Greek Yogurt vs Regular Yogurt: What Changes?

Greek yogurt is the better pick if you want protein, and regular yogurt is the better pick if you want calcium. Per 100 g, plain nonfat Greek yogurt has 10.2 g of protein and 59 kcal, against 3.5 g of protein and 61 kcal in plain whole-milk yogurt. Plain yogurt has more calcium, 121 mg against 110 mg, and plain low-fat yogurt reaches 183 mg. Both are good everyday foods as long as they are unsweetened. The fat level and the added sugar change the picture more than the word “Greek” on the pot.

What makes Greek yogurt different?

Greek yogurt starts as ordinary yogurt. It is then strained to drain off part of the whey, the thin, watery liquid you sometimes see on top of a pot. Most of the protein, mainly casein, stays behind in the thick curd, so the same protein ends up in less weight. That is why 100 g of strained yogurt carries roughly two and a half to three times the protein of 100 g of unstrained yogurt.

The whey takes other things with it. It holds much of the milk sugar (lactose) and some of the dissolved minerals, so strained yogurt ends up a little lower in sugar and in calcium than the yogurt it was made from. In our data, plain nonfat Greek yogurt has 3.2 g of sugars per 100 g, against 4.7 g in plain whole-milk yogurt and 7.0 g in plain low-fat yogurt.

How do yogurts and their relatives compare per 100 g?

All numbers are calculated from USDA FoodData Central. The score is our HowHealthyIs Score out of 100, a nutrient density rating per 100 kcal. Plain low-fat yogurt is in the USDA data we use but does not have its own page yet, so it has no score.

Food, per 100 g	kcal	Protein (g)	Sugars (g)	Added sugars (g)	Sat fat (g)	Calcium (mg)	Sodium (mg)	Score
Greek yogurt, plain nonfat	59	10.2	3.2	0	0.1	110	36	69
Greek yogurt, whole milk	97	9.0	4.0	0	2.4	100	35	33
Plain yogurt, whole milk	61	3.5	4.7	0	2.1	121	46	39
Plain yogurt, low-fat	63	5.3	7.0	0	1.0	183	70	n/a
Kefir, low-fat plain	43	3.8	4.6	0	0.7	130	40	82
Cottage cheese, 2%	81	10.5	4.0	0	1.2	111	308	45
Ayran	41	2.3	3.1	0	1.4	82	161	21
Fruit yogurt, low-fat, sweetened	99	4.0	18.6	12	0.7	138	53	11
Frozen yogurt, vanilla	159	4.0	24.0	19	3.4	143	87	6

Kefir scores highest because it has few calories per 100 g, so its calcium and protein count for more per 100 kcal. Cottage cheese matches Greek yogurt on protein but has more than eight times the sodium. Ayran is plain whole-milk yogurt thinned with water and salted, so it keeps the calcium but adds sodium. Fruit yogurt and frozen yogurt are the sweetened end of the table, and both added sugar figures are our estimates: fruit yogurt is explained below, and frozen yogurt is the vanilla soft-serve version.

Skyr and plant-based yogurts are not in our database yet, so they are not in the table.

What does a typical portion give you?

Portions differ a lot. Greek yogurt usually comes in a 170 g container, plain yogurt in a cup, kefir by the glass.

Portion	Weight	kcal	Protein (g)	Sugars (g)	Sat fat (g)	Calcium (mg)	Sodium (mg)
Greek yogurt, nonfat, 1 container	170 g	100	17.3	5.5	0.2	187	61
Greek yogurt, whole milk, 1 container	170 g	165	15.3	6.8	4.1	170	60
Plain yogurt, whole milk, 1 small pot	150 g	92	5.2	7.0	3.1	182	69
Plain yogurt, whole milk, 1 cup	245 g	149	8.5	11.4	5.1	296	113
Plain yogurt, low-fat, 1 container	170 g	107	8.9	12.0	1.7	311	119
Kefir, 1 cup	243 g	104	9.2	11.2	1.6	316	97
Cottage cheese, 1/2 cup	113 g	92	11.8	4.5	1.4	125	348
Ayran, 1 glass	250 g	103	5.8	7.8	3.5	204	403
Fruit yogurt, low-fat, 1 container	170 g	168	6.8	31.7	1.3	235	90
Frozen yogurt, 1/2 cup	72 g	114	2.9	17.3	2.5	103	63

