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Food Review: Whole Soy Yogurt

FitSugar — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT

If you're watching your cholesterol intake, are lactose intolerant, or are concerned about the connection between milk and acne, then you may be looking for alternatives to the dairy products you love. If you're a fan of yogurt, check out this Whole Soy yogurt. Not only is it free of saturated fat, cholesterol, and lactose, but it's also gluten free. Don't worry - even though it's made with soy instead of milk, it still contains live active cultures, which are so good for your digestive system.

So how does it taste and compare nutritionally to other kinds of yogurt? If you're curious then

read more. Here's the nutritional info of one 6 oz. cup of yogurt.

	Calories	Total Fat	Sat Fat	Chol.	Sodium	Carbs	Fiber	Sugars	Protein	Calcium
Whole Soy Peach	160	3g	0g	0mg	20mg	27g	2g	18g	6g	30%
Stonyfield Farms O'Soy Peach	170	2.5g	0g	0mg	45mg	30g	2g	28g	7g	15%
Stonyfield Farms Fat Free Peach	120	0g	0g	0mg	120mg	25g	2g	23g	7g	25%
Stonyfield Farms LowFat Just Peachy	130	1.5g	1g	5mg	110mg	23g	less than 1g	22g	6g	25%

If you're used to regular cow's milk yogurt, then Whole Soy yogurt will definitely be a change. When you take your first bite, it tastes more sweet than tangy. The consistency is a little different too. It's not as runny as regular yogurt can be, but I really enjoyed the thick and smooth quality. Plus I liked that it wasn't at all gritty or chalky, like some soy products can be. The flavor is very mild, so it's perfect if you like to mix in fruit, nuts, or granola. Although it contains more calories than cow's milk yogurt, it also contains less sodium and sugar. I was also surprised to see that compared to regular yogurt and another brand of soy yogurt, Whole Soy contains the most calcium. This yogurt is priced similarly to other organic yogurts (about $1 a cup), so you won't end up paying more. Knowing it's so healthy and tasty, I'm excited to try the other flavors. I'm not saying I'd switch over to Whole Soy yogurt completely, but I'll definitely be picking this up to enjoy at least once a week.

Oh Boy It's O' Soy Yogurt!

FitSugar — Wed, 23 May 2007 03:00:00 PDT

Looking for tasty sources of soy since it is beneficial to our bodies? Soy contains antioxidant compounds that may reduce the risk of osteoporosis, kidney disease, and certain cancers such as breast and ovarian. Plus the phytoestrogens in soy may provide relief from the negative effects of menopause (good to know for later).

The FDA recommends 25g of soy protein a day to help lower cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. This O'Soy yogurt made by Stonyfield Farms offers 7g of soy protein per 6 oz cup. It's also dairy and cholesterol free. Plus just like in regular cow's milk yogurt, O'Soy has calcium and 6 live active cultures.

Want to see how O'Soy compares to Whole Soy Yogurt?

	6 oz Whole Soy & Co. Vanilla	6 oz O'Soy Stonyfield Farms Vanilla
Calories	150	150
Total Fat	3g	2g
Cholesterol	0mg	0mg
Sodium	25mg	40mg
Carbs	28g	26g
Fiber	2g	4g
Sugar	12g	21g
Protein	6g	7g
Calcium	30%	15%
Taste	Thick and creamy, not as sweet as the O'Soy, delicious vanilla flavor	Thinner than the Whole Soy, closer in consistency to regular cow's milk yogurt and has that same slight tangy taste, great fresh vanilla flavor

Soy Yogurt v. Cow's Milk Yogurt

FitSugar — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:00:00 PDT

OK, so I already told you the unpleasant news that eating dairy can cause acne. So what's a yogurt lover to do?

You've got to give soy yogurt a try. My fave is made by Whole Soy & Co. They take soymilk (made from whole organic soybeans) and culture it with vegan cultures including L. Acidophilus and B. Bifidum. It's creamy and very much like cow's milk yogurt, but has all the benefits of soy protein, with no cholesterol.

You can try Whole Soy yogurt in 11 delicious flavors: Plain, Peach, Vanilla, Strawberry, Raspberry, Cherry, Lemon, Blueberry, Apricot Mango, Strawberry Banana, and Mixed Berry.

