Yogurt is one of the most famous and widely consumed fermented dairy foods in the world today. It’s been around for thousands of years, and there are dozens of dizzying varieties available. However, people often wonder what the differences are among two popular types: whole milk yogurt and Greek yogurt.
Traditional Greek yogurt is made from full-fat sheep or goat’s milk and live cultures. Modern Greek yogurt is strained thrice, and can be made from non-fat, low fat, or whole milk. Whole milk yogurt is strained once or twice, and contains full fat whole cow’s milk and live cultures.
While those are the primary differences between the two, there’s a lot more to understand about these types of yogurt. Read on to learn more.
Table of Contents
- What’s The Difference Between Whole Milk Yogurt And Greek Yogurt?
- Deciphering Yogurt Ingredients
- Frequently Asked Questions
What’s The Difference Between Whole Milk Yogurt And Greek Yogurt?
To truly understand the differences between whole milk yogurt and Greek yogurt, it’s helpful to know about its history.
Yogurt has been consumed for around 10,000 years now, with several countries all over the globe independently inventing their own. In Greece, yogurt was traditionally made with full-fat sheep’s milk yogurt in a ceramic container, which wasn’t strained and kept all its whey content. But Greece also had another form of traditional yogurt made from full-fat sheep, goat, or cow’s milk, known as ‘sakoulas’ which means bag, because it was strained in a muslin bag.
It wasn’t until 1998 that a Greek yogurt company called Fage introduced Greek yogurt to the United States and by 2001 they had their headquarters in New York. However, a Turkish yogurt company called Chobani was also pivotal in popularizing yogurt from 2005 onwards. From then on, the yogurt industry in the US took off and spawned dozens of flavors and varieties like the ones we know of today.
So many varieties, in fact, that people can easily get confused. They do both contain some kind of milk and bacterial culture. But to clear the air, here are the primary differences between the two:
Whole Milk Yogurt
Generally speaking, both yogurt types are made from essentially the same basic ingredients but will vary in the nutrients and thus, health benefits. They are both terrific for supporting digestion, heart health, and weight loss thanks to the probiotic content in live cultures, but if you want to know if Greek yogurt is better than whole milk yogurt or vice versa, it’s important to look at the nutrition label and ingredients.
Deciphering Yogurt Ingredients
Yogurt is healthy for you, but the grocery store shelves are often packed with sugary and additive-rich yogurt varieties that can do more harm than good. When you eat either whole milk or Greek yogurt that contains too many flavors and too much sugar, you’re just eating junk food.
Here are some tips to help you shop for healthy yogurt:
If you don’t like the taste of unflavored yogurt, then you can always add the sweeteners yourself at home. Healthy ways to flavor yogurt include adding nuts and fresh fruit. Of course, you can also have more control over the nutrient content by making it yourself.
It’s also important to understand the type of milk used in whole milk and Greek yogurt. The type of milk used in yogurts will have a major impact on the final result, taste, and texture:
Whole cow’s milk is the purest, most unadulterated type of milk there is. It’s also known as regular milk, so ‘regular yogurt’ refers to yogurt made with whole milk too. Whole cow’s milk is made up of 87% water, and 3-3.5% milk fat, which has health benefits because the more fat is contained in a cup of milk, the more Omega-3 fatty acids you’ll get.
However, one cup of whole milk also contains around 4.6 grams of saturated fat which can help keep you full for a longer period of time. Saturated fat from whole milk yogurt and other dairy products are said to reduce the risk of heart disease, unlike saturated fat from other animal products.
Keep in mind that consuming cow’s milk even in yogurt form 