Nutritionist, Healthy meal plan and healthy diet plan by Lucy Hyland, your online nutritionist

Friday 30th July

Ever wondered how much sugar is in your flavoured yogurts? Check out just how much they contain in my article this week:

http://www.corkindependent.com/stories/item/3432/2011-30/Food-for-Living—Yogurt-yo-yo

Or read below:

Yogurt yo-yo

What is interesting about the comparisons I’m doing at the moment across various food products is how there are no rules! There is no one brand or any one supermarket that is better than others. It really comes down to reading labels and paying attention to back of the product as well as the front!  I’m getting so many questions back from people about different brands and products, but really this summer series is about empowering you with the information and knowledge. This week I’ll talk about yogurt.

Yogurt can be a great breakfast, snack and dessert as it’s a good source of protein, calcium and iodine.  Like any food product in a jar or packet, there are many things to look out for but today I’ll only talk about sugar. Other things I noticed when reading labels were fat content (I noticed that fat free yogurts tended to have high amount of artificial sweeteners and sugar) , sodium and artificial sweeteners, preservatives or additives (some yogurts had rows and rows of additives!) while other companies used natural preservatives such as lemon juice.

Yogurt will have a certain amount of its own natural sugar but most of the products I looked at had a large amount of added sugar. 100% natural yogurt tended to have no added sugar, no artificial preservatives etc and is by far the best option in terms of healthy eating. I tend to flavour my own yogurts so I can control the amount and type of ingredients going in.

When reading labels, the ‘of which sugars’ section under the carbohydrate will tell you how much natural and added sugar is in the product. 4 g of sugars is equivalent to 1 teaspoon. Almost all flavoured yogurts, whether fruit, for kids or other, had on average of 2 – 4 teaspoons of added sugar per tub or per 100 grams. The most sugary ones I found were Benecol Peach with over 4 teaspoons per pot, Dunnes ‘Simply Better’ with 6 teaspoons per pot, Tesco Yoo and Dairy Milk ‘Chunks’ with almost 7 teaspoons!!

Yogurt dressing

3/4 cup yogurt
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (or mint)
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon honey
A pinch of salt and freshly cracked pepper

Blend the ingredients together. You can either use this as a dip with some chopped vegetables, as a dressing for salads or as a spread for a sandwich.

Wheat free, gluten free, sugar free

Hope you enjoyed this post. Remember that keeping on top of your health and eating habits takes ongoing support and motivation.

Do you want to develop a balanced diet plan to suit your health and lifestyle? My healthy eating update service might be just what you need: Lucy's Living Digest.

Or if you are looking for more of a plan than a one-off recipe, try one of my specially designed meal pans Lucy's Meal Plans giving you everything you need to stay on track