Health and Nutrition Guide

Healthy, great tasting food
Here at Stonyfield Farm, we make healthy, great tasting food from the finest organic and natural ingredients. We also use the best environmental practices we can find, because only a healthy planet can produce healthy food for healthy people.

What is yogurt?
Yogurt is milk blended with two live, active cultures: L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus. These cultures break down milk sugar (lactose) to produce lactic acid, which gives yogurt its tangy taste. Yogurt is highly nutritious because it’s a good source of calcium,
protein, and important vitamins and minerals.

“Yogurt is one of the healthiest foods you can feed your family.”   
-William Sears, MD, pediatrician and best-selling author

• Certified organic and 100% natural. Everything we make is organic. Our organic ingredients are produced without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides, chemical fertilizers, synthetic growth hormones, and antibiotics. And unlike other yogurt makers, we don’t use preservatives or artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners in any of our products.
  
  
• Natural Balance™ Our exclusive blend of probiotic cultures gives your body natural balance, enhancing digestive and immune health.
  
  
• Calcium for strong bones. Our yogurts and smoothies are rich in calcium. OurYoCalcium yogurt has twice the calcium of other leading yogurts, providing 100% of an adult’s daily calcium in just two servings! We even offer O’Soy soy-yogurt for those looking for a non-dairy source of calcium.
  
  
• Vitamin D. Our fat free yogurts have added vitamin D, which boosts calcium absorption and helps reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
  
  
• Fiber for weight loss. We offer nonfat yogurts with inulin, a natural dietary fiber that’s beneficial for weight loss.
  
  
• Protein. Our yogurts are a good source of protein. Our Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt provides 15 grams of protein per 6oz serving, and our O’Soy is the only soy-yogurt with 7 grams of soy protein per 6oz serving!
  
  
• Certified gluten-free. All of our yogurts, smoothies, and soy-yogurts – except for our YoBaby Plus Fruit & Cereal, YoKids Squeezers, Oikos Greek Yogurt, and frozen yogurt – are certified gluten-free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization.
  
  
• Yogurts for babies, toddlers, kids, and expecting moms. We’ve created several whole milk and lowfat yogurts to meet the special nutritional needs of little ones and pregnant and nursing moms.

Natural Balance™
For digestive and immune health.
Most other yogurts contain only three or four live active cultures, but Stonyfield Farm yogurts contain six. In addition to the two cultures needed to make yogurt – L. bulgaricusand S. thermophilus– we add four types of beneficial bacteria, known as probiotic cultures: L. acidophilus, Bifidus, L. casei, and L. rhamnosus.

Probiotics naturally exist in your digestive tract, but they need regular replenishing. By eating a cup of our yogurt each day, you replenish them, giving your body healthy, natural balance. L. rhamnosus has been proven to aid digestion and strengthen the immune system.

Calcium
For strong bones and weight loss
Calcium is essential for the health of your bones, yet nine out of ten women and teenage girls, and many men and teenage boys, don’t get enough. While children, teens, and young adults need calcium to build strong bones, adults over 30 years need calcium to maintain bone mass.

Most adult bone mass is produced during the teen years. After 30 or so, bone mass can no longer be added, but it can be lost. If you don’t consume enough calcium, your body may compensate for the shortage by taking calcium from your bones, which decreases bone mass.

Recommended daily calcium intake*

*according to the National Academy of Sciences

To protect their bones from irreversible loss of density and strength, adults over 30 must get adequate calcium from their diets. Loss of bone mass can lead to osteoporosis, a debilitating disease that causes brittle, breakable bones. Postmenopausal women are particularly vulnerable to decreases in bone mass.

Experts agree that it’s best to obtain calcium from food rather than supplements. Dairy foods are among the most concentrated sources of calcium, and your body absorbs dairy calcium more easily than calcium from most other foods.

• One 6-ounce serving of our YoCalcium  yogurt provides 50% of your daily calcium.** That’s more than twice the calcium of other leading yogurts.
  
  
• Our other yogurts provide 25-35% of your daily calcium per 6-ounce serving.
  
  
• Added vitamin D in our fat free yogurts helps boost calcium absorption.
  
  
• Our O’Soy soy-yogurt is a good, non-dairy source of calcium.

**The majority of YoCalcium’s calcium (65%) comes naturally from milk, with the remainder from calcium citrate, the best available source of added calcium.

Calcium for weight loss
If you’re cutting calories in an effort to lose weight, don’t cut dairy foods from your diet. Studies show that diets high in calcium – especially calcium from dairy products – promote fat burning and inhibit fat storage.

Protein
A vital nutrient
Protein is one of the most important nutrients. You need it for growth, tissue repair, digestion, immune system function, and every chemical reaction in your body.

