The Skeptical Cardiologist is a big fan of yogurt. I prefer yogurt in its unadulterated state, 3.5 to 5% milk fat, no sugars added at the factory. Preferably sourced from a local dairy where the cows range freely and eat grass. In this form, yogurt is a very healthy, nutrition-dense, vitamin- enriched food that supplies calcium, essential vitamins, protein and fats.
Yogurt, like all full fat dairy products (with the possible exception of butter) does not increase the risk of heart disease. In fact, some epidemiologic studies show that yogurt consumption is associated with lower risk of heart attacks. It is also associated with less weight gain over time .Because these observational studies can never prove causation we cannot conclude that eating yogurt will reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease or help us lose weight, but certainly there is nothing to suggest that it contributes to heart disease or obesity.
Small prospective, randomized studies (the best kind) show that yogurt consumption may lower blood pressure and raises the good or HDL cholesterol. Again, these studies donʼt prove eating yogurt is healthier but they should make everyone comfortable eating the full fat yogurt.
The Frozen Yogurt Scam: Substitute Sugar and Chemicals for Dairy Fat
Yogurt has a reputation as being a “healthy snack.” Sales of yogurt are increasing rapidly with Greek and frozen yogurt, in particular, showing spectacular growth.
Unfortunately, a great hoax has been perpetrated on the American public. Following advice generated from organizations like the American Heart Association and the USDA government nutritional guidelines, with the idea that they are making healthier choices, Americans are choosing yogurt that is nonfat or low-fat.
When the fat is taken out of yogurt, almost invariably sugar in one form or another is added in by the food industry to enhance flavor and make it palatable.
Shape magazine (Iʼm choosing this magazine as representative of the kind of health information available online and in print on this topic) ran an article with the following headline:
The Healthiest Froyo Orders at Pinkberry, Baskin Robbins, and More Get your frozen yogurt fix without downing an entire mealʼs worth of calories
The teaser line read as follows:
Frozen yogurt may offer a healthier alternative to ice cream, but it can be easy to fall into a calorie trap when you load up on rich flavors and toppings. Check out our cheat sheet to see which froyo combos to order at popular chains. Each one is low in fat and calories—so you can enjoy a guilt-free summer treat!
The number one recommendation was for a sugar and carbohydrate bonanza with the title: “Pinkberry’s Strawberry Classic,” which contains the following nutritional ingredients:
Sugar is listed twice and overall there are 23 ingredients that have been added to make this pale imitation of real yogurt palatable. Ironically, Pinkberry claims to have “real” yogurt but the only thing I could tell from their website is the following:
Pinkberry is made with REAL nonfat milk, not from cows treated with rBST hormones, and REAL nonfat yogurt, among many other natural ingredients.
The Shape magazine article recommends you add real strawberries plus a “balsamic glaze” and estimates the total calories as 165 with 144 of which are provided by sugar (36g).
Pinkberry lists the nutritional content for a small cup (5 oz) of pink berry strawberry classic as 110 calories, 22 grams of sugar and 4 grams of protein.
The Skeptical Cardiologist does not recommend this as a “healthy snack” because of the massive amount of sugar, unrefined carbohydrates, and added chemicals. Michael Pollan’s Food Rules are violated multiple times with this ultraprocessed concoction including “Avoid foods with more than 5 ingredients” and” avoid foods which have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top 3 ingredients”.
Eat Real Food Not Ultraprocessed Industrial Concoctions
There are four ingredients listed on the glass bottle for Traders Point Creamery whole milk yogurt: organic whole milk, organic skim milk, live cultures, and probiotic cultures. The cows are also pastured raised and grass-fed.
This is a yogurt I can recommend.
The food industry routinely presents us with ultra-processed, “food-like” substances that are promoted as more healthy but contain added sugar and refined carbohydrates to enhance taste and promote excess consumption. When we consume sugar added by food processing, we are consuming calories without any nutritional value.
There is no science that tells us that substituting sugar for dairy fat is better for you or for your heart. Several lines of evidence suggest excess consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates contribute to obesity, inflammation and may increase cardiovascular and chronic disease risk. The high glycemic index and resulting spike in blood sugar may trigger hormonal responses that increase inflammation and fat storage.
America’s obesity epidemic seems to have developed as Americans, following dietary guidelines not based in science, began seeking out low-fat substitutes for real foods. Thus, we have witnessed the explosion of fat-free or low-fat frozen yogurt as food marketers and the obliging “health” media trumpeted the health benefits of these products with no evidence to support the claims.
Being the skeptical cardiologist I have to point out that there has been a shameless, unsubstantiated over-hype of the benefits of yogurt in all sorts of areas including immunity, “digestive health,” bladder cancer, and eczema. I’ll review the health benefits (if any) of the “probiotic” or “prebiotic” features of yogurt and the growth of Greek yogurt in future posts.