Whole Milk Yogurt: Returning to Real Food and Nutrition

 

Today I’m partnering with Bellwether Farms to talk about how I feel about nutrition and whole milk dairy. It can be difficult to find whole milk yogurt in grocery stores, yet some research suggests eliminating healthy fats can actually increase your chances of obesity*. I’m sharing how my kids and I enjoy whole milk yogurt, celebrating Bellwether Farms’ contribution to the Whole Kids Foundation, and there’s even a coupon in it for you to try some awesome sheep milk yogurt… yep, sheep milk.

Whole Milk Yogurt – What Happened to Real Food?

In my last post, I talked about postpartum anxiety and my obsession with what the boys were eating when they hit solid food. I became one of those moms who spent 10 minutes reading labels in the aisle before choosing what to put in the cart. Although I have relaxed somewhat, the label reading spawned a new pet hate… what is it with low-fat yogurt?

I appreciate we all want to be lean, fit and healthy, but with kids’ yogurt in particular… why on Earth are we giving them low fat? All those child branded yogurts with Disney characters plastered over the packaging, all of them are low fat. My kids do not need to go on a slimming diet, they need real nutrition from real food. And how about us grown ups? We need real food too, and the right kind of fats are good for you. 

A while ago Time reported on the growing evidence that full-fat dairy is better for you than its more popular low-fat competitor:

Those who frequently ate full-fat butter, milk, and cream had lower obesity rates than those who eschewed dairy fat. (Markham Heid, Time)

No-one’s certain of why this is the case but it is thought by cutting out healthy fats the body needs, we end up craving carbs, leading to overeating. As we keep hearing… it’s about balance, and natural nutrition, not stripping out food groups and replacing them with artificial ingredients.

Sheep Milk Yogurt Granola Bowl

I headed to Whole Foods this week to find Bellwether Farms Sheep Milk Yogurt. It turns out sheep milk is much higher in protein than both goat and cow milk, plus this particular yogurt is kept full-fat and contains 12 live, active probiotic cultures. This is the real deal, so I knew I had to get fancy with a pretty yogurt bowl…

I can’t decide whether a granola yogurt bowl should be served for breakfast or dessert in the evening, either way it’s the kind of sweet I don’t feel guilty about. And I don’t feel guilty about eating whole milk yogurt either. I enjoyed my yogurt with some fresh kiwi and blackberries, ’tis the season after all. But the twins enjoyed theirs on its own. They got stuck into the blueberry variety which went down a treat!

Bellwether Farms

Bellwether Farms are a family run producer of award winning dairy products, and they believe in the importance of nutrition for all the family. For the month of September, Bellwether Farms are partnering with the Whole Kids Foundation and donating $1 of every cup of yogurt sold to support schools and inspire families to improve children’s nutrition and wellness.

If you would like to sample some of their rich and creamy yogurts, get yourself some coupons from their website here. They also have some delicious looking recipes so have a good browse around the website.

I would much rather have these guys eating real food, with all the nutrition they need to grow. They drink whole milk and eat whole milk yogurt regularly, and the extra protein in the sheep milk is a bonus for these growing boys. Get yourself a coupon and give it a go!

* Park, A. Time Health. The Case Against Low-fat Milk Is Stronger Than Ever.