Face-off: greek yogurt vs. regular yogurt

Both greek yogurt and regular yogurt offer much nutritional benefit. They both contain probiotics (which aid in digestion), are packed with calcium, provide you with more protein than milk per serving, can boost immunity, and have similar calorie counts, but how do they stack up against each other?

Yes, regular yogurt makes for a great addition in one's diet for all of the reasons listed above, but when it comes to nutritional superiority, greek yogurt takes the win.

Greek yogurt is heavily strained, which in effect cuts out a large portion of sugar, sodium, lactose, and whey. This not only gives the yogurt its creamy consistency, but also decreases the carb-count and increases its protein content considerably. While greek yogurt contains around 15-20 grams of protein and 5-8 grams of carbohydrates, regular yogurt contains around 9 grams of protein and 13-17 grams of carbohydrates, according to U.S. News and World Report. When it comes to calcium content though, regular yogurt gets the point since some of the calcium is lost during greek's straining process. Even so, greek yogurt still provides you with 20% of your daily calcium intake. Not a huge setback, but still worth mentioning.

When buying your yogurt, you'll want to be wary of the fat content. Full-fat yogurt has a high amount of saturated fat (which can raise LDL cholesterol), so I always opt for non-fat, but low-fat is a fine option as well. It's also best to stray from the flavored varieties. The ingredients used to make a yogurt taste like fruit or a specialty dessert add a load of sugar, so if plain yogurt isn't your thing, you can mix it up by adding in fresh fruit, honey, nuts, or cinnamon. While these toppings (sans the nuts and cinnamon) will increase the sugar content, by making these additions yourself with healthy, natural food products, you'll benefit from the nutritional value they offer (for example, while fresh blueberries provide you with a mean dose of antioxidants, artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrups do not).

For a more dessert-like yogurt, check out my previous post on cookie-dough greek yogurt, or try out this pumpkin pie greek yogurt that I fell in love with over the fall season. Even easier, you could simply add in a 100 calorie pack of Blue Diamond's Dark Chocolate Oven Roasted Almonds to some plain yogurt (thanks mom for the suggestion!).

Although greek yogurt is great straight from the cup, it also makes for an awesome substitute for sour cream, oil, cream cheese, mayo, and butter, putting a healthier spin on a plethora of snacks and meals. For some greek yogurt-infused recipes, check out the links provided below:

Avocado Egg Salad

Slender Cilantro Jalapeño Ranch Dressing

Lemon Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes

Skinny Greek Yogurt Chicken

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Creamy Oikos Mashed Potatoes

Spinach-Pesto Dip

Sesame Seed-Crusted Salmon Burger with Yogurt Sauce

Mac and Cheese Lite

Low-Fat Cinnamon Peach Banana Bread

Funfetti Cake Frozen Yogurt