is yogurt keto?

Having a grand feast or enjoying your daily meal, we love it when there is a bowl of yogurt, or maybe mixed with the salads, or adding it to the meat during marination. Yogurt is one of the most popular food products with varied usage in different kinds of dishes throughout the world.

Yogurt is a milk product created or produced by fermentation of milk by microorganisms present in the milk.

Considering the use of yogurt in varied places, we should check if it is fit for keto or is it keto-friendly enough.

For starters, new to keto, keto diet requires you to reduce the carb intake and increase in consumption of fats and proteins. The main reason for this is to shift the body’s primary energy source i.e. carbohydrates to fats. This mode of diet is popular among athletes as well as celebrities due to its various health benefits.

Can yogurt be considered fit for consuming during keto?

The first and foremost criterion to keep in mind is that keto allows only 20 gms of carbs per day and if you are engaged in some physical activities, then it is around 50gms of carb per day.

So, in order to enjoy keto, we have to look at the carb content in plain yogurt, which is around 7gms of carbohydrate in 100gm of serving. This certainly makes it fall under the list of foods that can be eaten during keto. However, there is another variety of yogurt, known as greek yogurt which is known to be perfectly well suited for keto. For people wondering, what is the basic difference between plain and Greek yogurt is.

Greek yogurt is a thicker variant of plain yogurt where it is strained three times more than normal yogurt during its formation to curd from milk. This is done to remove the extra whey present in yogurt. Also draining away the excess water, the lactose present in it, is also taken out along with water. This lactose which is taken care of is the source of carbohydrates and sugars in the yogurt.

However, somethings should be kept in mind while having yogurt is that it is advised is that it should be taken in small servings and avoid the yogurts which have artificial induced flavors.

Ways to incorporate yogurt into your keto-diet

We can always enjoy a cup of yogurt during our keto diet but it is best we follow some guidelines so that we can get the best out of our keto-diet.

Firstly, we should notice the fact that yogurt is not entirely carbohydrate-free, so we should stick to a limited or small serving of yogurt every day. Half a cup of greek yogurt every day works.

Whole fat yogurts are available in the market. These are known to be best suited for keto-diet due to the presence of a greater amount of fat. Yogurt with active culture bacteria is preferred over already fermented yogurt. It is because of the fact that the friendly bacteria are constantly getting rid of the lactose by consuming it.

Nutritional Information

Moving on to the next bit, which is the nutritional chart for yogurt. The nutritional information on yogurt (100gm serving) is as follows :

Calories: 61

Protein: 3.5 gms

Carbs(net): 4.7gms

Sugar: 4.7gms

Fiber: 0gms

Fats: 3.3gms

Looking at the nutritional index it can be noted that yogurt is fairly rich in proteins. The protein content of yogurt is higher than that of milk itself sometimes due to the addition of powdered or dry milk during processing. Another good thing about yogurt is the presence of casein, which constitutes 80%of the total protein content is rich in essential amino acids and is easy to digest. Casein also helps in the absorption of minerals like calcium and phosphorous and lowers blood pressure.

Yogurts also are an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals. Some of them present abundantly in yogurt are:

Vitamin B12, which is found in animal foods generally.

Milk products are an excellent source of calcium which increases our bone health and yogurt is also no exception, keeping our bones healthy.

Phosphorous is an essential mineral that helps in biological processes.

Riboflavin or Vitamin B2 is also present in the yogurt.

Some health benefits of yogurt

Yogurt is one of the healthiest foods available in the market. There are some important health aspects of yogurts.

Yogurt is rich in calcium which is the building block of bones. People suffering from osteoporosis is recommended by doctors to have yogurts and milk. Dairy products are directly linked with higher bone density.

Another health issue faced by a lot of people around the world is the issue of blood pressure. The people suffering from high blood pressure have the potential risk of heart diseases. Regular consumption of yogurt or dairy products is known to lower blood pressure.

Bacteria found in yogurt or other milk fermented products are good bacteria and improves the digestive processes in our body. Gut health improves if one has a daily dose of yogurt.

Yogurt downsides

Yogurt has zero side effects and is generally a very healthy food for us. However, some people are known to be allergic to milk products. Adults seem to be okay and free from milk allergies. This is a problem which is generally seen among young children where they have problems digesting the proteins like casein and whey.

One thing to be kept in mind is that people consuming low-fat yogurt should check on the amount of sugar present in it. Excessive intake of this kind of yogurt may cause problems for people with type 2 diabetes.

Takeaway

There are a number of keto-friendly food products out there and yogurt is definitely one of them. Since lower, the carb content greater is the keto compatibility and hence yogurt does fall under the keto-friendly food list. Greek yogurt seems to be the best option for yogurt in a keto diet because of its higher fat content and lower lactose content. There are a lot of health benefits of yogurt but one should check the limit to its consumption. There are also people who suffer from milk allergies or are lactose intolerant so it is advised to stop consumption of any milk products like yogurt if any irritation occurs.