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Is Skyr Healthier Than Regular Yoghurt?

varsskyr
14 hours ago
6 min read

Short answer: for most people who want more protein and less fat, yes. Skyr gives you roughly three times the protein of a regular yoghurt, almost no fat, and nothing added. But "healthier" depends on what your body needs, and there are people for whom a regular or full cream yoghurt is the better pick. I make skyr in Cape Town, so I'm obviously biased. I'll tell you where it falls short too.

A bowl of thick strained Vars Skyr, made in Cape Town from skimmed milk and live cultures

Why I started eating skyr in the first place

I got to know skyr in the Netherlands. When I started training seriously, everyone told me the same thing: you need more protein. I found that surprisingly hard to do with normal food. I ended up drinking protein shake after protein shake, and honestly, I just wanted to eat.

Then I found skyr on the supermarket shelf. One tub a day and I had close to 60 grams of extra protein without trying. Breakfast, or dessert with some fruit after dinner. Hitting my daily protein goal suddenly became easy.

When I moved to Cape Town, I couldn't find anything like it. The best plain yoghurt I found had about 3.5g of protein per 100g. The "high protein" options got there by adding protein powder or milk powder, often with more calories and fat, and the taste was nowhere near the real thing. So I started making it myself.

What actually makes skyr different: 2 litres of milk in one tub

Skyr and yoghurt start the same way: milk plus live cultures. The difference is what happens next.

We use skimmed milk, add the live cultures, let it ferment, and then strain it. And we strain a lot. About 2 litres of milk goes into every 500g tub. Roughly 1.5 litres drains off as whey, the watery part of the milk. What's left is basically super concentrated milk. Because there's no fat to begin with, what stays behind is mostly protein.

It sounds simple. It isn't. Fermentation only works in a narrow temperature window: too hot is a problem, too cold is a problem. Strain too long and it turns too thick; too short and it's runny. In the beginning I tried bigger batches and learned the hard way that holding milk above 85°C for 20 minutes to pasteurise it, with heat coming from one spot at the bottom of the pot, is a fast way to scorch milk. Real skyr takes patience, which is probably why most supermarket "high protein" yoghurts take a shortcut.

The numbers

Here's what's on our label, per 100g of Vars Skyr:

  • Protein: 11.5g

  • Energy: 58 kcal

  • Fat: 0.2g

  • Carbohydrates: 4g, with no sugar added

  • Ingredients: milk and live cultures. That's it.

The carbohydrate in plain skyr is the milk's own sugar. For reference, plain skyr made abroad sits in the same range: Arla's Skyr Natural in the UK lists 4g of sugars per 100g, and Siggi's plain nonfat skyr lists 3g of sugars per 175g serving.

How that compares on protein per 100g, from labels I've checked on Cape Town shelves:

  • Vars Skyr: 11.5g

  • A popular supermarket Greek yoghurt: 9.5g (and it contains preservatives)

  • Most other yoghurts I looked at: between 6.5g and 7.5g

  • The best plain regular yoghurt I found when I arrived: about 3.5g

Want the full breakdown of plain versus Greek? Read our Greek yoghurt vs plain yoghurt guide.

Where the protein comes from matters

There's one yoghurt on local shelves that beats us on paper with 12.5g of protein per 100g. Turn the tub around and read the ingredients: protein powder and milk powder. I could do that too. But then you're paying a premium for something you could make yourself. Buy a regular yoghurt and a bag of protein powder, mix it at home, and you'll spend less and get to choose your own flavour.

My tip: ignore the big number on the front. Read the ingredients list. Real skyr should say milk and cultures, nothing else.

Why skyr keeps you full for longer

The feedback I hear most from customers: it tastes like real yoghurt. Thick, rich and creamy, like a double cream yoghurt, but without the fat.

That thickness matters. You actually have to eat it slowly, and between the volume and the protein, you feel full sooner and stay full longer. That's not just our customers talking. In a 2013 study in the journal Appetite, women who ate a high protein yoghurt snack (24g of protein) in the afternoon felt less hungry and asked for dinner later than when they ate a low protein yoghurt with the same calories: around 178 minutes after the snack versus around 152. That's why skyr works so well for people trying to lose weight, and for anyone training who needs to hit a protein target.

Skyr before bed

A lot of our customers eat a bowl of skyr just before they go to sleep. When you strain off the whey, most of the protein left behind is casein, the slower digesting milk protein. A 2012 study from Maastricht University gave young men 40g of casein before bed after an evening workout and found it was digested and absorbed overnight, improving their overnight protein balance. Some customers also tell us they sleep better. The research is about recovery, not sleep, so take that part as their experience rather than a promise.

How I eat it every day

  • Breakfast: 300g of skyr mixed with a scoop of vanilla protein powder for sweetness, a little cocoa and a splash of milk. I stir in oats, top it with strawberries and banana, and add granola for crunch. For me that's about 60g of protein and around 600 calories to start the day.

  • Dinner: a few spoons stirred into pasta sauce. It turns it creamy and adds protein for very few calories.

  • Dessert: a bowl with fresh fruit and a drizzle of honey.

When regular yoghurt is the better choice

Skyr isn't for everyone, and I'd rather tell you that upfront.

  • Lactose intolerance. Straining removes a lot of lactose along with the whey, so strained yoghurts contain noticeably less than milk or regular yoghurt. But less isn't none. If you can't handle lactose at all, skyr isn't your answer.

  • You need more fat and calories. If you're trying to gain weight or simply need more energy, a double cream Greek yoghurt will serve you better. Skyr gives you the protein, not the calories.

  • Price. A regular yoghurt costs around R50 to R60 a kilo. Our 500g tub is R89 in the supermarket. It's a niche product and you have to be able to afford it. That said, do the maths on protein: a tub of Vars Skyr gives you 57.5g of protein for R89, while a kilo of yoghurt at 3.5g per 100g gives you 35g for R50 to R60. Per gram of protein, the gap is a lot smaller than the price tag suggests.

  • Shelf life. With nothing added, our skyr keeps for at least 15 days from production, often a few days longer. Preservatives could stretch that by weeks. We choose not to use them.

So, is skyr healthier than regular yoghurt?

Regular yoghurt isn't unhealthy. But if protein matters to you, and for me it does, skyr is simply the easiest way I know to get it in. It tastes like a double cream yoghurt with none of the fat. All the good stuff, none of the downside. As my gym friends would put it: if you want the gains, go for it.

Where to buy Vars Skyr in Cape Town

As far as we know, Vars Skyr is the only real strained skyr made in South Africa. You can order online at varsskyr.co.za for delivery, or find us here:

SPAR stores

  • Sea Point SPAR, Sea Point

  • Royal Ascot SuperSpar, Paddocks Shopping Centre, Milnerton

  • SPAR Cape Quarter, Green Point

  • Alphen KWIKSPAR, Old Constantia Village, Constantia

Delis and markets

  • Oranjezicht City Farm Market, V&A Waterfront

  • Palmyra Deli, Claremont

  • Giovanni's Deliworld, Green Point

Free collection points

  • Ladles of Love Dignity Kitchen, 14a Roeland Street, District Six

  • Vars Skyr Kensington, 14 7th Avenue, Kensington

The full, up to date list is always on our Where to Buy page.

Sources

 
 
 

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