We’ve Been Eating the Wrong Yogurt All Along
Icelanders have it figured out, man
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Few food items are as culturally ubiquitous as dairy products. Whether this is a holdover of our agrarian past or for other reasons, one would be hard-pressed to sit at a table where none of the foods being served originated from a certain white, creamy liquid. And while cheese perhaps takes the crown for diversity, given that virtually every culture has put its own twist on it, yogurt and yogurt-like dairy products come in at a close second.
When I made the decision over a year ago to start counting my macros, I was shocked at how many calories some of our most frequently eaten foods contained. As a result, I tried to get all the nutrients I needed while incurring the least caloric penalty. My diet thus became geared toward efficiency, while at the same time retaining as much savoriness as possible. This made me much more conscious of the food choices I made.
My carbs started coming much more from fibrous rather than starchy sources, fats were reduced to the healthy essentials, which also meant that my proteins became leaner. With this approach, I started being more selective with what I ate. That is to say, what are the foods that will help keep me feeling satiated while not surpassing my calorie goals. To give an extreme example, if your goal is to eat 2000 calories a day, and you start your day with a Big Mac, large fries, and 6 chicken nuggets, you’ve already consumed well over half your allowance. Now, for the rest of the day, you can either stick to your calorie goals by rationing your remaining meals at the expense of hunger and reduced essential nutrients, or throwing caution to the wind and eating to your heart’s content, thus surpassing said goals. Alternatively, choosing healthier options throughout the day would allow you to eat more often without running the risk of overshooting your goals.
One food item I started eating less of during that period of elevated pedantism was yogurt. The 1.5 grams of fat and 6 grams of carbs per 100 grams of yogurt just didn’t fit well into my macros. As something I ate mainly as a source of protein, there were simply too many calories coming from carbs and fats for my liking. Especially considering I like to add nuts, berries, and some honey. And so I started looking…
