Whole Foods Lifestyle - Plain yogurt...really?

I've seen it touted as a smart choice many times - but except as an ingredient in cooking, I've always thought...ick.

:?:

What are the benefits to eating plain yogurt? Is it actually palatable?

For me, the biggest benefit is the lack of additional sweeteners, especially high fructose corn syrup which I try to avoid.

I made the switch to plain yogurt very slowly over time. When I started trying to eat better, I knew yogurt was a super food but the only yogurt I knew to eat was that Yoplait Lite yogurt (100 calories). I ate that at the beginning. When I started paying attention to high fructose corn syrup, I switched to Horizons brand. It's organic and I loved the raspberry and the blueberry. It still had a lot of sugars, so eventually I switched to adding cut up fruit to plain non fat yogurt.

I especially love plain Greek yogurt, like Fage. It has a wonderful, thick, creamy consistency - a texture (not a taste!!) like heavy whipped cream.

Now, if I eat flavored yogurt, it tastes sickeningly sweet. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be cutting up fruit to put it in plain yogurt, I would have looked at you like you were nuts. Plain yogurt was gross and that would be way too much work. It tastes good and seems easy now!

I cook with it, I use it almost always in place of sour cream, I put a blob of it on top of soup instead of making that soup "creamed" ... so yes, for cooking and as a condiment, I love having it around.

But mostly, I like that I can control what I put in it when I eat yogurt for yogurt's sake--I can control how it tastes, and what it actually is. It's yogurt PLUS honey (or maple syrup!), or some sort of jam, or mango (no/little sugar necessary with some of the tropical fruits)--and that's that. Even if I put in a lot, and it tastes really sweet to me, it's always less sugar than in the processed stuff.

And frankly, it just tastes better to me/has more tang when I mix it myself, even when I do put in a lot of honey or whatever.

I find that if I sprinkle a little cinnamon or nutmeg with whatever fruit I'm mixing in, I need little if any other sweetener, but it's plenty sweet somehow anyway. Can't take the needless sugar OUT if they put it in at the plant.

I don't eat a full serving of plain naked yogurt with a spoon like a few people I know--I like tang, but not without something to balance it.

(Desperately trying to figure out a yin-yang joke to rhyme with "tang," but not coming up with anything... )

You might come up with some plain naked yogurt lovers here, though--I too am curious how many might be out there.

I agree that a lot of the flavored yogurts taste too sweet. I've always liked plain yogurt, although not always plain--I dress it up with fresh fruit. I absolutely love plain yogurt with sliced bananas and strawberries and a sprinkling of granola on top. These days, I don't do the granola so much, but I like the crunchiness, so sometimes I add some chopped almonds.

I have also strained plain yogurt and used it like sour cream in recipes.

I've tried the fage yogurt and didn't like the thickness or texture, but perhaps I'll learn to like it. It may have been because I bought a flavored kind and didn't like the flavor so much.

I'm a Plain Naked Yogurt Lover, but I mix mine. Usually with fruit and nuts. If you must use a sweetener, try Stevia (natural herb sweetener) or honey.

I tried the Fage yogurt (plain), but I didn't see what all the hype was about. I just stick to my regular plain stuff.

By itselfe plain yogert is...well plain. Not very appetizing at all. BUT... add some fresh fruit, a little bit of vanilla extract and YUM YUM!:stir:

I love plain yogurt and I will eat it by itself, but I also like it with fresh berries, melon, or mango. Sometimes I also stir wheat germ into it. I never add sweetener because I like it fine without any and I don't want to use the calories if I don't need to.

My favorite yogurt is Trader Joe's Non-Fat Greek Style Yogurt. At only 100 calories per cup, it is the lowest calorie yogurt I've found. It is thicker than US-style yogurt (I don't like my yogurt to be soupy, the idea of yogurt you can drink is icky to me).

I started eating pre-sweetened yogurt (my favorite was Brown Cow Cream on the Top--all the sugar and all the fat, could I have done any worse?!!). Eventually though, I got sick of all the flavors, so I switched to whole milk plain yogurt. I either mixed berries into it or put honey on it (or both). After I ate the yogurt that way for a while, I got to the point where I liked it plain and didn't need either the berries or the honey.

Then I started counting calories and whole milk yogurt was out of the question. So for a while I didn't eat any yogurt at all, but I've recently started eating plain non-fat yogurt again. I'm sure if I ate some whole milk yogurt again, I would remember why I found it so hard to give up. For that reason, I don't even allow myself to have it as a treat and am perfectly happy with my non-fat yogurt.

If you don't mind artificial sweeteners, one suggestion I've heard is to top the yogurt with low-sugar preserves.

I bought a Donvier Yocheese maker and have been using that. You can get the same results with putting the yogurt in a coffee filter and straining out the whey. The final product is something like cream cheese but has the active cultures. I use it to spread on homemade bread, or add to fresh fruit, or on top of baked potatoes. You can also put in roasted garlic and make a sort of dip for carrots and celery.

