Yogurt vs. Milk — Health Impact and Nutrition Comparison
Summary
Nonfat yogurt is richer in proteins, vitamins B2 and B12, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc, and lower in sugars. Low-fat milk is richer in vitamins A and D and calcium. Both are low in fat, and cholesterol and have low glycemic indices.
Table of contents
Introduction
Milk is considered the most common dairy product. Various types of processed milk obtain from all dairy products. Powdered or liquid forms of milk are available in the market. There are three types of liquid milk, full-fat, low-fat milk, and no-fat milk. By processing milk, we remove the fat content from it. You can also find milk with different premixed flavors like chocolate, and strawberry, among others. Non-dairy types of milk are also available in the market. However, this article will discuss dairy milk in specific.
Yogurt comes after processing and fermenting milk. It can be further processed and mixed with fruits and sugar to become sweet yogurt or used directly after fermenting to become a sour and salty yogurt. Yogurt has many uses in the culinary world. Milk consumption can be in different forms, liquid without any processing or cooking, used as a component in cooking, used as a topping, or consumed as frozen yogurt.
In this article, we will be comparing the nutritional content of both yogurt and milk, the vitamin and mineral content, health impacts, and the variety of uses.
The milk taken into consideration is low-fat milk with added vitamins A and D. The yogurt is considered low-fat yogurt; unless specified otherwise.
Nutritional content comparison
Milk and yogurt have similar glycemic indices, 36 and 38, respectively, meaning that both have a low glycemic index. There is a slow absorption of carbs into the digestive system, which prevents spikes in insulin levels.
Protein
100g of milk contains 3.4g of proteins, with 56g being the daily recommended value for the average sedentary person.
The main components of milk protein are casein and whey.
One hundred grams of yogurt contains 10g of proteins. When compared to milk, yogurt is richer in protein content. Similar to milk, the components of yogurt protein are mostly casein (80% of the total protein).
Casein is a type of protein that constitutes nearly 80% of milk and yogurt protein composition. Casein absorption is slow, and that's one of the benefits of casein. Casein helps in muscle repair and growth.
Carbohydrates
100g of milk has 5g of carbohydrates, from which 4g is lactose and 1g is added sugars.
On the other hand, yogurt has 3.6g of carbohydrates. Yogurt has a lower content of sugars. However, this difference is negligible, and they are both ranked as low glycemic index foods.
Fats
Nonfat milk and yogurt have negligible to no amounts of fats in them. Milk has 1g per 100g, and yogurt 0g per 100g. It is good to note here that the milk and yogurt considered in this article are low-fat milk and nonfat yogurt.
The cholesterol content of both is 5mg per 100g, which is negligible.
It is important to note that full-fat milk contains 3.5g of fat per 100g. Similarly, full-fat yogurt contains 3.3g of fat per 100g.
Vitamin content comparison
Fortified milk is milk that contains more vitamins A and D.
Vitamin A content in milk is 196 mcg per 100g. A cup of 250ml milk contains 500mcg of vitamin A, which is 55% of the daily requirement for men and 70% for women.
Vitamin D content in milk is 1.2 mcg per 100g. So 250 ml of milk has 3 mcg of vitamin D, which is 15% of the daily recommended value.
Vitamins B2 and B12 are also present in milk but not in great value.
Yogurt is a good source of vitamin B2. Yogurt contains vitamin B2 at 0.278mcg per 100g, and the daily requirement is 1.3mcg and for women 1.1mcg. Another vitamin found in yogurt, which is relatively higher than the content found in milk, is vitamin B12.
Vitamin Comparison
Mineral content comparison
Milk is one of the best sources of calcium. It also contains some amounts of phosphorus, potassium, and selenium but not in remarkable amounts.
On the other hand, yogurt is also considered a good source of calcium, both having high amounts of calcium. However, milk is richer in calcium. Yogurt is richer in phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. Generally speaking, they are not very remarkable amounts.
Mineral Comparison
Health impact
Cardiovascular health
This study found that the relationship between yogurt consumption and blood pressure is beneficial for people who have hypertension (1). As a result, both of these products have antihypertensive effects.
A reasonable intake of low-fat milk and dairy products, including yogurt, reduced plasma cholesterol levels, primarily LDL cholesterol, by 3-15% when compared to high-fat dairy products (2). According to this study, consumption of fermented dairy foods was associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (3).
According to this study, milk contains two antithrombotic peptides, which are released from milk during digestion (4).
Bodybuilding
Milk and yogurt are rich in casein, which is a slowly absorbed protein in the digestive system. It helps maintain muscle mass, repair muscle, and induce muscle growth after weight training and different exercises. (5)
For babies
Yogurt consumption in babies, four months old and onwards, has shown positive effects like the following: (6)
- Inducing normal gut microflora
- Controlling infectious diarrhea
- Reducing the risks of eczema in babies
- Reducing food sensitivities
Various impacts
Milk consumption has shown improvement in weight control, and additionally, it helps with weight loss while undergoing diets.