From protein, we obtain amino acids – the building blocks that make up muscle, skin, hair, hormones, antibodies, cell membranes, DNA, and enzymes. There are 9 essential and 11 nonessential amino acids. “Essential” means your body can’t manufacture them and you must get them from the foods you eat.

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for Protein*

*According to the National Academy of Sciences

Milk, meat and fish are ideal protein sources because they contain all the essential amino acids in their required amounts, without excess. Grains and legumes are also good protein sources, but the proteins from these and other plant sources, with the exception of soy, have low levels of one or more of the essential amino acids. To use plant proteins as effectively as animal proteins, you must combine plant foods that have complementary proteins.

Yogurt is a good source of protein. In fact, the USDA’s school lunch guidelines allow schools to use it as a protein source in kids’ meals. Our Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt provides 15 grams of protein per 6-ounce serving – a significant portion of your dietary allowance. And the protein in our yogurt is a good source of the amino acid leucine, which has been shown to help maintain lean muscle during dieting.

Fiber
For weight loss and digestive health
Our fat free, fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts contain 2 grams of inulin, a natural dietary fiber that’s beneficial for weight loss. Inulin is also a “prebiotic,” which means it boosts production of the beneficial cultures that naturally reside in your digestive tract and aid digestion.

Research has confirmed that people who maintain a healthy weight tend to eat a high-fiber diet. Fiber helps suppress hunger, making you feel fuller without adding extra calories. Fiber can also absorb fat in your digestive tract, which reduces the amount of fat absorbed by your body.

Research has associated high-fiber diets with:

• lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels;
  
  
• the prevention of constipation;
  
  
• decreased incidences of colon cancer;
  
  
• decreased symptoms of ulcerative colitis;
  
  
• diabetics’ improved control of blood glucose levels.

Dairy foods are typically low in fiber. But just two servings of our fat free, fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts provide 4 grams of fiber, a good start toward the 25 to 30 grams experts say we should eat each day (10 to 13 grams of fiber per 1000 calories).

Good sources of fiber
Berries
Fruit skins
Legumes
Nuts
Oat fiber
Seeds
Vegetables
Wheat bran
Whole, unprocessed grains

Heart-healthy soy

For those who want to avoid dairy, or want a delicious way to enjoy the nutritional benefits of soy, we offer soy-yogurt, which is made from soymilk rather than cows’ milk. Our O’Soy has all the nutritional benefits of our other yogurts – calcium, protein, probiotic cultures – plus the added benefits of soy.

While all legumes are good for us, soybeans offer a number of unique health benefits. Research has shown that soybeans

• lower cholesterol and other blood fats, to modestly decrease the risk of heart disease;
  
  
• can decrease the risk of certain cancers;
  
  
• help inhibit bone loss;
  
  
• help relieve menopause symptoms;
  
  
• help regulate blood sugar levels and kidney function, which helps to control diabetes and kidney disease;
  
  
• contribute nutrients to the diet including protein, calcium, magnesium, iron, and selenium.

Soy and heart health
Studies show that when soy protein is consumed in place of animal protein, there can be a significant reduction in harmful blood fats. The Food and Drug Administration even allows soy food manufacturers to make the following health claim on their packaging: “Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that contain 25 grams of soy protein in a day may reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Yogurts for babies, toddlers, and kids

The nutritional needs of babies, toddlers, and kids differ from those of adults. For cellular, brain, and nervous system development, babies and toddlers need the saturated fat and cholesterol of whole milk. They also need adequate iron, and ample amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a natural fatty acid found in breast milk.

We make our certified organic YoBaby yogurt with the whole milk pediatricians recommend for babies and toddlers. Our organic ingredients are produced without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides, chemical fertilizers, synthetic growth hormones, and antibiotics. And we offer YoBaby with added DHA and added iron.

• YoBaby Plus Fruit & Cereal with DHA contains the same amount of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) found in breast milk, important for visual and mental development.
  
  
• YoBaby Plus Fruit & Cereal with Iron provides 45% of the RDI for iron.

After age two, kids need reduced-fat milk to keep their hearts healthy and to avoid obesity. Our certified organic YoKids yogurt and Squeezers (portable, spoon-free yogurt in a tube) are made from low fat milk. They have 25% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt, plus added vitamin D to boost calcium absorption.

Yogurt for pregnancy, nursing, and beyond

YoMommy is our organic lowfat yogurt formulated to meet the special nutritional needs of moms and their developing babies. It has:

• added folic acid, which is associated with lower incidences of neural tube defects;
  
  
• added DHA, the natural fatty acid that’s vital for baby’s mental and visual development and can help fight post-partum depression;
  
  
• added vitamin D to help strengthen baby’s bones and keep mom’s bones strong too.