I think it is worthwhile to compare soy yogurt with cow's milk yogurt. Here's the nutritional info:

	6 oz Whole Soy & Co. Vanilla	6 oz Fat Free Stonyfield Farms French Vanilla	6 oz LowFat Stonyfield Farms Vanilla	6 oz Whole Milk Stonyfield Farms Vanilla
Calories	150	140	140	190
Total Fat	3g	0g	1.5g	6g
Cholesterol	0mg	0mg	5mg	25mg
Sodium	25mg	110mg	100mg	100mg
Carbs	28g	28g	25g	27g
Fiber	2g	2g	2g	3g
Sugar	12g	25g	23g	24g
Protein	6g	7g	7g	6g
Calcium	30%	35%	30%	25%

Ditch the Dairy: Milk-Free Snacks That Pack a Protein Punch

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:29:22 PST

Dairy products aren't the only choices when it comes to high-protein snacks. If you're eating a diet minus milk, or you just want a low-cal snack that's high in protein, check out these 150-calorie snacks that don't contain a drop of dairy.

One serving of spicy roasted chickpeas (one fourth of this recipe: 134 calories, 5.6 grams protein
Twenty-one raw almonds: 146 calories, 5.4 grams protein
Six-ounce container of vanilla O'Soy Yogurt: 150 calories, seven grams protein
One slice whole-wheat bread (100 calories, four grams protein) smeared with half a tablespoon natural peanut butter (53 calories, two grams protein): 153 calories, six grams protein
Two Mini S'mores Luna Bars: 140 calories, eight grams protein

Keep reading for five more dairy-free snack ideas.

Best of 2011: The Year's Biggest Health Food Trends

Michele Foley — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 03:21:27 PST

When talking health food trends, last year was all: ancient grains, overnight oats, and gluten-free goodness. This year's biggest health food trends? Here's a hint: chia pets, the godfather of fitness, and pina coladas.

Coconut milk: With recent studies calling into question the benefits of soy, people were on hunt this for a dairy-free alternative that wasn't linked to breast cancer. While almond and rice milk are old favorites, they lack the richness and sweetness that soy does. Enter: coconut milk beverage. Not as thick and rich as the kind of canned coconut milk used in curries, coconut milk beverage is great in smoothies and ice cream; it's also great over cereal, in coffee, or on its own.
Pressed juice: It seems that Odwalla just isn't fresh enough! Not since the early days of Jack Lalanne has pressed juicing seen such a heyday. Once looked at as some sort of hippie juice, everyone - even Starbucks - is getting in on the pressed-juice craze. All of Hollywood seems to be juicing, too: stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Richie, and Olivia Wilde are regularly spotted with their carrot-beet-apple-and-green-stuff blends. Are you a juice-head? Then definitely check out our recipes for pressed root veggie juice and green juice.
Chia seeds: Move over flax, there's a new seed in town! Chia seeds (yep, the same kind used to decorate those wildly adored, '80s novelty gift, chia pets) are everywhere this year. Sprinkle them on yogurt, add them to a bread mix, or even toss them in a dressing - there really is no end to what chia seeds can be used for. The health claim to fame? Chia seeds are high in protein, fiber, calcium, antioxidants, and omega-3s - zing!

Source: Flickr user littlebluehen, Source

5 Diet Foods That Are Making You Fat

Prevention — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:10:41 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar!

Improve your weight loss plan by avoiding these health diet disasters
By Alyssa Shaffer

Thanks to confusing labels and unearned reputations, it's difficult to know what's good for you. You might automatically reach for items with a "health halo," such as spaghetti sauce (love that lycopene!), or labels like reduced fat!, low sodium!, and whole grain! But unless you're a super savvy shopper, be warned: your diet may conceal some nasty surprises. That low-fat cottage cheese you love? It could be higher in sodium than potato chips. And the low-fat dressing you drizzle on your salad? It could contain nearly as much sugar as two chocolate chip cookies.

The truth is that no manufacturer wants to compromise on flavor, so even healthy-sounding products can contain appalling levels of sugar, salt, and bad fats. To save you time, we've flushed out some of the most surprising diet food offenders - and found some truly healthy alternatives.

5 Weight Loss Excuses You Can Overcome

Fast Food Chicken Caesar Salad
Culprit: McDonald's Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken contains 890 mg of sodium - more than half the recommended daily limit. And that's without the Caesar dressing, which can pile on another 500 mg. (Select the low-fat Italian and it's even 30 percent higher!) In these ready-to-go salads, says Lona Sandon, RD, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, "the worst part is usually the chicken, which is often cooked in a high-sodium marinade for flavor and may also be injected with a sodium solution to keep the meat moist."

