Yogurt is a healthy snack and should be part of everyone’s diet.  The main ingredient in yogurt is milk, live and active cultures, plus other ingredients such as different fruits and flavors fortified with vitamins. Yogurt is made by adding cultures of certain healthy bacteria to milk. These microorganisms convert the lactose in the milk to lactic acid. The lactic acid gives yogurt its tartness and causes the milk to form a soft curd.

Yogurt is a great source of calcium for strong bones, speeds up metabolism, and improves digestion.

Plain Greek Yogurt is considered the best superfood for seniors as it contains probiotics that help to maintain a healthy gut.

Low-fat Greek yogurt contains twice as much satiating protein as traditional yogurt, is high in calcium, keeps you feeling fuller longer, and controls your appetite, which in turn will decrease your belly fat.

In the chart below, I have compared Oikos Organic Greek Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt (I couldn’t find its Low-Fat variety) with Stonyfield Low Fat Organic Vanilla yogurt and Low Fat Vanilla store-brand yogurt.

Oikos Organic Greek Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt is thick and creamy, has the least sugar and sodium, and has the highest protein.  All Stonyfield organic yogurts are made with 5-6 live active cultures, and most yogurts (like the store brand here) use only enough live active culture to meet the requirements.  Stonyfield organic yogurts also use organic ingredients to obtain their flavor. The blueberry, vanilla, and honey flavors, which I sampled in the Oikos Organic Greek yogurt, also have a natural and fresh taste of these ingredients.

I was very surprised by the large variance in all the listed Nutrition Facts groups in the Stonyfield Low Fat yogurt versus the store brand Low Fat yogurt.  The store-brand yogurt is much higher in calories, total fat, sodium, and sugar, and contains half the calcium, compared to the organic yogurt.  The Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt was priced at $2.19, the Stonyfield Low Fat Organic yogurt was $1.99, and the store-brand Low Fat yogurt was 89 cents.  This proves that you get what you pay for…:-)

Please check out the table below to compare the 3 different yogurts I was researching.