"One bite will make your neck stretch two miles!" This kind of yogurt has become very popular recently, but two types of people should be careful when eating it!

Recently, there has been a trend of "dry yogurt" on social media. Various bloggers have tried it and constantly innovated its combination, but everyone's eating experience seems to be not very good, and the taste experience is that "one bite will stretch your neck two miles."

As this yogurt became popular, many people began to try to make their own. However, some people vomited continuously after eating homemade dry yogurt and were diagnosed with bacterial food poisoning caused by excessive bacteria in the dry yogurt.

Image source: social platform

This makes many people curious, what exactly is dry yogurt, what is its magic? What should we pay attention to when eating it?

What exactly is "dry choked yogurt"?

The so-called dry yogurt is just a nickname given by netizens based on its taste. Its real name is Greek cold-brewed yogurt . This is to remove most of the whey in ordinary yogurt through static filtration , making the yogurt texture very thick and dense, similar to the taste of ice cream or cream, which can be understood as a kind of "concentrated" yogurt.

In China, the popularity of dry yogurt may have originated from the "yogurt bowl", an old Internet celebrity in the fitness circle. At first, in order to reduce blood sugar and fat and supplement protein, many fitness experts used sugar-free or low-sugar yogurt as a base, and paired it with oats, fresh fruits, nuts, etc. to make a bowl of nutritious meal rich in high-quality protein, calcium, vitamins, and low in fat and sugar. The yogurt bowl is not only nutritious and has a strong sense of fullness, but also has exquisite presentation and bright colors. It quickly became popular on the Internet. As everyone's pursuit of "sugar-free" and "healthy" continues to become more extreme, the ordinary yogurt at the bottom of the bowl has gradually been replaced by "dry yogurt" with the whey removed. Dry yogurt and ordinary yogurt

What is the difference?

Is dry yogurt healthier than regular yogurt? Many people think that "concentrated yogurt is the essence", and even if the taste is not so good, they prefer dry yogurt. How big is the difference between the two?

Image source: social platform

Considering that there are limited research literature on the nutritional comparison between cold-brewed yogurt and ordinary yogurt, we randomly selected different brands of dairy products from an e-commerce platform for a simple comparative analysis for your reference: From the data in the table below, we can see that the protein content of dry yogurt is 2.5~3.8 times that of ordinary yogurt, and the calcium content is 12%~24% higher than that of ordinary yogurt. Even for non-zero sugar and zero fat dry yogurt, its carbohydrate content is half that of ordinary yogurt. This is because as the whey is filtered, most of the lactose and some water-soluble vitamins and minerals are filtered out, while nutrients such as protein are concentrated. Compared with its higher protein content, the calories of dry yogurt are not very high. If you choose zero sugar and zero fat dry yogurt, the calories are lower than ordinary yogurt.

The above data are all from the food nutrition labels provided by a random sampling of different brands of dairy products on an e-commerce platform.

In simple terms, compared to ordinary yogurt, dry yogurt has three advantages: high protein, high calcium, and relatively low calories . Since more lactose is removed, it may also be safer for people with lactose intolerance. Compared with another "concentrated" dairy product, natural cheese, dry yogurt is not as high in protein and calcium as cheese, but its calorie and fat content are only about 1/5 and 1/3 of cheese. In addition, dry yogurt does not have the high salt problem caused by the production process of natural cheese, and its salt content is only one-seventh to one-ninth of that of cheese.

From the perspective of probiotics, if sufficient and active probiotics (such as thermophilic Streptococcus and Bulgarian Lactobacillus) are added to the raw yogurt for making dry yogurt, the dry yogurt made can also supplement probiotics to a certain extent and play a role similar to probiotic yogurt, such as regulating intestinal flora and improving immunity, but the effect may vary from person to person. Here we must remind everyone that there are many Greek cold-brew yogurt products on the market. Please pay attention to the following points when choosing:

① Choose cold-brewed yogurt from a big brand , which is more guaranteed in terms of food safety, and try to avoid "handmade" and "homemade" products.

② Carefully check the food nutrition label of the product, compare the content of nutrients such as protein, fat, calcium, carbohydrates, etc. of different products, and choose according to your own needs. If the purpose is to reduce fat and blood sugar, choose low-calorie, high-protein, sugar-free cold-brewed yogurt.

③ Original cold-brewed yogurt is preferred. If you like colorful and rich-flavored dry yogurt, you can add fresh fruits to enrich its taste and color, which can also replenish water and improve the degree of "dryness".

Can drinking dry yogurt really help you lose weight and stimulate your appetite?

