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mrsvvt2001
Wed, Nov-14-01, 12:10
Sometimes I see posts (here and other LC forums) about yoghurt having less carbs than listed because the bacteria "eat" some of the carbs. Any truth to this?......sounds weird.

Natrushka
Wed, Nov-14-01, 13:08
yep, took some digging (and I'm glad I did this is way cool info) but that info is correct,

Apparenlty this is in Fran McCullough's book Living Low Carb and has been substantiated elsewhere as well. The bacteria feed on the lactose, thereby pre-digesting the sugars in the milk. You can subtract 8g carbs per cup of yogurt. Be sure your yoghurt is plain yoghurt. Flavored with fruit or other goodies doesn't count. And it must have at minimum two active cultures .

Nat

mrsvvt2001
Wed, Nov-14-01, 13:21
Thanks Nat, that is very useful info. I'm thinkin' a whole cup of yoghurt cheese for only 3 carbs!
:Party:

Kay
Thu, Nov-15-01, 00:34
If you two are into research you might want to have a look at this link. The subject rang a bell, so I looked it up.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13663&highlight=yogurt

IslandGirl
Thu, Nov-15-01, 04:14
By the way, the GO-Diet (Atkins with more veg, cultured milk products and a strong emphasis on non-saturated fats)... is the only one I know of to have actually lab-tested the yogurt(s) to prove the carb theory. And also, a quick run through the Hidden Carb Calculator is just as good for 'lost' carbs as it is for 'hidden' carbs, no? :lol:

Since the source milk/cream for yogurt might vary strongly, it's probably safer to use the Hidden Carb Calculator (should we call it the True Carb Calculator?) rather than assuming one can subtract 8 grams per Cup... or just do calculate the carbs manually, as below :D

Here's a recent post from elsewhere, talking about a particular yogurt ("Greek Cream Yogurt", found in Germany actually) .... illustrative, I hope.

As for the articles on carb counts, they are usually referring to the USA labelling law, which calculates carbs by difference (that is, after the protein and fat grams have been truly counted, any calories left *must* be carbs) AND counts the grams of, basically, the raw materials... so the little friendly
bacteria doing the converting of lactose (milk sugar) to lactic acid don't get any credit in a reduced carb count. And this would work on any natural plain unsweetened yogurt, regardless of the number and variety of cultures in use.

"Euro" yogurt, who knows? There is a quick "rulle of thumb" test for any product that you can safely apply, though. First, assume the calorie counts, protein and fat grams are accurate (they are more likely to be). Then (and I'll use your yogurt numbers as an example) do this: multiply the fat grams by 9, multiply the protein grams by 4, add the 2 numbers and then subtract THAT number from the total calories. The calories left are presumed to be from
carbs, divide that by 4 (carbs have about 4 cals per gram) and you get the probable number of carb grams per serving.
- Protein Cals = 19.2 (4.8g X 4)
- Fat Cals = 90 (10g X 9)
---> sum = 109.2 -- so -- 123 minus 109.2 = 13.8 Cals
---> 13.8/4 Cals = 3.45g

Sooooo, a fair estimate is 3.5g carb per serving of your yogurt. Nice, eh?

:wave:

Victoria
Thu, Nov-15-01, 09:10
Hey I like the idea of being able to eat yogurt. Thank you for the info and research. I read the article about yogurt and am excited to be able to add this to my diet. It is so good for your intestinal health. I will have to copy down your calculations, and try to do the math when I have a quiet moment. :rolleyes: But this is liberating!! The article mentioned Kefir also. Does anyone know where to find it? I'm thinking at the health food store. I used to love plain yogurt with bananas. But now I could have berries with it. Thank you all!!! The science makes sense. I'm thankful there are folks out there researching for us :D Victoria

sammiejam
Tue, Dec-04-01, 21:42
what about if it is used as an ingredient, say a low carb cake??

Chrissy
Wed, Dec-05-01, 20:02
Went grocery shopping today and found Presidents Choice all natural yogurt 1%. This one provides the benefits of four different bacterial cultures and that's it for ingredients, besides milk. And ohhhh does it taste good with a few blueberries and a sprinkle of splenda. :)

KarenB
Sat, Feb-09-02, 12:07
if I can find plain full-fat yogurt, I can EAT SOME????? As long as it's got more than one active culture?

Where do I find how many cultures it has? I can remember seeing the LAC symbol, but I don't recall ever seeing a *number* of cultures listed. Is it in the ingredients list?

And here I thought I knew how to read labels. Guess I learned something *else* today! :)

KarenB
Sat, Feb-09-02, 23:54
And I see in another thread that Wa'il knows about it, and so does Karen... Stonyfield Farms whole milk plain cream on top yogurt!

I am still confused a little bit, however, as to whether I can or can't subtract those 8g of carbs per cup. If I can, this baby comes out to only about 5.5g per serving. If I can't, it sits at 13.5g. Nat's post seems to say "Yeah, go ahead and subtract," but Judi's seems to say "Nono, do the math and use that number."

To subtract, or not to subtract, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the count to suffer the possibility of "phantom" carbs, or to take aim against the evil grams and by subtracting, end them...

Yeah. It's late, all right. :D

ProfGumby
Wed, Apr-05-06, 21:08
Hey I like the idea of being able to eat yogurt. Thank you for the info and research. I read the article about yogurt and am excited to be able to add this to my diet. It is so good for your intestinal health. I will have to copy down your calculations, and try to do the math when I have a quiet moment. :rolleyes: But this is liberating!! The article mentioned Kefir also. Does anyone know where to find it? I'm thinking at the health food store. I used to love plain yogurt with bananas. But now I could have berries with it. Thank you all!!! The science makes sense. I'm thankful there are folks out there researching for us :D Victoria

The two local health food stores both have yogurt and Kefir. But only one has Stonyfiled Farms Organic Whole Milk yogurt. The other stuff is all fruit added and sweetened with some kind of sugar. The typical healthfood type sugars like Fructose or Crystalized cane juice etc...organic or not it is still sugar. Gotta read those labels!

Same with the Kefir, neither health food store has it unsweetened. None of the food stores here have Kefir, though most have the Dannon natural lowfat yogurt. I will eat that one, but as it is no fat, they use pectin to thicken it up a bit.

As to the multiple cultures, I'll have to look into that one, especially with the Dannon stuff. I seem to remember the Stonyfield Farms Organic has 3 or 4 strains listed on the container.

refmls
Thu, Apr-06-06, 13:36
The Stonyfield Farms web site lists 6 different cultures for the Organic yogurt.
FYI