Recently, at a family dinner, yogurt versus greek yogurt became the topic of discussion.  The men were on the side of good ol' dannon and yoplait yogurt, or as they called it, "the regular yogurt".  The women all agreed that greek yogurt was delicious.  The question quickly was asked on what is all the hype surrounding greek about.  Thus, my current hot topic was inspired! 

The first thing that you may notice about greek yogurt is how thick and creamy it is.  This is caused by the straining process - every time yogurt is strained, whey is removed.  The more whey removed, the thicker the yogurt becomes.  Regular yogurt is double strained while it's greek counterpart is triple strained.  

The next taste difference in the sweetness factor.  Now, what I'm about to write does not hold true for all greek and regular yogurts but definitely for most.  Most major brands of regular yogurts (organic and not) tend to have sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup as a pretty major ingredient.  Greek yogurts tend not to have added sugar which leads them to be lower in carbohydrates - this is great for some of our young people with diabetes! 

The next difference is more nutrition related and that is it's higher protein and fat content.  Now, some of you may have just read that and are appalled that the higher fat yogurt is being touted as the healthier yogurt.  Well, that higher protein and fat content may actually help your waist line! Fat and protein both take longer to digest, which means the food in theory will stay in our stomachs to longer.   If food is in our stomachs longer, we stay fuller for longer and can stave off some of those dreaded munchies!

All and all, whether you prefer the "regular" yogurt or it's mediterranean counterpart, be proud that you are making a healthy food choice every time you reach for a carton of yogurt for a snack!