If you are interested in a healthy lifestyle, you are reading Fitclan and you are not vegan, we are almost sure that you include dairy products in your diet. And you're doing well! Let's take a look today under the lid of a popular trio of dairy products, namely yoghurt, Greek yogurt (+ Greek-type yogurt), curry and a bit of cottage cheese.
It starts with milk
Everything about yoghurts, scallops, cottage cheese, etc., starts with milk, and therefore perhaps it would be appropriate to start with it, the most important thing. Milk is the basic raw material for which it is made, that makes sense. Although we can get milk from several mammals, we will talk here today mainly about cow's milk.
Milk is an excrement from the mammary gland of mammals, which is intended for the first nutrition of their young - it is therefore a complex food containing all nutritionally important substances. It plays an important role in human nutrition, especially as a source of calcium, but we get much more from it into the body!
Classic cow's milk contains on average 4% fat, 3.2% protein (casein protein of four fifths, the rest of serum protein), 4.6% milk sugar (lactose), 0.7% minerals (Ca, P, Na, Mg, K, Cl), vitamins (B2, A, D, E, K, C), enzymes and more. However, as the milk is further processed, its specific values begin to vary, especially those of fat.
Specifically, in the dairy in most cases it looks like this: Fresh milk is brought, which naturally has a fat content of about 4% and then goes to the centrifuge, where the skimmed milk (about 0.03% fat) is separated from the cream (38-42% fat), from which products of different fat content are then mixed. However, there are dairies that do not have this step in their production process at all, and therefore work all the time only with milk with a fat content of about 4%, and thus all the resulting products have about 4% fat.
It's fascinating for me that all I have to do is take milk and just choose whether I want to have yogurt, a pie or cheese. It's all more or less about what bacterial culture, what temperatures and how long I choose. So how do the individual best-known products differ?
Yoghurts
How is yogurt made?
The first process, after the milk is transported to the factory, is homogenized. Why is this step necessary? The fat in the milk is in the form of such microfat balls, and by this process these milk fat balls are reduced and unified. This is because the milk is forced through a sieve with very small holes. If the milk did not homogenize, fat could be released during fermentation, so we would then have a cup of yogurt with yogurt at the bottom and a layer of fat at the top. However, it is not absolutely necessary, if I remember correctly, some dairies do so intentionally - but there are a minority of them.
The second step is pasteurization, a completely normal and, from a certain year, a mandatory process by law, where the milk is heated rapidly to about 90-95 ° C for a few seconds and then cooled to 40 ° C. This process removes (potentially) pathogenic substances and makes the milk completely safe. And also more durable.
And now it's time to "inoculate" such treated milk with bacterial cultures, ie fermentation. A "pure yoghurt culture" is considered to be a mixture of two types of bacterial cultures, namely Streptococcus thermophillus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus in a certain ratio. However, each manufacturer of yogurt (or any fermented milk product) has its own "recipe", the number of individual bacterial strains and the (post) fermentation process. For example, such Activia is not much hidden by the bacterial cultures it uses. Surely you have somewhere in your subconscious rooted in the ads of Bifidus actiregularis. This is a probiotic bacterial strain that is specific exclusively to this brand, so their final product differs from others. The types of yoghurts are usually not differentiated according to the milk culture, the producers usually do not and do not have to state the specific composition of the milk culture.
All of these healthy bacteria thrive best at temperatures around 40 ° C (37-42 ° C), so this is exactly the temperature that is set and allowed to ferment for several hours (depending on the recipe, 4-6 hours). During this time, the bacteria convert milk sugar (lactose) into lactic acid and other by-products. This is one of the reasons why fermented milk products are more suitable for people with lactose intolerance - lactose is naturally declining.
There are two methods of fermentation, respectively. two technologies of yogurt production - technology of production maturing in tanks vs. technology of production maturing in a crucible (in consumer packaging). In the first, the yoghurt is formed in bulk in a huge vat, in the second, the "inoculated" milk is bottled in cups, sealed and then inserted into the fermentation chambers already prepared. Nothing changes in their resulting nutritional values or perhaps safety, it is more a matter of texture. Yoghurt that matures in a crucible has a coarser structure, is stiffer and often contains clumps / pieces, while yoghurt that has matured in a tank has a more homogeneous structure and is finer - this makes sense because the milk is mixed during the fermentation process.
So, and we have white yogurt! But what about fruit?
