What Are The Greek Yogurt Carbs You Need to Know

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Strained yogurt, Greek yogurt, yogurt cheese, sack yogurt, or kerned yogurt is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than normal unstrained yogurt, while still preserving the distinctive sour taste of yogurt. Greek yogurt carbs contain 3.6 g.

Yogurt is one of the most common dairy products on the market today, for good reason. Yogurt is a creamy, tasty addition to lots of meals. Greek yogurt carbs are starting to overtake traditional yogurt in popularity thanks to its rich flavor and thick texture.

Greek yogurt has been strained to remove extra liquid and whey. The result is a thicker, denser final product with a higher concentration of protein and probiotics.

This thick, protein-rich yogurt offers a wide variety of potential uses in savory and sweet recipes. It can also be eaten plain.

Health Benefits of Greek Yogurt Carbs

The vitamins, minerals, and probiotics in Greek yogurt can provide important health benefits. For example, Greek yogurt can help provide part of your daily potassium intake.

Potassium is important for maintaining your blood pressure and counteracting sodium. It also plays an important role in keeping your heartbeat regular and helping your muscles contract.

Greek yogurt is also an excellent source of vitamin B12, which helps prevent anemia and keeps your blood cells and nerves healthy.

In addition, greek yogurt carbs can provide health benefits like:

Improve Bone Health

Greek yogurt provides a significant amount of calcium, which is important for healthy bones. Calcium is the most common mineral in your body and most of it is in your skeleton. Getting enough calcium helps prevent osteoporosis by keeping your bones denser and less prone to breaking.

Digestive Health

Greek yogurt is probiotic, meaning it is typically produced with live bacterial cultures. These bacteria can help support the good bacteria that already live in your digestive system. Consuming probiotics like greek yogurt carbs may improve your digestive system’s ability to handle a wide variety of foods. It may also help regulate bowel movements. 

Greek Yogurt Carbs Heart Health

Greek yogurt has been connected to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which can reduce your risk of heart disease. Cholesterol and triglycerides can harden or block your arteries over time, leading to heart disease or atherosclerosis. By controlling your cholesterol, greek yogurt carbs may help you avoid heart disease or slow its progression.

Greek Yogurt Carbs Lower Risk of Diabetes

Consuming greek yogurt carbs may help reduce your risk of diabetes, too. A recent analysis of eleven studies showed that eating yogurt regularly can reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes by as much as 14%. More studies are needed to understand why this happens, but the evidence behind the connection is promising.

How to Make Greek Yogurt

This week we’re exploring all things Greek yogurt, starting with this simple guide on how to make Greek yogurt in your oven (with just two simple ingredients)!

Ingredients

• 4 cups whole milk 960 mL
• ¼ cup plain store-bought yogurt to ensure the container says “live” or “active” cultures, 60 g

Instructions 

• Heat Milk: Place milk in a medium pot and heat to 185-200°F (85-93°C), stirring frequently to prevent skin from forming.
• Cool Bath: Transfer the pot with milk to an ice bath (I filled my sink with ice and water), to cool milk to 100-110°F (37-43°C).
• Temper: Pour ½ cup of the warm milk into a separate clean jar or bowl. Mix in plain yogurt, stirring until yogurt is well blended. Add remaining milk and mix well.
• Let Sit: Cover jar or bowl with a lid, wrap in a moist, warm towel to keep in the heat, and place in oven. Turn on the oven light to keep warm, and let the bacteria do its yogurt-making magic for 4 to 8 hours (or overnight).*
• Strain: You can eat the yogurt like this, or strain it to make Greek yogurt. To strain, line a mesh sieve with cheesecloth (or paper towels, coffee filters, etc), and pour the yogurt in. Place over a large bowl and let strain in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight), until it reaches a consistency you like.

Notes

*The oven light should be sufficient for keeping the milk warm enough for fermentation. You can also turn the oven on for 1 minute (just enough to warm things up an easy bit) every so often. We’re aiming to keep the milk/yogurt at about 100 degrees F (37 C) throughout the whole process.

Greek Yogurt vs. Regular Yogurt

Greek yogurt vs. regular yogurt question, though, here’s what you should keep in mind: Greek yogurt is by nature thicker and can be described as having a tart flavor, whereas regular yogurt isn’t as dense, and it has a more runny kind of consistency and is naturally sweeter. Why? It all has to do with the straining process.

Greek yogurt is thicker and has a creamier consistency than regular yogurt because the whey—the liquid substance that remains after milk has been curdled and strained—has been removed from it. In part because of this process, the nutritional content of each type of yogurt is different. We consulted Laura Burak MS, RD, CDN, who’s also Nutritious Life Certified, for more information on how the two yogurts differ nutritionally to help you decide which is the better fit for your dietary needs when it comes to the great debate of Greek yogurt vs. regular yogurt.

That’s why Greek yogurt has so much more protein than regular yogurt—it’s more concentrated due to the absence of whey. While Greek yogurt carbs dominate regular yogurt in protein content, regular yogurt has more of an important bone-building mineral.

FAQs

Conclusion

Strained yogurt, Greek yogurt, yogurt cheese, sack yogurt, or kerned yogurt is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than normal unstrained yogurt, while still preserving the distinctive sour taste of yogurt. Greek yogurt carbs contain 3.6 g.

Yogurt is one of the most common dairy products on the market today, for good reason. Yogurt is a creamy, tasty addition to lots of meals. Greek yogurt is starting to overtake traditional yogurt in popularity thanks to its rich flavor and thick texture. Greek yogurt has been strained to remove extra liquid and whey.

The result is a thicker, denser final product with a higher concentration of protein and probiotics. “Greek has a lower amount of sugar (around 5-8 grams, compared to 12 or more grams) than the regular yogurt, while still having the high levels of vitamins and minerals,” Ewoldt says. Greek yogurt also contains about half the carbohydrates of regular varieties.

It is made by straining out the extra whey in regular yogurt, which makes the yogurt thicker, creamier, and tangier than regular yogurt. While plain Greek yogurt has less sugar and more protein than regular yogurt, the latter delivers almost twice the bone-strengthening mineral calcium. Greek yogurt also tends to be more expensive than regular yogurt, because more milk goes into making each cup.

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