Low-carb yogurt has less sugar than other types of yogurt. It is made by exposing milk to bacterial cultures, which break down lactose into lactic acid, resulting in a lower amount of lactose and carbohydrates. Some low-carb yogurts have no added sugar or sweeteners, while others contain non-nutritive sweeteners. The actual carbohydrate content must be marked on the label, but in some cases, the label may not accurately reflect the low-carb content.
Low-carb yogurt is a type of dairy product that contains less sugar than other comparable options. Some yogurt brands simply contain no added sugar, while others have no sweeteners of any kind. Other products are specifically designed and marketed as low-carb yogurts and often contain fewer carbohydrates as well. Yogurt is a substance that comes from milk, so there will always be some natural carbohydrates present due to the lactose. However, fermented dairy products typically contain less lactose than a similar amount of milk, due to the process used to create the yogurt.
Yogurt is essentially milk that has been exposed to a bacterial culture that includes L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus. Milk contains a natural sugar known as lactose, which is processed by bacterial culture. It is broken down into amino acids and transformed into lactic acid, which then has a curdling effect on the milk. This results in the unique taste and texture of yogurt, as well as a lower amount of lactose than is normally found in milk. Other types of bacteria, such as L. acidophilus, are often added after the yogurt is created or during the culture process.
Because much of the lactose in milk is turned into lactic acid during the culture process, yogurt tends to be naturally lower in carbohydrates than other dairy products. Many yogurt brands include added sugar and corn syrup as sweeteners, which can introduce a large volume of carbohydrates. Low-carb yogurt does not contain these additives and can be plain and unsweetened or contain various non-nutritive sweeteners that do not add carbohydrates. Some products that contain no added sugar are marketed as light or low-calorie, while others are specifically referred to as low-carb yogurts; in both cases the actual carbohydrate content must be marked on the label.
In some cases, yogurt even has fewer carbohydrates than the nutrition labels show, due to the way manufacturers are required to arrive at the measurement. For nutrition labels, the carbohydrates in a food are typically measured using the difference method, which involves subtracting the weight of components such as protein and fat from the total weight of the ingredients. The rest is assumed to be carbohydrates, as is usually the case. This figure is not usually accurate for yogurt and other fermented dairy products as the lactose carbohydrates are largely converted into lactic acid. This means that as long as a product contains no added sugar, corn syrup or other sweeteners, it can actually be low-carb yogurt even if it’s not marketed that way.
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