Did you know that the first fruit yogurt ever was created in 1933 in the Radlická dairy in Prague in Smíchov? At that time, several teaspoons of strawberry jam were placed on the surface of the yogurt. However, the original intention was different than you think - it was done to prevent the formation of mold. This was patented by Radlická mlékárna and then sold this patent in the Czech Republic and abroad.
Fruit yogurt is not like fruit yogurt.
Many fruit yogurts did not see a piece of fruit even from the express. This is because the fruity taste of the drawbar is often smelled. Fruit concentrate is taken (which in itself is more or less a waste product in the production of another fruit product), even in such a quantity that the yoghurt can be called after that fruit according to the legislation, so for example 5%, aroma, dye, water and stabilizers, it mixes with yogurt and tada, "fruit" yogurt is in the world. Damn cheap to make.
However, some companies go the longer, more thorny and expensive route and add really good fruit jam. So often in the composition you will see only fruit (of which there is at least 50% of the content of the flavoring component), sugar and pectin (which is a gelling agent necessary for the formation of dense jam). Yogurt is more expensive, but also much more natural? Tastier? Just BETTER.
What about those low-fat yogurts?
I remember the time about 10 years ago, when I decided (of course very unnecessarily) to lose weight and so I started buying yogurts with 0.1% fat. Often, an ultra-thin mass was waiting for me in the cup, or, on the contrary, almost gelatin, which did not resemble yogurt at all. I'm almost certain that if I had known about calories at the time and looked at the nutritional value, I would find that such yogurt has 0.1% fat, but on the contrary has a higher carbohydrate content - even though it was unsweetened white yogurt. So one such cup came out calorically as if I had bought a classic 3.5% yogurt. This is because various thickeners and starches are often added to low-fat yoghurts to keep them together at all, which then simply increases the caloric value. However, to be honest, at least during my last wanderings through larger stores, trying to figure out if these yogurts still existed and what they look like now, I didn't come across them.
Yoghurts from Greece, or Greek yoghurts. Or not?
Although we might think from the name that it is perhaps made in Greece, this is not the case. Greek Czech yogurts can already be produced by our Czech or Slovak dairies. In fact, there was a case around this in 2016/2017, when the Greek Ministry complained about exactly this - that it was the introduction of the consumer, so according to Decree 397/2016 Coll., Which came into force in the Czech Republic on 1.1. 2017, must now indicate the country of origin of the product.
In addition, the same decree sets out what may be described as "Greek yoghurt". It is a yoghurt which must contain at least 5.6% protein and in which whey is removed after fermentation. Production begins in the same way as with classic yogurt, only after fermentation comes the next step, namely the dripping / draining of whey - that's why Greek yogurt is so thick in the end. The decree also stipulates that it must contain at least 5.6% milk protein, which, however, was not intentionally added to the product in concentrated form. Thus, 3 kg of milk is used to produce one kilogram of Greek yogurt.
Greek-type yogurt (or Greek-style yogurt) is not the same. It must also have at least 5.6% protein as well as Greek yogurt, but its production process is different. Before fermentation, dried milk proteins are added. Thus, 1 kg of milk is used to produce one kilogram of Greek-type yoghurt before adding the dried milk proteins. Of course, these milk proteins also come from milk, but their amount then again varies from producer to producer; therefore, I cannot state the final value of milk consumption.
As for bacterial strains, they are used the same as in the case of yogurt, so the difference is in the production technology.
Skyry, (Greek) yogurts from Iceland. Confused yet?
Skyr is a traditional dairy product that comes from Iceland. It has been a part of their kitchen for more than 1000 years! In many respects it is similar to Greek yogurt, but its nutritional values are generally even better, resp. more suitable for a healthy lifestyle. Skyr is made from skimmed (skimmed) milk, so it boasts a low percentage of fat - it contains an average of 12% protein, 3% carbohydrates, 0.5% fat and, as a bonus, a high amount of calcium.
Skyr is created quite similarly to Greek yogurt, so after fermentation the whey is filtered off. However, other bacterial cultures are used here and the fermentation takes longer - again, it depends on the manufacturer, however, it is stated for more than 8 hours. However, the production of 1 kg of scorpion uses a little more milk than Greek yoghurt, up to 4 kg of milk.
