What Is Yogurt?
Yogurt is milk that’s combined with bacteria and fermented, usually by way of the bacterial cultures Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. During this fermentation process, the bacteria break down the sugar in the milk into lactic acid. This gives the yogurt a tangy flavor.
Like the milk products used to make it, yogurt can vary in the amount of fat it contains, from nonfat (0 percent) to low-fat (2 percent) to whole milk (4 percent). The higher the fat content, the creamier and thicker the texture.
Greek yogurt is the product of straining the liquid from regular yogurt. Greek yogurt can be nonfat, low-fat, or full-fat, but in general it has a thicker, creamier texture than regular yogurt. Straining also makes some of the nutrients in the yogurt more concentrated, which is why Greek yogurt usually contains more protein.
For those who follow a dairy-free diet, there’s an increasingly diverse selection of plant-based yogurts on the market, most commonly made of almond, coconut, oat, soy, or cashew milk, among other nondairy milk alternatives.
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