New research finds the healthiest yogurt 2023

Yoghurt adds more than creaminess to breakfast or dinner.

The cuisine is nutritious and mineral-rich.

In Food of the Future: Meat and Dairy Alternatives, Frontiers in Nutrition discovered one variety to be particularly nutritious.

The findings may make you rethink Greek yoghurt.

The recent study found almond milk yoghurt healthier than dairy.

“Plant-based yoghurts overall have less total sugar, less sodium and more fibre than dairy, but they have less protein, calcium and potassium,” said research assistant Astrid D’Andrea.

Almond milk yoghurt was proven to be more nutritious.

“But when looking at the overall nutrient density, comparing dairy yoghurt to plant-based, with the nutrients that we looked at, almond yoghurt has a significantly higher nutrient density than dairy and all other plant-based.”

The researchers compared 612 plant-based and dairy yoghurts introduced over five years.

The 612 alternatives examined included 159 full-fat dairy, 303 low-fat and non-fat dairy, 61 coconut, 44 almond, 30 cashew, and 15 oat.

The researchers employed the nutritional Rich Foods (NRF) Index, which rates dietary nutritional richness.

D’Andrea added, “This allowed us to compare the nutritional density of the yoghurts based on nutrients to encourage such as protein, fibre, calcium, iron, potassium and vitamin D, and nutrients to limit such as saturated fat, total sugar and salt.”

Cow’s milk topped cashew and coconut yoghurt, while oat milk topped regular milk.

Almond, oat, low-fat and non-fat dairy, full-fat dairy, cashew, and coconut yoghurts were ranked top to lowest by NRF.

Almond and oat yoghurts scored well due to their reduced sugar, salt, and saturated fat content, according to the study.

These chemicals can cause excessive blood pressure and cholesterol.

Based on their results that mixing plant and dairy yoghurt can maximize nutrition and function, the team recommended more study.