Cottage cheese
Cottage cheese is made completely differently than previous products. It is not a fermented dairy product (ie lactic acid bacteria are not used in its production). Cottage cheese is made by precipitating casein protein and then draining the whey using rennet. And what is rennet? There are two types (and two different types of cottage cheese are created on this basis).
But let's just talk about the classic soft cottage cheese from the tray, as we know it and probably all of us. This is created using rennet enzymes. The milk (after pasteurization) is heated to 22-28 ° C, a mixture of rennet enzymes is added and the milk is left to ferment for 16-18 hours. The acidified milk precipitate is mixed slowly and heated to 35-38 ° C. The aim is to strengthen the precipitate and separate the whey. The obtained precipitate is pressed in the so-called curds (special cloth bags), or the precipitate is centrifuged, where on the one hand we obtain a liquid part (whey) and on the other hand we obtain curd (dry matter about 20%). Soft curds show a pleasantly sour milky taste and aroma, a uniform consistency without the release of whey.
As with yoghurts, we can get various fatty cottage cheese in cottage cheese. Fatter curds are tastier, but contain less protein to the margin of higher fat content. Low-fat cottage cheese, on the other hand, is super-friendly for our lifestyle, but it's not something we didn't know for a long time.
So what's best for me?
Taking this from the point of view of protein content, in this case it is definitely best to reach for cottage cheese, scurf and (low-fat) Greek yogurt. Cottage cheese always contains about 17 g of protein / 100 g, skyr always contains at least 12 g of protein / 100 g and Greek yogurt according to the legislation 5.6 g of protein / 100 g, however, for example the most famous Greek yogurts in our country from the manufacturer Milko are around 10 g of protein (depending on flavor). From this point of view, these products are more suitable, because classic yogurt will always have a protein content of around 3-5%, in most cases for the same number of calories (depending on the flavor).
If I look at it from the point of view of overall health, any honest yogurt (where there are no unnecessary starches, thickeners), Greek yogurt, Greek-type yogurt or skyr is suitable. They all contain lactic acid bacteria, which help the proper functioning of the digestive tract.
From my point of view, it is necessary to be very careful when choosing classic yogurts. In the case of Greek yoghurt or skyr, producers cannot (or should not) afford to supply anything other than fruit flavors, ie. no stabilizers or other artificial food substances, which speak a bit about the fact that the manufacturer tried to create the product as cheaply as possible. With Greek yogurt, just pay attention to the fatness, however, if it fits into your macros, there is no reason to avoid even fatter Greek yogurt.
Yogurts are usually significantly cheaper than Greek yogurt or skyr, but we would certainly recommend buying Greek yogurt / skyr much more at the cost of being more expensive, because you can get much more from it for the body - both healthy bacteria and a decent load of quality protein. And cottage cheese? Although it does not contain healthy bacteria, it boasts the highest content of (casein) proteins. The price is slightly lower than skyr / Greek yogurt.
YOUR QUESTIONS:
# 1 What about lactose-free dairy products?
Lactose-free dairy products are produced by adding the enzyme lactase to the mixture during the production process. This is an enzyme that is lacking in people with lactose intolerance. Lactose is a disaccharide that consists of glucose and galactose, and this enzyme is then responsible for breaking the bond between the two sugars. In the final lactose-free product, the difference in the final is just that instead of lactose, which an allergy sufferer / intolerant cannot digest, there are two simpler sugars (glucose and galactose).
# 2 Do they include dairy products?
This myth is as old as humanity itself. There is no evidence or perhaps scientific study to confirm this. The feeling of being overwhelmed depends on whether you believe it. Incorporation studies have been performed in both asthmatics and volunteers who have been infected with viruses that cause respiratory diseases. The result was the same for all. The feeling of being overwhelmed was more indicated by those who believe in it.
# 3 Probiotic yogurts
According to the recommendations of the FAO Working Group of 2001, probiotics are "living microorganisms that, when administered in appropriate doses, bring health benefits to the host". It must be said here that all yoghurts are to some extent probiotic. For the fermentation of yoghurt, as we wrote in the introduction, two bacterial strains are used, which belong to the lactic acid bacteria, namely Streptococcus thermophillus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. Many strains, especially from the genus Lactobacillus, have also been confirmed to have probiotic properties. However, if the yogurt is clearly proud of the adjective "probiotic" on the packaging, it also contains some additional probiotic bacteria. So is advertising that says that probiotic yogurts are healthy, misleading advertising? Not at all. However, we will discuss the benefits in another follow-up article.