Overall, dry yogurt has good nutritional value and is a recommended dairy product. Is it suitable for everyone? Can you eat it to lose weight? Is it "very appetizing" as some people say, and will you eat more after eating it? If we only look at the nutritional value of dry yogurt itself, it is indeed suitable for consumption during weight loss, especially sugar-free and zero-fat dry yogurt, which has the advantages of high nutritional density, high satiety, and slow digestion speed required for weight loss diet. But the premise is that the overall diet should be reasonable. If you regard dry yogurt as a "secret weapon for weight loss", but do not pay attention to limiting oil, salt, and sugar for three meals, and do not control total calorie intake, it is difficult to achieve the goal of weight loss. It is recommended that you can use dry yogurt with instant oatmeal, fresh fruit, freeze-dried fruit, and plain nuts as one of the three meals, or as a partial replacement for one meal (while reducing the intake of other foods). In this way, you can not only use its high satiety to reduce the amount of food you eat and the frequency of eating, but also meet basic nutritional needs. However, be careful to avoid adding high-calorie foods such as syrup, honey, jam, chocolate, and biscuits, and do not turn weight loss foods into calorie bombs. In order to improve the taste and appearance of dry yogurt, some Internet celebrities posted yogurt bowls made with the above foods, which runs counter to the original intention of losing weight and controlling sugar. However, if you just want to taste the deliciousness of yogurt, this operation is fine.

Image source: social platform

As for whether it is "appetizing", it is not . Dry yogurt tastes sour and refreshing, and paired with fresh fruits, it is easy to stimulate appetite (appetizing), but because it is rich in protein, it is not digested quickly. In addition, the taste of eating a mouthful and chewing for a long time, the eating speed is also very slow. After eating a bowl, I probably just want to give my mouth a rest. Some friends explain that the reason why it is "appetizing" is that after eating a few mouthfuls of dry yogurt, ordinary food tastes particularly delicious and eats more.

Image source: social platform

If you can accept the taste of dry yogurt, most people can try it in moderation. But there are two types of friends who are not suitable: ① Dry yogurt is cold food, so people who usually have gastritis, gastric ulcers or stomach discomfort when eating cold food should choose it carefully.

② Elderly people and children under 3 years old . Dry yogurt is too thick and sticks easily to the inside of the mouth. It is difficult for the elderly and children with weak swallowing ability to chew and swallow. If they are not properly supervised, they may choke or even suffocate .

There are risks in making your own dry yogurt.

There is no need to blindly follow the trend

This trend of dry yogurt has attracted many friends to join the ranks of making their own dry yogurt, but a recent news report reminds us of the risks of making it at home.
From the news, we can see that when this lady made dry choking yogurt, she filtered it with a face towel and did not store it in a sealed manner, which led to bacterial contamination and caused food poisoning symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. The news did not specify the bacteria that caused the lady's infection, but what needs to be vigilant is Listeria, which is more powerful than E. coli and Salmonella. In fact, the low temperature environment of the refrigerator's refrigerator compartment is very suitable for the survival and reproduction of Listeria . This bacteria is not only easy to contaminate raw meat, but also easy to contaminate dairy products. Once poisoning is caused by eating food contaminated by it, central nervous system symptoms such as fever, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, joint pain, headache, meningitis, etc. may occur. For pregnant women, it may also cause serious consequences such as miscarriage and premature birth. In order to avoid food safety risks, it is advised that everyone should try to buy finished products. If you must make it yourself, pay attention to the following key points:

① Choose fresh, high-quality yogurt and ensure the safety of the raw materials.

② Ensure the hygiene of the production process, such as thoroughly cleaning hands and all containers and tools that may come into contact with food.

③ Choose disposable, food-safe filter cloth or filter directly with a thoroughly cleaned and disinfected filter.

④ Keep it sealed and refrigerated. It is best to store it separately from raw meat, raw seafood, salad and other foods that are easily contaminated by Listeria. It is best to eat the homemade dry yogurt as soon as possible, preferably within three days.

After all, dry yogurt is just a kind of healthy dairy product, and its nutrition is not irreplaceable. Under the premise of ensuring food safety, you can try dry yogurt with proper matching, but if you don’t like its taste, you don’t need to try it. Sugar-free or low-sugar and low-fat yogurt are also good choices.

References

[1] Jia Chengjing, Su Danting, Shen Yu, Huang Enshan, Gu Wei, Wang Dahong, Li Peng, Wang Ting, Zhang Ronghua, Hu Chonggao. Preventive effect of yogurt on upper respiratory tract infection in primary school students[J]. Journal of Health Research, 2021, 50(06): 1030-1034.

[2] Zhong Yan, Huang Chengyu, He Tao. Effects of probiotics and yogurt on colonic flora in lactose intolerant subjects[J]. Hygiene Research, 2006.

[3] Henan Radio and Television Station Urban Report. Recently popular! Some people vomited after eating this "healthy food"? Urgent reminder [EB/OL]. 2024-12-10.

Planning and production

Author: Wang Lu, registered dietitian

Reviewer: Zhang Na, Associate Researcher, Doctoral Supervisor, Peking University School of Public Health