My Favorite Yogurt

Yogurt is a wonderfully healthy food. It's even better if you choose wisely the one you will eat. So let's say you are used to fried eggs, potatoes and bacon for breakfast or a big bowl of sugary cereal covered in whole milk... then those sugary yogurts you see in the store with all kinds of artificial flavors and high fructose corn syrup is still probably better for you than what you've been eating. BUT if that's the yogurt you've been eating for breakfast, then I have a much healthier option for you, and here's why:

Yogurt promotes intestinal and vaginal health, improves lactose intolerance, builds stronger bones, enhances immunity, lowers blood pressure, and may even have anticancer and weight-loss effects. In a recent study in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers found that obese adults who ate three servings of fat-free yogurt a day as part of a reduced-calorie diet lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than those who just cut calories. A plus for Greek yogurt, in particular, is that it doesn’t give you the sugar overload of what you usually find in U.S. grocery stores. To save on fat and calories, reach for a low-fat version.

Specifically, I buy Fage 0%. It comes in a larger tub, or single serving size. I buy the larger tub for meals and the smaller serving sizes for popping in the freezer- then I cut those in half after letting them loosen a bit out of the freezer and toss one 1/2 into my smoothie and put the other half away for another day.

Greek yogurt does take a little getting used to. It's really thick and it's not sweetened with a ton of sugar like Dannon or Yoplait. But I'm telling you, it gives me a lot of energy and I don't have that sugar peak and valley that regular yogurt gives me. I'm sure that is due to the astronomical amount of protein per serving.

So here is what I do with it: I take strawberries and chop them up fine. You can also add blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, bananas, mango, or just drizzle with honey and sprinkle with a little almonds or walnuts. When you start out, you could use 1/2 packet of Splenda or Stevia or a drizzle of sugar free raspberry syrup or guava. Reduce this a little each time until you are only relying on the fruit juices and fruits for sweetness. Mix it all up and put just a sprinkle of crunch on top if you like. This could be smashed cereal like Fiber One or Kashi Crunch or sunflower seeds, walnuts, low fat granola, almonds, whatever.... but only a tablespoon or two.