; strawberry and granate; forrest fruits and vanilla). The Skyr range promotes itself as very healthy and invites you to try these yoghurts and keep having good conscience. And it is true: this is the healthiest option! Although it's the one that comes with less pieces of real fruit, this yoghurt has the least carbs, fat and sugar and it is the richest in proteins. It is also rich in calcium - but not the richest. The taste is not good though. It tastes too sweet and you get soon tired of it.
The Danish company Arla presents us with Yoggi Yalla (which is a drinking yoghurt) and comes in 3 flavours: rapsberry and blueberry; banana, mango and orange; and strawberry and lime. Though they are not the worst classified, we see they they're pretty low in calsium and proteins (this is not good). And they have a pretty high percent of sugar (8%) and carbs (12 g). The bright side is that they are pretty low-fat and they don't taste too bad.
And now let's take a look at Biola drinking yoghurt, produced by the Norwegian corporation Tine. These yoghurts come in different tastes: rapsberry (my favourite), strawberry, apricot, blueberry and natural. We observe that although they're the lowest in fat (just 0,2 grams) they have the lowest amount of proteins, too. But the good taste is due to the fact that they are the ones containing most percent of real fruit (12%) and they are enriched with vitamin B12. Problem: they have too much sugar (10%) but they've got a lot of calcium which is good. For us, Biola is the second best in test.
And finally we'll analise what turned out to be the worst and most unhealthy yoghurt: Tine yoghurts. They come in a huge amount of different flavours and packaging and they are the most rich in calcium! But here's the downside: they have the most sugar (12%) and very few proteins. And what's worst: they have over 4 times more carbs than Skyr yoghurts and 17 times more fat!!!! 5,1 grams of fat is a lot of fat compared to the other yoghurts that have about 0,2-0,5 grams. Very unhealthy if you're dieting!Here's a table I made with more accurate information. The numbers in red are the worst of it's kind and the green numbers indicate the best of it's kind:
Click on the image to enlarge
I hope this was useful to all. Remember: low sugar, low carbs, low fat. Chose rich in proteins to build your muscles, rich in calcium for your bones and rich in vitamines!!! Good luck!