A container of nonfat Greek yogurt gives 35% of the daily value for protein for 100 kcal. A container of plain low-fat yogurt or a cup of kefir gives about 24% of the daily value for calcium, against 14% for the Greek yogurt. Protein contributes to the maintenance of muscle mass, and calcium is needed for the maintenance of normal bones, so which one suits you depends on what the rest of your day looks like.

Is full-fat or low-fat yogurt healthier?

On paper, the low-fat versions score higher. Whole-milk Greek yogurt has 97 kcal and 2.4 g of saturated fat per 100 g, against 59 kcal and 0.1 g for nonfat. One container of the whole-milk version gives 4.1 g of saturated fat, about a fifth of the daily value. That is why its score is 33 against 69 for nonfat, even though the protein is almost the same.

The evidence on health outcomes is less clear-cut than the numbers suggest. A 12-week randomized trial published in 2026 in Current Developments in Nutrition gave 110 adults with overweight and raised triglycerides two daily servings of full-fat fermented dairy, low-fat fermented dairy or nondairy foods. The authors observed no significant effects on insulin sensitivity or on other cardiometabolic biomarkers, apart from a small reduction in waist size in the full-fat group compared with the nondairy foods. Our news summary of the trial covers its limits. In practice, nonfat or low-fat gives you the most protein and calcium per calorie, and full-fat can fit well if you enjoy it and keep an eye on saturated fat from other foods.

What does a flavored yogurt add?

Mostly sugar. Plain yogurt already contains milk sugar, which is why every plain yogurt in the tables above shows some sugars but zero added sugars. A flavored or fruit yogurt adds sugar, syrup or fruit preparation on top of that. In our data, sweetened low-fat fruit yogurt has 18.6 g of sugars per 100 g, against 7.0 g in plain low-fat yogurt, and it scores 11.

USDA does not report added sugar, so we estimate about 12 g per 100 g. Its protein (4.0 g against 5.3 g in plain low-fat yogurt) suggests about three quarters of the pot is plain yogurt, which would supply about 5.3 g of milk sugar. That leaves about 13.3 g, and we take off about 1 g for the sugar in the fruit itself. On that estimate a 170 g container holds about 20 g of added sugar, about 41% of the daily limit. Recipes differ between brands, so the added sugars line on the label is the number to trust. Frozen yogurt goes further still: half a cup has an estimated 13.7 g of added sugar, about 27% of the daily limit, and its score is 6.

A simpler route is to buy plain yogurt and add your own fruit, so you control both the amount and the kind.

How do you read a yogurt label?

• Added sugars. Look for this line on the nutrition panel. For plain yogurt it should be zero. Total sugars in our plain yogurts range from 3.2 to 7.0 g per 100 g, so a figure well above that points to added sugar or fruit.
• Protein per serving. A strained yogurt should show close to 10 g per 100 g. Some “Greek-style” products are thickened rather than strained, and the ingredient list tells you which.
• Ingredients. Plain yogurt needs only milk and cultures. Anything after that is a choice by the maker.
• Fat level. Nonfat, low-fat and whole milk differ mainly in calories and saturated fat, as shown above.
• Serving size. Containers range from about 150 g to 245 g, so compare per 100 g.

The short answer

Plain Greek yogurt gives the most protein per calorie of any food in this group. Plain regular yogurt and kefir give more calcium per portion. Both are good choices when they are unsweetened, and the gap between plain and sweetened is bigger than the gap between Greek and regular. See the side by side in Greek yogurt vs whole-milk yogurt, fruit yogurt vs Greek yogurt and Greek yogurt vs kefir, check ayran vs kefir or egg whites vs Greek yogurt, browse foods high in protein and foods high in calcium, see every food in dairy and eggs, or compare any two foods with the compare tool.