Consider yogurt as a protein-rich snack
I have to say, I love yogurt – but I’m picky about it! It has to taste good, be creamy and rich, but not too sweet. All my children like yogurt and it disappears from our house at an alarming rate. But I don’t really mind; after all, it’s a good, protein-rich snack. Yogurt has been around for a long time and is thought to have originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BCE. It was eaten widely prior to the 19th century in India, the Russian empire, and south east and central Europe. Yogurt is created by heating milk to just below the boiling point and then cooling it slightly and adding bacterial culture. The mixture is then kept warm for 4-12 hours to allow the bacteria to break down some of the lactose in the milk to lactic acid.
Taste matters when picking a good yogurt
I have often been asked how to pick a good yogurt. My first piece of advice: taste matters a lot. My other tip would be to look at the sugar content; it can vary widely from virtually none to the equivalent of nine teaspoons of sugar in a little container! Try to pick a lower sugar yogurt. I often recommend staying away from the 0% fat yogurts because they often add more sugar or sweeteners to them to off-set the lower fat content. When it comes to fat content, I tend not to worry about it that much; dairy fat hasn’t been shown to be much of a health problem, if at all.
After you have found your preferred yogurt - enjoy! It’s a very versatile food. You can eat it with granola or flax seeds for breakfast, mix it with fruit for a smoothie, or enjoy it as a snack by itself. How do you like your yogurt?
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