Everyday Systems

I know I've read about Peanutbutter being a borderline no-s food but what about yogurt?

I've recently started in on a yogurt kick for breakfast, thinking I was being really healthy. I normally get flavored low fat yogurt and sprinkle some plain granola on for crunch, sometime add in some frozen fruit.

I looked at the nutrition label the other day and saw that my yogurt has 42 grams of sugar! I was shocked. I never realized yogurt would have so much sugar in it. I haven't compaired the brand I buy with other brands yet to see if it's the same across other brands.

I looked at the label of my granola before I bought it, thinking granola would have too much sugar to be able to add into my yogurt. It only has 5g of sugar per serving. I never thought to look at the yogurt label until now.

I was eating yogurt about 4-5 times a week in the mornings. Should yogurt be saved as a weekend breakfast item?

The yoplait I had this morning had 27g so you could try that one.

Personally, though I think yogurt is fine if eaten in moderation. I'm no expert, though.

The best advice is something I read from Reinhard (I think on the general No-S info page) saying if it's borderline don't worry about it. The issue isn't the borderline foods and they're not worth you spending too much time fretting over them.

Julie

The yogurt doesn't have that much sugar; it's the fruit flavoring which is essentially jam. You might try plain yogurt and add your own fruit.

wosnes wrote:it's the fruit flavoring which is essentially jam.

But that would imply that jam is off-limits, and I don't think that's the case, in small quantities at least. If you take a spoon and dig into a pot of jam, that's not right, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a teaspoon or two on your toast in the morning.

I think I would draw the breakfast-spread line between jam, honey and peanut butter on one side and Nutella on the other side.

I buy plain yogurt and mix in fruit. Lot less sugar

But that would imply that jam is off-limits, and I don't think that's the case, in small quantities at least. If you take a spoon and dig into a pot of jam, that's not right, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a teaspoon or two on your toast in the morning.

A teaspoon or two of jam on your toast is one thing; the amount in the yogurt is another. There's 2-4 tablespoons in the fruit-flavored yogurt. It's all in the amount.

OK, fair enough.

That is a rather enormous amount of sugar... but I guess the question is, is it a problem? Is your habit solid otherwise? Are you losing/maintaining to your satisfaction? Would giving up this yogurt be a dangerously large sacrifice?

From what I understand, most yogurts that don't taste disgusting are a trade off between fat and sugar: low fat yogurts have more sugar, lower sugar yogurts have more fat. I don't think one is necessarily more virtuous than another, but for the purposes of disciplining your palate, you might want to lean towards fat rather than sugar.

I did some quickie internet research, and it looks like 10-15 grams of the sugar in yogurt is from the lactose in the milk. I don't know if that makes it any better, but it makes it seem slightly less egregiously unnecessary.

I have eaten sweet yogurts on N-days, but I don't do it regularly because I don't like having to worry about stuff like this.

Variety makes this much less of an issue (plus it's a good in itself). It's a much smaller problem if you do it once or twice a week as opposed to every day.

Reinhard

I used to hate yogurt until I moved to the Netherlands and had the full fat version. You don't even need sugar because it's so rich and delicious. When I visit the states I try to find "real" yougurt but it's not even available. Only the kind made with extra cream, which is too rich. Pity, because good yogurt is so tasty, and so satisfying that it's hard to eat too much.

Anyway, I agreee: get the plain version and put a tiny spoonful of jam in it. It takes very little to make it sweet enough to enjoy, and after a while the regular fruit yogurts will taste disgusting.

You can get real non-fruit-flavored yogurt in the US, a Greek brand called Total. It's really creamy and mild, at any level of fat content. I've become addicted to it. It's not cheap, but I've been making my own yogurt from the live cultures in it and it comes out equally good. If you want you can eat it with honey or jam, but it's really delicious plain too.

wow... more info on making your own yogurt in the off topic forum please?

I don't consider PB an S. It has way more peanuts (food) than junk in it. Just my opinion. BUT, I only have it on a sandwich, not spoonfuls out of the jar (between meals ) like I used to. So, it's just a protein (more or less) on a sandwich --like turkey would be--rather than a no-no.

I used to feel guilt over a spoonful of sugar in tea (I loathe using fake sweeteners) --but then I thought---"I have a cup of tea (my am coffee is black) about 3 times a week, WITH a meal" and now I don't beat myself up over it. I tried tea without sugar in it for awhile, but I don't like the idea of eating being totally joyless (reason I came to No S) and so I use a little.

To me, No S isn't supposed to be a super-strict sugar detector. Just 3 sensible plates of food--period. I don't--and would never--include suagry things with each meal. I FEEL better when I don't. I think we all have to just tweak the details so they suit our lifestyle a bit--as long as we lose. If we're not--we know it needs further tweaking.

Thanks to all who replied

I've since switched to plain yogurt with my frozen fruit, I do add about 1/2-1 teaspoon of honey to my yogurt to sweeten. I prefer using honey over sugar and find I use a lot less of it to make things slightly sweet. Whereas sugar, I tend to abuse.

I tend to stick with the same type of breakfast/lunch with small differences just for the ease of decition making. I'll change it up now and again but I find knowing what I am going to be eating for breakfast for the week really helps me stick to the plan.

I've also found that yogurt with more fat than sugar keeps me full a lot longer, no I have less desire to snack.

There is a cool product out there called sweet agave syrup. It is low enough in carbs for Atkins according to the hype on line but it tastes like corn syrup. It is made from Agave cactus. I love it. Very sweet.

Also making your own yogurt is easy and delicious. We used to make it in our own jars and the oven but that is kind of tricky with the temp because yogurt cultures die easily. For about $20-$25 on line you can buy a yogurt maker. So easy and yummy. You can make it as low fat or high fat as you want.