Updated:
It shouldn’t be a controversial point that Greek yogurt is one of the best health foods out there. It’s not a ‘superfood’ or a trendy product, but it is amazing.
Today we’re going to discuss mixing protein powder with Greek yogurt and why it’s a fantastic choice. We’ll also be covering the perks of Greek yogurt itself and why you should be playing with whey and Greek yogurt in the kitchen!
Contents
Greek Yogurt with Whey: The King of Protein Combos?
Greek yogurt and protein powders can be mixed together to provide a light and fluffy desert-style food.
This is great because it combines all the benefits of Greek yogurt – a veteran food for bodybuilders and athletes – with the protein boost of a whey or plant-based protein powder.
The combination of Greek yogurt with protein powder allows you to change the flavor without adding the usual calorie-dense toppings. We love a good topping, but mixing whey into yogurt allows you to produce a delicious snack by adding protein. Win-win!
Calorie Content
Start with the basics: a good low-fat Greek yogurt is a low-calorie food, which is why it’s so versatile for improving your diet. You can get the benefits – from good fats and high protein – without racking up huge amounts of calories.
This is also true of protein powders, with most good protein powders being over 80% protein by calorie. This makes the combination a low-calorie, huge-protein choice. This is great for a weight-loss diet.
If you’re trying to gain muscle, however, it’s a great base to add high-calorie foods to. We’ve been using Greek yogurt with whey, granola, and fruit as a calorie-rich pre-workout meal for years and it’s still a favorite!
Protein-Rich for Muscle Gains
The obvious benefit and reason to put protein powder in yogurt is to increase the protein content. This is already quite high in low- or no-fat Greek yogurt, but adding ½ to 1 scoop of whey protein alone can produce a snack with 60g+ of protein.
Since the recreational gymgoer should be taking in around 0.6-1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, this can really add up and provide half of some trainee’s daily needs! Even if you have higher protein requirements, this amount is significant and can help improve muscle recovery and growth.
Digestive Benefits
One of the things we love about this combination is that it makes whey proteins, specifically, much better for the digestive system.
Whey proteins can be quite difficult to digest, and often produce a little digestive distress. Greek yogurt, however, is very digestible and can support the use of protein powder without as much stress as a shake.
This could also be to do with the reduced lactose content in yogurt as compared to a milk-based protein shake, as well as the speed of digestion.
This is important because the yogurt and protein powder combination is a more-satisfying combination. This keeps you fuller for longer, and may even contribute to improved results since we know that long-term protein release/accretion is more important for repairing and building muscle!
Overall, this combo produces a fantastic protein profile, comes in as many flavors as you can find of protein powder, and keeps you full when you need it. We also love how you can still use regular toppings like granola (especially with nuts and seeds) to make it a perfect carb-protein snack!
Looking for protein powders to mix with Greek yogurt? Check out:
The 10 Best Unflavored Whey & Protein Powders
5 Best Organic Whey Protein Powders From Grass-Fed Cows
Answering Your Questions About Mixing Protein and Yoghurt
Is It OK to Mix Protein Powder With Yogurt?
Yes – 100%.
Yogurt is a great, stable food and you can combine it with all types of protein powder. We recommend avoiding pea proteins, because they taste gross and yogurt doesn’t mask it entirely.
Whey, soy, brown rice (Oryzatein), and other protein powders should be good with yogurt. Casein tends to produce a really thick texture which makes it amazingly filling but can limit your overall intake.
So, if you’re trying to gain mass you want to use a thinner protein like whey or brown rice, while a weight-loss diet might benefit from the huge satiety of casein.
How Do You Add Protein to Yogurt?
Simply scoop out your Greek yogurt into a bowl or other container, make a little “well” in the middle, and scoop your protein into it. From there, take a spoon (the smaller the better) and stir the two together.
By the end, you should have something that looks like a consistent texture. It will probably look like yoghurt but in the color of your protein powder!
That’s it, it’s ready to eat.
Is Greek Yogurt Good for Building Muscle?
Greek yogurt is actually one of the staple healthy, protein-rich, performance foods you’ll see most bodybuilders and elite athletes eat. There are a few reasons for this and we’re actually going to let you in on these amazing powers.
Stick around for a little explanation of why we love Greek Yoghurt so much…
Greek Yoghurt: A Powerful Muscle Food
So, what’s so good about Greek yogurt?
A compound with a history of being key to athlete’s diets and bodybuilding success must have some great nutritional value.
Protein
Protein is obviously always important for better health and fitness. This is because it’s a significant player in your ability to build and repair muscles/joints. A high protein diet is key to better performance, a better physique, and even better digestive/metabolic health.
A low- or no-fat Greek yogurt has excellent protein content for its calorie content. This is because it is roughly 7-8g of protein per 100g, great considering the relatively few calories. A 500g container of low-fat Greek yogurt provides 35-40g of protein while still being a snack or small meal.
This is a significant boost and – for most recreational gym-goers – this can be a huge proportion of your daily protein. This becomes even more significant if you’re going to be mixing it with whey protein!
Amino Acid Profile
Not only is there a good amount of protein in Greek yogurt, but the breakdown of its amino acids. These are the building blocks of proteins and the essential/branched-chain amino acids are great for performance and recovery.
There is a huge concentration of important mental amino acids like tyrosine/tryptophan/theanine. These are 3 of the key compounds you’ll want for better mental performance, as well as glutamine – which is useful for immunity and avoiding illness while training.
These also, coincidentally, make it a great breakfast food – and especially when combined your morning coffee.
Fats – Type and Source
The fats in Greek yogurt are also great. You don’t want a full-fat yogurt because of the increased calorie content and reduced protein percentage. However, the ones you get are fantastic.
One of the cool things about the fat profile of Greek yogurt is that it is high in MCTs. These are a type of fats that are rapidly burned up for energy and also seem to promote the burning of fat in the body more generally.
This is a great place to be, especially since there are also plenty of unsaturated fats in Greek yogurt. The result is a great fat profile on a high-protein, versatile, delicious light food.
Versatility
This is one of the big benefits of using Greek yogurt: it’s a digestible, versatile food-stuff.
There are dozens of excellent combinations you can use. Yogurt is also an amazingly digestible food that is unlikely to cause digestive stress, supports gut health, and digestive regularity. These are all important benefits for a snack, especially pre-workout.
You can even use yogurt in a pre-workout meal due to how well it sits in your digestive system without causing bloating/discomfort.
Final Thoughts
If you’re even remotely interested, we recommend giving this combination a try. It’s one of the easiest, most enjoyable ways to bump up your protein content and get in some high-quality, healthy foods.
You should really experiment with the flavors of protein powder used, as there are some amazing combinations out there. The only limit is what you want to try and what you can think of pairing it with!
We love this combination and we think that Greek yogurt – especially mixed with protein powder – should be a cornerstone of your diet if you want a better physique and improved performance!
