Oh no!!! Debra, what's in my yogurt?
I am such a yogurt freak. Should I be worried, or cutting back? The No-Pudge brownies sound yummy, they're a mix right?
First, yes on the No-Pudge. It's a mix. I don't normally make mixes as I prefer baking. The theory was that doing so would prevent me from eating brownies. Yeah, it's all a good, working theory until 9 at night.
Debra - I'm a daily yogurt eater. Do I need to be worried? I need that bacteria to maintain the beneficial flora in my intestinal tract. Of course, whenever I share my flora with the DW she doesn't see the benefit.
I blame it on the dogs anyways.
Debra -- Ok, you have to share with the yogurt. Are we all being led down a primrose path?
Maria
Okay, maybe I should take down my "appalled" statement, just a bit. (Although that's really how I felt when first reading the ingredients.) It's just that, silly me, I thought most yogurts would contain milk and active yogurt cultures and that's about it, except for whatever flavoring/fruit might be added. I had no idea that so many brands add pectin (thickening agent) and sugars to their yogurts. Now, plain yogurts might only add pectin, but it depends on the brand.
Here's an example of what I mean, using Dannon as a readily accessible brand.
Dannon All Natural Lowfat Yogurt: Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, pectin. Contains active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus.
Okay, that doesn't sound too bad, even though I didn't expect pectin. Look what happens if you eat the vanilla version of the same brand.
Dannon All Natural Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt: Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, natural vanilla flavor, pectin. Contains active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus.
Now I've added not just natural vanilla flavor (which I would have guessed), but additional sugar (which I would not have guessed). I can live with it, but it's irritating.
But look what happens when you move outside the all natural yogurt & look at the ingredients list for Dannon's other products.
Dannon's Activia (Vanilla): CULTURED GRADE A REDUCED FAT MILK, FRUCTOSE SYRUP, SUGAR, CONTAINS LESS THAN 1% OF FRUCTOSE, WHEY PROTEIN CONTENTRATE, CORN STARCH, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, KOSHER GELATIN, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR, SODIUM CITRATE, MALIC ACID.
Dannon's Fruit on the Bottom (Mixed Berries): Cultured grade A lowfat milk, strawberries, fructose syrup, sugar, blueberries, high fructose corn syrup, blackberries, contains less than 1% of modified corn starch, raspberries, pectin, kosher gelatin, natural flavor, sodium phosphate, malic acid, elderberry juice concentrate (for color), calcium phosphate. Contains active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus.
Dannon Fruit Blend Yogurt (Strawberry & Peach): Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, peaches, high fructose corn syrup, fructose syrup, modified corn starch, whey protein concentrate, contains less than 1% of natural flavor, Kosher gelatin, citric acid, pectin, sodium citrate, annatto extract (for color), potassium sorbate (to maintain freshness), malic acid, tricalcium phosphate, Red 40. Contains active yogurt culture.
Dannon Light & Fit Nonfat Yogurt (Vanilla): NONFAT YOGURT [CULTURED GRADE A NON FAT MILK, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, KOSHER GELATIN, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, VITAMIN D3], WATER, CONTAINS LESS THAN 1% OF MODIFIED CORN STARCH, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, SUCRALOSE, POTASSIUM SORBATE (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS), CITRIC ACID, ANNATTO EXTRACT (FOR COLOR), CARAMEL COLOR SODIUM CITRATE
I could go on, but you get the point. These good-for-you yogurts are chock full of things that make the yogurt more palatable, either in appearance or to my sweet taste buds. But they don't make it better for you and, in fact, some of the ingredients are bad for you. One of the bits of advice that Michael Pollan gives, the author whose In Defense of Food got me reading my yogurt label, is
"Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high-fructose corn syrup." And see how many of those products contain high-fructose corn syrup? :
Oh, and it's not just Dannon, btw. I checked out labels for a variety of yogurts, including organic yogurts. Most of them contain sweeteners and thickeners that aren't necessary; sure, the higher-end, organic products might use can sugar instead of corn syrup, but.... The exceptions I've found so far are (predictably) Greek yogurt and a brand called Seven Stars. Unfortunately, both brands are more expensive than Dannon All Natural Plain yogurt, expecially considering how much of it DH and I eat. (6-7 days a week.) So for right now we're eating Dannon All Natural but are thinking about making our own yogurt.
Wow, sorry about the long post & potential soap-box moment, but I guess I was just surprised. I should know better, of course, but somehow yogurt just escaped my label-reading attention. Realizing just how much sugar is in my yogurt left a bad taste in my mouth--not literally, which is why I loved the fruit-flavored stuff so darn much. Learning what was really in my yogurt reminded me of my reaction when I learned that a lot of really good cheese has animal rennet in it--as a vegetarian I was appalled. (Apparently, that happens to me a lot!
)
Yep, I'm pretending that's healthy.
And isn't the yogurt stuff kind of freaky? I mean, I know it's still better for me than lots of things I eat--but I just think of all yogurt as being really, I don't know, natural. 
for workout consistency! And I really think that eating healthily includes being full and satisfied. Like you've been saying, nothing like feeling deprived to undercut everything else. It's the balance and moderation that I think I need to work on the most. I'd level a food challenge at you, but, well...I might need one myself. I can't be the lemming that leads us off the cliff.
