Myths

• Frozen yoghurt is basically regular yoghurt, just colder
• Frozen yoghurt has probiotics and that makes it healthy
• Frozen yoghurt is a fabulous, guiltless way to enjoy dessert
• Frozen yoghurt wins over ice-cream because it’s low in calories
• Yoghurt is healthy which means I can have a cup of it for lunch and feel good about my healthy lifestyle choices

Facts

• Frozen yoghurt differs from natural yoghurt, which is essentially just milk and bacterial cultures (known as probiotics) of Streptoccous thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Frozen yoghurt in contrast is a cocktail of hard-to-pronounce ingredients and the most deadly of all, sugar and sugar subtitutes. To name a few constituents of frozen yoghurt – milk solids, sugar and sweetener, yoghurt culture, artificial flavorings and colorings, trans fat, preservatives, food additives, stabilizes and thickeners like guar gum and fillers like cellulose gum made from wood pulp.
• No denying that probiotics in themselves are excellent to boost one’s immune system but the flash freezing process to make frozen yoghurt along with the chemical ingredients in its make up have been shown to slow the growth and in some cases kill off these bacteria thereby subtracting from the very healthy point, manufacturers boast off.
• the darkest con of frozen yoghurt is its criminal sugar content. Ever wondered why frozen-yoghurt is nicer-tasting than regular yoghurt at home? Right the first time – SUGAR! Because most frozen yoghurt is made from low fat milk (to promote it as a low-cal “health snack”), manufactures compensate for the taste and texture loss by adding sugar and/or sugar substitutes. Do NOT be fooled by marketing phrases like “no added sugar” and “all natural sugar”. If it’s sweet then it’s sugar and sugar is bad for your health (and waist lines) period! [Read more about sugar related problems here ]
• Before you start using the ‘fat-free’ argument in favor of frozen yoghurt and claim that’s why it’s better than ice-cream, stop (please!). Fat is the macronutrient in ice-cream that aids slower digestion of sugar along with it, prevents and insulin spike and satiates your appetite and craving thereby preventing you from over-indulging. Frozen yoghurt on the other hand … now you know why you always want an extra large cup! It’s far worse if sugar substitutes like Agave syrup have been added to it to sweeten because these don’t cross the blood-brain barrier and don’t give you your “sugar high”. Hence you return for a 2^nd scoop.
• You’re far from getting essential nutrition in terms of carbs, protein and fat. Pair a plain frozen yoghurt with fresh fruit toppings only with a hearty green salad and some protein-rich foods like eggs/chicken/fish to meet your body’s requirements.

Pros

• If you stick to a small cup of plain frozen yoghurt you are definitely enjoying a low-cal treat and there is no denying that it is a healthy way to indulge your sweet cravings. It is the better option over a candy bar for sure!

Cons

The problem with the “Fro-Yo” culture is its mass recruitment of believers who consume enormous quantities of it under the delusional pretext that it is ‘healthy’. With it being packed full of sugars and trans fats unless counter awareness is created, the numbers of obesity and diabetes are only going to go up and up. 

My Take

Frozen yoghurt is touted as the best thing to hit the market since sliced bread. Why wouldn’t it be? There’s positively a ‘health halo’ around the product. You can now have a luscious scoop of dessert at a lower calorific cost AND reap a higher health benefit. Infinite individuals can be seen helping themselves silly to this treat because it is THE smartest, waist-friendly, disease-preventing way to indulge one’s sweet tooth. In the frozen face-off between ice-cream and “fro-yo”  the latter just takes the cake. Or does it?

A vast majority of the public firmly upholds the belief that frozen yoghurt is healthy and invariably can be seen lining up outside stores where the décor is bright and cheery and chowing down copious quantities of this devil in disguise. It’s guiltless overall so what harm would a few candied toppings do, eh?

Since we are matching scoop for scoop here are some numbers you should be aware of – Your average “original” or “plain” fat-free frozen yoghurt packs 380 calories and 76g of sugar in a 16 ounce cup. And that’s without toppings! Throw in your crunchy cereal toppers or some candied cookie toppings with some fudge sauce drizzle and your looking at 200+ calories and 20-30g more of sugar and a fair few grams of fat too. Indeed it has been reported that a certain Korean brand of frozen yoghurt’s menu selections are as “junk” as that of a regular glazed, deep-fried donut. Simply put, the fact that there’s ‘yoghurt’ in the product name in NO WAY exonerates what’s in your cup!

That is not to say that you must bid farewell to frozen yoghurt. I for one love the stuff and regularly turn to it to satisfy my 32 sweet teeth. But here’s how I do it – RYE Kitchen !

If you are a regular buyer of retail frozen yoghurt then my advice to you is choose the smallest size and opt for fresh fruit toppings only because, you now know the scoop story.