Why is yogurt important? What are the different types of yogurt available in the market?
Yogurt has been a part of many western diets since the mid-20th century, but its use has been traced back to ancient times in many eastern civilizations. It is conventionally prepared by fermenting fresh milk with live cultured bacteria and then storing the solution at an optimal temperature so that the bacteria can flourish. The bacteria converts the natural sugars in the milk into lactic acid following which the yogurt is strained and maintained at a desired consistency. Some of the different kinds of yogurt include:
(i) Greek Yogurt: this type is usually creamier and richer than regular yogurt as it is prepared by repeatedly straining freshly prepared yogurt thereby making it more condensed and concentrated.
(ii) Skyr: this is a type of yogurt that is native to Iceland. It requires around 4 times the amount of milk required to produce regular yogurt and is highly dense and rich in protein.
(iii) Frozen Yogurt: this variant has a questionable reputation as many of the products available today tend to use heat-treated yogurt which is known to kill the beneficial live bacteria and active cultures that make the product healthy.
(iv) Low-fat yogurt: this variety of yogurt is prepared by using milk with 2% fat content. Alternatively milk with no fat can be used to prepare non-fat yogurt.
What are some health benefits associated with yogurt consumption?
Yogurt possesses a host of beneficial properties including:
(i) Good probiotic content: Yogurt is widely known for its content of healthy bacteria called ‘Lactobacillus’. This ‘friendly’ bacteria has been recognized for its amazing digestive properties and providing benefits such as improving one’s resistance to diarrhea and constipation, eliminating gas build-up in one’s system and preventing bloating of the stomach.
(ii) Increased Immunity: Research has suggested that probiotics are an effective means of improving the overall immunity of the body and preventing the occurrence of cancer related issues.
(iii) Effective weight management tool: Fresh yogurt is an effective means to lose weight as it is rich and filling, and provides users with a satiated tummy. Since it is good in taste there are various types of products available in the market today.
(iv) High calcium content: Yogurt is one of the best ways to fulfil one’s daily requirement of calcium. As is common knowledge, calcium plays a major role in maintaining the health of our bones and skeletal structure. It is also important in maintaining healthy blood pressure levels, promoting the faster clotting of blood and quicker healing of wounds.
(v) Good source of vitamins and minerals: Yogurt contains a good dose of many vitamins like B6, B12 and riboflavin. It also contains essential minerals like potassium and magnesium.
What is Siggi’s Icelandic style yogurt?
Siggi’s Icelandic style yogurt (or locally known as Skyr) is a traditional yogurt preparation that has been consumed in Iceland for over a 1000 years. It is prepared by straining freshly prepared non-fat yogurt and incubating it with live bacterial (probiotic) cultures resulting in a much richer, creamier and concentrated form of yogurt. An average preparation of this traditional dairy product uses up to 4 times more milk than normal yogurt.
About Siggi’s
Siggi’s was the brainchild of Siggi Hilmarsson who in 2004 wished to recreate the staple foods of his childhood from his native Iceland. He found the commercial yogurts on supermarket shelves in the United States to be too sweet and artificial, so using a traditional recipe set by his mother he began making skyr in his New York City apartment. In just a couple of months word spread about his homemade skyr and soon he quit his day job and started working on making traditional Icelandic dairy products fulltime.
How is Siggi’s skyr different from regular yogurts?
Some of the features that sets skyr apart from regular flavoured yogurts are:
(i) All natural ingredients: Siggi’s skyr is completely natural and is made of milk that is produced by grass fed cows. It does not contain any artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose or high fructose corn syrup.
(ii) No preservatives or additives: the product does not contain any artificial colouring, gelatine or preservatives.
(iii) Non Gmo verified: there are no ingredients in the product which have been genetically modified or altered. All the ingredients in the product come straight from organically developed farms.
(iv) High Protein content: preparation of skyr requires nearly 4 times the amount of milk than regular yogurt, thus the product is extremely rich in protein and is highly suitable for regular exercisers, weight lifters and bodybuilders.
(v) Contains only real fruit: Siggi’s uses only freshly cut fruit in its products, there are no preserved fruit bits or artificial flavours involved.
(vi) Low- sugar content: the product is lightly sweetened by using organic agave nectar. It does not contain any artificial sweeteners and has around 25% less sugar than commonly available yogurts.
What are some of the other features that make Siggi’s the right choice for you?
- Siggi’s skyr is made responsibly and using organic products only.
- All products are kosher certified by the ‘Orthodox Union’.
- All dairy produce is obtained from family owned farms where cows are nurtured responsibly and fed a wholesome diet.
- The cups and containers which are used to manufacture the product are made from recyclable #5 plastic.
- Products have been certified by the GFCO (Gluten-Free Certification Organization) and do not contain any trace of gluten.
All products contain less than 3% lactose in each serving, a majority of lactose is washed away during the straining process.
Product information, varieties and availability
Siggi’s skyr comes in 3 primary variants:
(i) 0% non-fat yogurt
(ii) 2% low-fat yogurt
(iii) 4% whole milk yogurt
There are a variety of flavours to choose from including raspberry, strawberry, peach, blueberry, orange ginger, vanilla, mixed berries & acai, coconut, pumpkin spice. blood orange, black cherry, lingonberry & strawberry, mixed berries, strawberry & rhubarb.
To purchase siggi’s skyr one need only enter the area postcode where one lives at http://www.siggisdairy.com/. Once the postcode has been entered, the store locator determines the location of the nearest store with your desired product in the area.
Alternatively, if there are any specific orders that one might like to place or for any other queries company representatives can be contacted at [email protected] or 1-877-813-3526.