Smarter choice: Skip the entrée salad and go for the burger with a garden salad on the side. A McDonald's plain hamburger has 520 mg of sodium (250 calories, 9 g fat); add the side salad (20 calories, 0 g fat, 10 mg sodium) or snack-size fruit-and-walnut salad (210 calories, 8 g fat, 60 mg sodium).

Have you fallen prey to other "fake" diet foods? Keep reading to find out!

How to Put Good Bacteria Back in Your Gut With Food

Heather Dale — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:13:36 PST

A healthy gut is a happy gut. To keep your intestinal tract in optimal working order, it needs lots of "good" bacteria - no, that is not an oxymoron! There are only three types of basic bacteria in our digestive systems, so boosting the "friendly bacteria" with probiotics can help balance the pH of the intestinal tract, creating a less desirable environment for pathogenic bacteria (the bad stuff). Research has shown that probiotics can help in the battle against a wide variety of medical conditions including: allergies, cholesterol (it helps raise the good kind), colon cancer, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, and diarrhea. Probiotics can also boost your immune system, which is especially important during cold and flu season.

Today, probiotic supplements - which often contain members of the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium groups of bacteria - are popular, but unfortunately many of these supplements fall short on bacteria content. But with the help of a few common foods, we can increase the number of beneficial bacteria in our digestive tracts and skip the supplements altogether. Learn these foods when you keep reading.

Tips For the Lactose Intolerant

FitSugar — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:27:31 PDT

How can a hot slice of ooey-gooey cheese pizza taste so good but make you feel so bad? If you're lactose intolerant, even one bite could have you racing to the bathroom. Here are some tips to help you deal with your dairy-filled world.

If your body can't tolerate any dairy products whatsoever, keep Lactaid pills with you at all times. Lactose intolerance is caused by a lactase deficiency, the enzyme needed to break down the lactose (milk sugar) in your food. If the lactose doesn't get broken down, it causes major bloating, gas, or diarrhea. Just pop a pill with your first bite of food containing dairy, and you're all set. If one pill doesn't offer the magic, take another.
A package of 60 Lactaid brand caplets costs around $15, so if you're going through three or more pills a day, this can be a big expense. Buy them in bulk and save some dough - Kirkland brand costs $16.50 for 180.
If you're not into popping Lactaid pills, avoiding dairy is your best bet, which means being a keen label reader. Look for words such as milk, milk powder, butter, buttermilk, cream, cheese, whey, curds, or milk solids. Hidden lactose can be found in baked goods, dressings, chips, instant soups, candies, pancake mixes, margarine, and even certain medications. If you think a food might have dairy in it, but you're not sure, don't take the chance.

Keep reading for more lactose intolerance tips.

5 Questions Vegetarians Should Ask Themselves

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:32:24 PDT

I've never met a vegetarian (myself included) who hasn't been asked a hundred times, "Are you getting enough protein?" But this isn't the only thing vegetarians need to watch out for. Avoiding meat means you need to pay special attention to your diet to make sure you're getting other essential nutrients as well. You also need to be careful about overdoing it with meat alternatives and dairy products, since this may prompt other health issues. If you don't eat beef, poultry, or fish, ask yourself these five questions.

Am I getting enough protein? There's no black and white number that's right for everyone since your protein intake depends on body weight and activity level; the number ranges between 40 and 90 grams. Check out this handy chart showing how much protein you need each day. Good sources of vegetarian protein include beans, soy products like tofu and soy milk, nuts, and whole grains.
Does my diet offer enough vitamin B12? Women need 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12 each day, and since it's found in animal products, be sure you eat enough milk, cheese, yogurt, and eggs if you're a lacto-ovo-vegetarian. Vitamin B12 is also found in nutritional yeast, so sprinkle some on your popcorn or make this Vegan Mac and Cheese.

Continue reading for three more questions vegetarians should ask themselves.

Be Well Bites: The Best Foods to Eat After Having a Baby

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:01:14 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Ah, motherhood. You've gained a new little bundle of joy - and to go with it, some extra pounds. Don't let food worries add to your stress and sleepless nights as you adjust to your new schedule. We sought out the best foods to keep you going and slim you down in the process.

Rev Up Your Engine
The key to your energy isn't just how much (or little) you sleep each night, but instead, what's on your plate. "One of the main things a healthy diet can do is give new moms energy," says Kathy McManus, RD, a Fitness advisory board member and director of the department of nutrition at Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston. "It's important to spread food throughout the day so that you get an even amount of calories. This will give you lasting power to take care of your baby and yourself."

See more tips after the break!