Like all our yogurts, YoMommy is a good source of calcium and protein. It also contains our exclusive blend of probiotic cultures. And it’s all-natural and certified organic, so you can feel good about every spoonful.

Incorporating yogurt into your diet

In their Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA recommend three daily servings of nonfat or low fat milk products such as yogurt, milk, or cheese.

A great way to incorporate yogurt into your diet is to cook with it. Yogurt is a healthy substitute for mayonnaise, heavy cream, sour cream, butter, and cream cheese. Substituting yogurt for sour cream saves 46 grams of fat per cup!

For great recipes and tips that will help you add the healthy goodness of yogurt to your cooking, visit Stonyfield.com/recipes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Stonyfield Farm products made without the use of antibiotics and synthetic growth hormones?
Yes. Everything we make is organic, and the USDA’s strict organic standards prohibit the use of antibiotics and synthetic growth hormones.

What types of sweeteners do you add to your products?
We add only naturally milled, organic sugar. Almost half of the sugar listed in our nutritional legends is not added sugar, but sugar that occurs naturally in our milk and fruit ingredients. We add less sugar per ounce than other leading yogurt makers.

Do you make your yogurt from homogenized milk?
Yes, with the exception of our whole milk yogurts, which have a layer of creamy yogurt on top. When milk is not homogenized, the cream rises to the top, just as it used to in old-fashioned milk bottles.

If I were to skim the cream layer off the top of your whole-milk yogurt, how much fat would remain?
About 1% butterfat would remain.

Can I enjoy your yogurt if I’m lactose intolerant?
The answer varies from person to person, but generally, yes. Yogurt contains less than half the lactose of milk. The cultures in yogurt help to break down lactose into lactic acid, so even lactose intolerant folks can often enjoy yogurt.

Can yogurt be a meat substitute?
Yes. Yogurt is a good source of high biological value protein, which makes it a great protein source for lacto-vegetarians. Even the USDA’s school lunch guidelines allow schools to use yogurt as a meat alternative in kids’ meals.
 
What is pectin and why do you put it in your yogurt?
Pectin is a natural substance derived from apples and citrus fruit. We use it to help keep our yogurt from separating.

Why is liquid sometimes on the top of my yogurt when I open it?
It’s normal for a bit of liquid (whey) to separate from our yogurt. This happens because we don’t use artificial thickeners. Whey contains many of the important vitamins and nutrients in yogurt. To take advantage of its nutritional benefits, simply stir it back in.

Now that many of your products are certified gluten-free, do they taste different?
No. We didn’t change these yogurts to make them gluten-free; they were already gluten-free. The only change is that we’ve completed the certification process administered by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization and can now officially say “gluten-free.” All of our yogurts, smoothies, and soy-yogurts – except for our YoBaby Plus Fruit & Cereal, YoKids Squeezers, Oikos Greek Yogurt, and frozen yogurt – are certified gluten-free. Our certification tells folks with gluten intolerance (celiac disease) that they can enjoy these yogurts without worry.

How long will the cultures stay alive after I open the container?
For as long as the yogurt is good and kept refrigerated. Refrigeration is ideal for keeping cultures alive.

Does freezing yogurt destroy the cultures or alter their effectiveness?
The cultures become dormant when frozen, but most will become live and active again when they thaw, either in the refrigerator or in your body. The look and texture of yogurt that’s been frozen and thawed differs from the look and texture of fresh yogurt.

Does cooking with yogurt destroy the cultures or alter their effectiveness?
Heating yogurt to a high temperature will destroy the cultures. To prevent this, never add yogurt directly to a hot mixture. Instead, stir a few tablespoons of the hot food into the yogurt, warming it gradually. Then stir the warmed yogurt into the hot mixture. Do this near the end of the cooking process, so the yogurt won’t be heated for a long time.

Why is it good for me to eat yogurt when I’m taking antibiotics?
Antibiotics can destroy the beneficial bacteria that naturally reside in your digestive tract. Eating yogurt helps to reestablish a natural, healthy intestinal balance by increasing the beneficial bacteria. It’s best to eat yogurt at least two hours before or after you’ve taken antibiotics.

By eating yogurt, can I reduce my cholesterol?
Some studies have shown that consuming live cultures has a positive effect on cholesterol levels by inhibiting cholesterol re-absorption. Yogurt is a good food to include in a low cholesterol diet.

What is Greek yogurt?
Greek yogurt is an especially thick, creamy yogurt that has had much of its liquid (whey) strained off. Our Oikos yogurt is a delicious, organic Greek yogurt. It has fewer carbohydrates than regular yogurt, and more than twice the protein.

When can I start feeding yogurt to my baby?
The American Academy of Pediatricians says you can begin to add yogurt to a baby’s diet as early as six months of age. Since every child is different, you should check with your own pediatrician before feeding yogurt to your baby.