The Northwest Voice

By: Gina Rolow

I love frozen yogurt. Line 100 desserts up in a row, and I would pass up tiramasu for the frozen, creamy stuff. I’ve been known to eat it during the foggy season by a roaring fire in the dead of winter. It doesn’t matter what time of year, if you get my point.

I was in Los Angeles last week and just happened to see a yogurt store in a shopping mall. It’s like I have a radar for this stuff. I crave it. While I waited in line at least 30 minutes for my frozen fix, I picked up a magazine someone had left on the table that, coincidentally enough, contained some cold hard facts about my serious addiction. As I read the Nutrition Edge Magazine, I found out some changes I needed to make in reference to my yogurt diet. Like Starbucks is for some, I have a habit of “swinging” by the yogurt store for lunch and yes, at times, even for dinner. The mere thought of consuming a hot meal for dinner can lead me back, yet again, to the yogurt store — but of course I switch to dinner flavors.

I have my lunch flavors and my dinner flavors, but according to Nutrition Edge Magazine columnist Del Millers Ph.D., “The problem, however, is that most frozen yogurt is made in much the same way ice cream is, with the exception of yogurt cultures. They have similar ingredients. The primary ingredient in the cold stuff is milk and milk products. Milk solids not fat, or MSNF, makes up between 7 to 15 percent of frozen yogurt. MSNF consists of about 55 percent milk sugar, or lactose, 38 percent protein, and the remaining 7 percent are various minerals. Sugar makes up between 15 to 20 percent of the ingredients. Sucrose, in the form of cane or beet sugar, is generally the primary sweetener, though other forms of it, like corn syrup, are also used. In the non-fat varieties, the fat is often replaced with more sugar. I wasn’t happy to learn that. Stabilizers and emulsifiers are also added to my sweet stuff so that it maintains a smooth consistency when pulling the handle for that perfect twist of two flavors.”

After approximately 15 minutes had passed, and with the informative magazine in tow, I had actually moved up only about 1 foot. The line was still so long, I thought to myself, “Good. There are more out there like me than I realized.”

All this waiting gave me time to decide that my favorite dessert in the whole world wasn’t as good for me as I had thought. Is frozen yogurt really healthy for us? Well, that question has a yes-and-no answer. As a dessert, it’s a healthier version of ice cream, so I felt good about that. There are live active cultures, good bacteria, that do survive the freezing process. However, can it be called a health food? I concluded, it cannot labeled as such. If I want all the good stuff from yogurt, I could save a bundle of money and time and look for organic plain yogurt as they have “billions of live active cultures” listed on the ingredient label.

There are also ice cream brands, like Breyers or Dreyer’s low carb or nonfat ice cream, that are also lower in fat and calories than regular ice cream with calcium and vitamins added. Not to mention, much cheaper than my yogurt with sprinkles.

So if frozen yogurt is not necessarily healthier than ice cream, why can companies say it is? Since they are not selling the product in stores, food labeling is not required. Most of these products do not have enough vitamins, minerals and other healthy ingredients to label them as health foods.

Thirty minutes had passed by and I was next in line. As I looked up to the flavor chart, I scanned it for a non-fat, no sugar flavor. It didn’t seem quite appealing to me, but I figured since I had learned so much about the contents, I should either decide to consume the boring version or go two stores down to the ice cream shop, leave the guilt behind, and just go for the real stuff.

The yogurt I finally choose was a medium 8 ounce vanilla. No toppings — I already felt too guilty. It contained 40 grams of sugar which is equivalent to 10 teaspoons — that’s a whole lot. But, the next size up had 65 grams and I wasn’t going there. So lets do the math, while frozen yogurt is not a health food, it can be a treat but not a meal replacement — as I had grown so accustomed to doing. So, since I was starved and a bit depressed at this point, I decided I deserved it as my “treat for the day.”

I learned quite a bit of information on my favorite dessert. I am going to use it as a treat, not a four-to-five-time-weekly meal replacement. Now, to be fair, I have tried some local yogurt shops with very low sugar and fat that tasted almost as good as the real stuff, so there are always exceptions to the rule.

The bottom line is this: Treat yourself to this delicious dessert like you would any other. Don’t be mislead by “nonfat” or “healthy” buzz words. Something has to be substituted in place of the real thing to make it taste good, and unfortunately it’s sugar. Young kids loading their containers with frozen yogurt and then adding brownie chunks and M&Ms doesn’t equate healthy food.

Well, now that I know so much more about it, I decided that I was indeed a frozen yogurt junkie. The two-to-three-times-a-week trips make it a habit and an expensive one at that. I think I’ll stick to fresh fruit, organic plain yogurt and some low fat granola. Think of the calories I’m saving not to mention the dough. That’s not cookie dough either. Hmmm... Can’t wait for my next treat day!

E-mail Gina at:  fitness4life5959@yahoo.com