Does Greek Yogurt Digest Quickly?

Though most experts agree that Greek yogurt has a nutritional edge over regular yogurt and other varieties, all kinds can help you lose weight by keeping you full on fewer calories. The key is sticking to plain, nonfat or low-fat varieties. Research suggests that yogurt can help keep age-related weight gain in check.

Greek yogurt is a good source of calcium which is needed for healthy bones and teeth as well as muscle contractions, and it contains a good array of B vitamins which we need for energy. Greek yogurt also contains iodine which helps support thyroid health and metabolic rate (the speed at which chemical reactions take place in the body) and also helps keep our cells healthy.

Regular and Greek yogurt are made from the same ingredients but differ in nutrients. While regular yogurt tends to have fewer calories and more calcium, Greek yogurt has more protein and less sugar — and a much thicker consistency. Both types pack probiotics and support digestion, weight loss, and heart health.

Best plain varieties

• Fage Greek Yogurt. Fage is one of the most popular brands of Greek yogurt — and for good reason.
• Chobani Greek Yogurt. Chobani is another well-known yogurt brand with a wide selection of product offerings.
• Clover Sonoma Organic Greek Yogurt.
• Stonyfield 100% Grass-Fed Greek Yogurt.

Is Greek yogurt hard to digest?

Because it’s been fermented and strained, Greek yogurt is lower in lactose and easier for most people to digest than a glass of cow’s milk. Most Greek yogurts also contain probiotics that help increase the good bacteria in your gut.

Yogurt is healthy and easily digestible even for those who suffer from lactose intolerance. The healthy bacteria not only optimises gut health which improves digestion, but it also helps to break down the lactose sugar, making it easier to digest.

A cup of plain Greek yogurt can help you meet the recommended dietary guideline of three daily servings of low-fat or nonfat dairy products. People who have lactose intolerance may also find Greek yogurt easier to digest because of the bacterial breakdown of the milk’s sugars.

Why it’s good for you: A fermented food, yogurt naturally contains lots of probiotic cultures that strengthen the digestive tract. Some Greek yogurt also boasts added probiotics like Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei that may help increase the good bacteria in your gut.

1. Because Greek yogurt can be made with bones and bugs. As with many yogurts, some Greek varieties add gelatin, which is made by boiling animals’ skin, tendons, ligaments, or bones. Many also add carmine to make the yogurt appear to contain more fruit than it does.

Amount and type of food eaten: Protein-rich foods and fatty foods, such as meat and fish, can take longer to digest than high-fiber foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Sweets, such as candy, crackers, and pastries, are among the fastest foods digested.

MILK, CHEESE, AND YOGURT Dairy contains a type of sugar called lactose, but many people have trouble digesting it because they have insufficient amounts of an enzyme called lactase, explains Myers, which can lead to bloating, gas, or even constipation.

How is Greek yogurt made?

Greek yogurt is made by combining milk and live cultures (bacteria), then straining the mixture through a filter to remove the liquid whey that naturally occurs in milk. ( 1) Whey is normally left over when milk curdles.

The difference between most Greek yogurts and the type I recommend has to do with the quality of the milk and process used to make the yogurt. Unprocessed, fermented dairy products are beneficial for gut health because of the probiotics (“good bacteria”) they provide , assuming dairy proteins are not an issue for you.

Straining also removes some of the lactose sugars, salt and water, which is why Greek yogurt is thicker and higher in protein than standard yogurts, but also usually lower in sugar and carbohydrates.

The ability to digest dairy is more complicated than you might think. Some people can tolerate dairy products well, while others have strong reactions to lactose, casein or other compounds found in dairy that cause them to experience symptoms like acne, diarrhea, bloating and gas.

Here’s a little-known Greek yogurt nutrition fact: Every cup of Greek yogurt takes about three cups of milk to make, which results in a lot of unused and wasted material that needs to be disposed of (as a comparison, in looking at Greek yogurt vs. regular yogurt nutrition, regular yogurt uses about a quarter of this amount). ( 3)

Look for organic, unsweetened, grass-fed dairy when buying Greek yogurt or other products. This ensures that the cows were not given added hormones or antibiotics, or kept inside where they are prone to becoming sick and malnourished.

This makes sense if you think about it, since milk comes out of cows’ mammary glands where progesterone, estrogen, testosterone and other hormones are present.