Link: http://www.fageusa.com
My wife and I have been eating a low carbohydrate diet for a few months now. We were sold on the health benefits of this way of eating by my brother-in-law, Justin Owings. I was most impressed with his success in shedding body fat and gaining muscle in a short period of time.
One of his latest recommendations is to eat fermented foods.
I was pleased to hear this from him for a few reasons. First, it made me feel less guilty about drinking beer; a carbohydrate-full food. Second, and what I'll discuss here, is that I have enjoyed yogurt both for its taste and for the helpful bacteria. Once I started reducing my carbohydrate intake, I abandoned yogurt because most of what you can pick up on the grocery store shelf is loaded with sugar.
One nice thing about the low carb diet is that fats are desirable, and, according to some, actually good for you. Contrary to "popular" belief, saturated fats are good for you and should be a part of your diet. Thus, if you can find a food that is high in protein, high in fat (even if the fat is saturated fat), and low in sugar, then you have found something healthy and nutritious.
In the organic dairy section of my local Publix grocery store, I recently discovered "Greek yogurt". According to one source, Greek style yogurts are creamier and higher in fat that most yogurts (even whole milk yogurt) found in the United States. Fage Total yogurt provides 20 grams of fat for a 200 gram (7 ounce) serving. Of those fat grams, 16 grams are saturated fat. Based on the daily values for a 2,000 calorie diet printed on the label, this one 200 gram (7 ounce) serving of yogurt will deliver 80% of your recommended saturated fat intake for the day. Of course, the way I eat assumes, contrary to what the food pyramid says, that a greater percentage of your caloric intake should be from fat.
I am also trying to avoid foods that have unnatural ingredients such as preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. The ingredient list for Fage total yogurt is as follows: "Grade A Pasteurized Milk and Cream, Live Active Yogurt Cultures."
Regarding the taste of the yogurt, it is creamy and somewhat more sour tasting than the yogurt I used to eat. However, eating it with some fresh Florida strawberries eliminated the "bite" and was fabulous. I recommend trying the yogurt for both the taste and the health benefits.
I recently read this post about cooking with high fat yogurt at the food Blog Tigers & Strawberries. I found the post helpful in explaining why low-fat yogurts tend to curdle when heated. You'll also note that the blog's author suggests Fage to be the brand available to her most regularly.
For me, I initially found Fage Total at Publix, but have since not been able to get it there. Target carries it, as does Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.
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