Milk consumption reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes in patients prone to developing diabetes and reduces cardiovascular disease and stroke risks. (7)
Milk consumption has a positive effect on tooth mineral density and helps maintain healthy teeth. (8)
The intake of milk and yogurt in children and adolescents improved bone growth and bone formation during growth. (9)
Milk and yogurt, in addition to other dairy products, help protect against: (10)
- Colorectal cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Breast cancer
- Gastric cancer
Variations
It is important to note that there are different types of milk and yogurt.
For milk, there can be sweetened milk, condensed milk, and chocolate milk, among others. When consuming these milk variants, one must be careful of various contents, added sugars, preservatives, and added substances.
When it comes to yogurt, added components can be fruits, sugar, and sweeteners. So the nutritional content data in these cases will be different than the article informs.
Consuming milk or yogurt with a side of a fruit bowl or whole-grain cereal has optimal nutritive characteristics.
In addition to that, you can consume yogurt with salt and vegetables like tzatziki. However, control of sodium intake is of high importance.
References:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0958694621001874
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/fnr.v54i0.5124
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30652490/
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/characterization-of-an-antithrombotic-peptide-from-casein-in-newborn-plasma-after-milk-ingestion/0B3F9B2F02EE1DCAD376F921482C3CCE
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5952515/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31038676/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21559046/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5122229/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18539555/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22081693/
Infographic
Macronutrient Comparison
Fat Type Comparison
Carbohydrate type comparison
Comparison summary table
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| Lower in Sugar |
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| Lower in Sodium |
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| Lower in Saturated Fat |
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| Lower in Glycemic Index |
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| Rich in minerals |
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| Lower in price |
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| Lower in Cholesterol | Equal | ||
| Rich in vitamins | Equal | ||
All nutrients comparison - raw data values
| Nutrient | |
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Opinion |
| Net carbs | 3.6g | 4.99g |
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| Protein | 10.19g | 3.37g |
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| Fats | 0.39g | 0.97g |
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| Carbs | 3.6g | 4.99g |
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| Calories | 59kcal | 42kcal |
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| Sugar | 3.24g | 5.2g |
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| Calcium | 110mg | 125mg |
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| Iron | 0.07mg | 0.03mg |
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| Magnesium | 11mg | 11mg | |
| Phosphorus | 135mg | 95mg |
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| Potassium | 141mg | 150mg |
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| Sodium | 36mg | 44mg |
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| Zinc | 0.52mg | 0.42mg |
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| Copper | 0.017mg | 0.01mg |
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| Manganese | 0.009mg | 0.003mg |
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| Selenium | 9.7µg | 3.3µg |
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| Vitamin A | 4IU | 196IU |
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| Vitamin A RAE | 1µg | 58µg |
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| Vitamin E | 0.01mg | 0.01mg | |
| Vitamin D | 0IU | 48IU |
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| Vitamin D | 0µg | 1.2µg |
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| Vitamin B1 | 0.023mg | 0.02mg |
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| Vitamin B2 | 0.278mg | 0.185mg |
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| Vitamin B3 | 0.208mg | 0.093mg |
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| Vitamin B5 | 0.331mg | 0.361mg |
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| Vitamin B6 | 0.063mg | 0.037mg |
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| Folate | 7µg | 5µg |
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| Vitamin B12 | 0.75µg | 0.47µg |
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| Vitamin K | 0µg | 0.1µg |
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| Tryptophan | 0.043mg |
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| Threonine | 0.143mg |
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| Isoleucine | 0.174mg |
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| Leucine | 0.319mg |
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| Lysine | 0.282mg |
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| Methionine | 0.088mg |
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| Phenylalanine | 0.174mg |
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| Valine | 0.22mg |
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| Histidine | 0.101mg |
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| Cholesterol | 5mg | 5mg | |
| Trans Fat | 0.006g |
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| Saturated Fat | 0.117g | 0.633g |
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| Monounsaturated Fat | 0.053g | 0.277g |
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| Polyunsaturated fat | 0.012g | 0.035g |
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| Omega-6 - Linoleic acid | 0.01g | 0.027g |
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| Omega-3 - ALA | 0.001g | 0.004g |
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Which food is preferable for your diet?
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| Low Fats diet |
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| Low Carbs diet |
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| Low Calories diet |
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| Low Glycemic Index diet |
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Vitamins & Minerals Daily Need Coverage Score
Comparison summary
References
All the values for which the sources are not specified explicitly are taken from FDA’s Food Central. The exact link to the food presented on this page can be found below.
- Yogurt - https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170894/nutrients
- Milk - https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170872/nutrients
All the Daily Values are presented for males aged 31-50, for 2000-calorie diets.