I've never sat down and tried to eat it with a spoon like I would have done with flavored yogurt. I think it would be plenty ick like that.

I love plain yogurt and that is all I eat. I mix in fruit with my plain yogurt.

This one took some time to work up to. It helped when I found Fage greek yogurt which is very different from runny american yogurt. I started eating it with berries and honey. Quite a bit of honey. I'm down to about a teaspoon now with blueberries or dried berries mixed in. I figured not eating sweeteners or dyes was a plus and worth learning to like it. I dislike milk intensely so it is also a way to get some calcium.

I've never been a big yogurt eater, but when I do, I like to strain ff or lf plain and make it thicker, then add fruit. I can't get the Fage yogurt in Alaska, but next time I'm at a relative's I'm going to try it. My DH eats whole milk yogurt, and I've tasted it, oh my, it is good! I sometimes stir a spoonful into my ff cottage cheese. It really improves the flavor and texture.

I haven't seen the Fage yogurt here in my area, but we have a few that are similar at Whole Foods.

Now I'm wishing that I had frozen more fruit this summer. :(

I have to put a little splenda and fruit in mine. Sometimes I put vanilla flavoring and sometimes I put coconut extract. I love it with coconut extract and fresh pineapple with a T. of grape nuts or granola on top...heavenly.

That sounds amazing!!!

Try buying a bag of frozen blueberries or blackberries, put some in a bowl, zap in the microwave just long enough to PARTIALLY thaw them, then add plain yogurt and stir.

WOW! You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for all the tips and recommendations!

I just have to add more to this.....
I've always used regular plain yogurt for my smoothies and for eating with fruit and sometimes with fruit and granola, and I agree that it's a bit tart. But I finally tried the FAGE plain yogurt and it's not tart! I had tried the Fage flavored yogurts a few weeks ago and didn't like them one bit, but the plain type is wonderful. I think I may be a convert!!!

This is motivation for the FF plain yogurt, Including Fat-Free Yogurt in Weight Loss Efforts May Trim Tummies Faster

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/102/106625.htm

I like using it with frozen berries (keeps the yogurt fresh in my lunch bag), cut up fruit and grains. Keeps forever too and more economical when purchased in the quart containers. When I am really ambigious I make my own like KAT, but on those days I wonder if may be close to the edge.

Like anything else, you may have to get used to it, I did, and like getting used to cottage cheese, I added lots of pineapple to start out.

Now, I just love it.

BARBARA - At least with Brown Cow yogurt, it was a good choice.

Also, sometimes you have to just wait a bit and try it again another way, trying different things can be so rewarding.

We love plain yoghurt.. we get a really super thick one through our organic coop from a local producer and we love to have it with some almond sprinkle (which I just make by grinding some whole roasted almonds and cinnamon in a coffee grinder or spice grinder) and fruit.... my daughter loves to have fruit wedges, then she dips it into the yoghurt and then into the sprinkle.. yummo

It may be an aquired taste! I am so happy after my trip to our new Trader Joes to buy Fage yogurt. I am 52, and remember when yogurt first arrived here in the stores. Fage reminds me of the homemade tangy yogurt we all ate and home made in the 1970s! I mix a tiny bit of low sugar blueberry or other organic jam in mine with walnuts. This is really what yogurt tastes like before we sugared it all up. I read a Time article not too long ago that stated that the yogurt industry sugared all the yogurt up to appeal to our increasing sweet tooths in this country, and turn the yogurt business into a billion dolllar plus business. Marrianna, The Diaries of Anias Nin were very popular in the 70's also. Luv your quote!

Try buying a bag of frozen blueberries or blackberries, put some in a bowl, zap in the microwave just long enough to PARTIALLY thaw them, then add plain yogurt and stir.

Yes! That's what I do! I zap frozen mixed berries and add a package of Equal on top while they're still a little warm. I mix in the plain yogurt. I use lowfat rather than nonfat. I made the switch on the urging of my weight-loss counselor. She has finally convinced me that a little fat (the good kind) is OK and helps me feel satisfied and full longer.

I LOVE to mix it all up and put it in the freezer for a few hours! It's the ultimate treat! I confess that I like it so much that it rarely makes it to the freezer tho! :dizzy:

I also like the plain yogurt with a little Equal. Don't always have to have the fruit!

Yummy!

Mel M.

Plain Non Fat Yogurt is a very versatile and wonderful addition to recipes as well as blended with fruit, granola or wheat germ. I love it.

I make dressing, sauces and desserts with plain non-fat yogurt.

I like plain non-fat yogurt, but was curious about the Fage Greek yogurt after reading this thread. I bought some last night...and all I can say is ICK. Plus, it's twice the price of the regular stuff! I wonder if I can diguise it in pumpkin custard or something?

Mel