I’ve been trying really hard to raise my protein intake to 100g per day (so far, I’m finding it impossible), so I’ve been doing tons of googling about high-protein foods. One item that’s always on ANY list is “Greek yogurt”, which really confuses me because when I had yogurt in Greece, its taste, taste, texture, and consistency were exactly the same as those of the regular yogurt we eat daily in Jordan (laban zabadi).
So… given the similarities, I was:
1. Really annoyed at how “Greek Yogurt” had 3 times the grams of protein
2. Really confused as to why
And so I decided to google it, and share the knowledge with random Arab googlers who are just as annoyed as I am about how our yogurt is so lacking when compared to the Greek variety…
*Drum roll*
The truth about “Greek Yogurt”, my fellow worldly protein seekers, is the same truth about “American football”: just like the latter is not football at all, the former isn’t Greek, either.
And the protein-rich variety mislabeled as “Greek Yogurt” is actually an American misnomer for what the rest of the world would call “strained yogurt”, and which we call… labaneh.
AMreeeeeeeeeeeeeeericaaaaaaaaaa strikes again!!!
Traditional yogurt in Greece = 6g of protein and 93 calories per 100g
Traditional yogurt in Jordan = 3g of protein and 60 calories per 100g
Diet labaneh in Jordan = 11g of protein and 62 calories per 100g:
American “Greek Yogurt” = 10g of protein and 57 calories per 100g:
And so, the clear winner in the protein game is diet labaneh from a local brand like Hammoudeh.