Is dairy protein in the form of yogurt a more nutritious choice?
It’s fair to say that we would probably be a healthier population if we ate more nutrient-rich foods. Nutrient density is typically described as a measure of the positive nutrients provided per calorie of food. Nutrient-dense food choices, therefore, provide a high proportion of positive nutrients relative to calories, helping people to meet their nutritional requirements without encouraging weight gain. Nutrient-dense foods are the opposite of “empty-calorie“ foods (15).
Energy density is the amount of energy (calories) per gram of food. Foods with a high water content tend to have a lower energy density e.g. vegetables, low fat yogurt, milk and fruit. Foods with a lower energy density provide fewer calories per gram compared to high energy-dense foods, so a greater weight of the food can be eaten whilst still helping to keep calorie intake in check (15).
A number of studies amongst different age and population groups (16) (17) link better nutrient intakes, for example, of protein, calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin D and riboflavin, and higher overall diet quality with increased intake of dairy foods including yogurt.
People who choose more dairy foods, also tend to make other more nutrient-rich food choices (16). Eating yogurt is a good marker of diet quality (17). Compared to non-consumers, yogurt consumers:
- Were nearly twice as likely to have a healthier dietary pattern as non-consumers.
- Had higher potassium intakes and were less likely to have inadequate intakes of riboflavin, vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium, and zinc (17).
Nutrient profiling systems such as the SAIN/LIM system may help to identify foods of good nutritional quality. This system (15) is based on 2 independent scores :
- The SAIN (a marker of nutrition) is a score of nutritional adequacy based on the content of 5 nutrients : protein, fibre, ascorbic acid, calcium, and iron + 4 potential optional nutrients when needed.
- The LIM score is the mean percentage of the maximum recommended values for 3 nutrients, the intakes of which should be limited in a healthy diet : saturated fats, added sugars and salt.
So a high SAIN score represents more nutrient-rich foods, whereas a high LIM score represents more unhealthy aspects of the food.
