Greek or Regular Yogurt?

[Mom to M&M]

Seems I'm just full of feeding questions today!

Going to try yogurt this week. DS (7 months) has been on cow's milk formula since birth and fine so thinking it should be OK. I plan to use plain/whole fat/unsweetened yogurt and add homemade fruit purees to it. Does it matter if it's "regular" yogurt (I would use organic though) or Greek? Personally I prefer Fage/greek yogurt myself but open to thoughts. TIA!

[Brodster'sMommy]

DS eats YoBaby yogurt but yesterday I wrote on my shopping list to pick up Greek! Love that you asked this question. I'm also a huge fan of Greek yogurt but don't know the difference. Following along...

[deb]

We use plain old yogurt, not even flavored or sweetened. I  can add some vanilla here if I need to. If you want a nice creamy organic, Stoneyfield Farms makes an AWESOME plain yogurt with the cream on the top. HEAVEN!!! We make our own yogurt at home now - have to, as the girls go thru a gallon or two WEEKLY!!!

[marilyn73]

We've been using Astro's Plain Balkan style, whatever that means. It has 6% fat which is why I chose that one.  I did find a 10% fat Liberte, but it's not in my regular grocery store.  Usually I serve it with a fruit or veggie cube, or pureed avocado.

[Mashi]

DS eats YoBaby yogurt but yesterday I wrote on my shopping list to pick up Greek! Love that you asked this question. I'm also a huge fan of Greek yogurt but don't know the difference. Following along...

Greek yogurt is "strained" meaning that it is run through a seive to remove the extra whey, which makes it thicker than plain yogurt.  In Greece it is usually made with sheep's milk, but when most people (outisde of Greece that is) say "Greek yogurt" they do just mean plain yogurt that has been strained and made thicker. 

[MummyToBen]

I *think* Greek yoghurt is denser in calories - so some parents prefer to give that to their lo's if they are trying to up their weight.  We give both greek and normal bio yoghurt to Ben with no issues.

[mmom]

Greek yogurt actually has less calories and more protein than regular yogurt.  I eat it myself for that reason.

I think when considering yogurt for our LO's, we really need to be mindful of the sugar content. 

[MummyToBen]

Perhaps yoghurts are slightly different depending on which country you live - so it might be worth checking out the labels for yourself.  Also different brands are so very different to each other.   For my own geeky interest ( ), I just double checked my supermarkets website and for Greek yoghurt, these are the nutritional values:

Typical values  per 100g
Energy  136kcal
Protein  4.7g
Carbohydrate  6.9g
of which sugars  6.9g
Fat  10g
of which saturates  6.2g
Calcium  170mg

And for natural bio yoghurt:

Typical values  per 100g
Energy  82kcal
Protein  4.5g
Carbohydrate  6.6g
of which sugars  6.6g
Fat  4.2g
of which saturates  2.6g
Calcium  165mg

So pretty much the same values apart from more than twice the amount of fat in the greek.  But more yummy for it  !!

[mmom]

Mine is significantly different in the states.  The greek yogurt I eat has 14 grams of protein per 100 grams.

[MummyToBen]

Mine is significantly different in the states.  The greek yogurt I eat has 14 grams of protein per 100 grams.

That's a big difference  !

[Mom to M&M]

Yup the higher protein level, along with the taste/texture is why I prefer Greek yogurt too! Thinking I might start with that (maybe just a tablespoon or two to start) and mix with one cube fruit on Friday...