For protein, yes by a wide margin: plain Greek yogurt has 9.95g of protein per 100g against 3.47g for plain regular yogurt, 2.87× as much. For minerals, no. Calorie for calorie, regular yogurt keeps between a quarter and a third more calcium, potassium and magnesium. So it depends on what you eat yogurt for.
One caveat before any numbers, because it changes how you read them. The two USDA FoodData Central rows we hold are not the same milk: the Greek yogurt is plain lowfat (FDC 170903) and the regular yogurt is plain whole milk (FDC 171284). Protein and minerals are fair to compare. Fat is not, since most of that gap is lowfat against whole milk rather than Greek against regular.
Is Greek yogurt healthier than regular yogurt?
It is higher in protein and lower in sugar and sodium, and lower in calcium, potassium and magnesium, per 100 calories of each plain yogurt. That makes it a trade, not a sweep. If you eat yogurt to hit a protein target, Greek wins easily. If it is your main calcium source, regular does a bit more for the same calories.
| Food | Protein per 100 kcal | Calcium per 100 kcal | Potassium per 100 kcal | Magnesium per 100 kcal | Sugar per 100 kcal | Sodium per 100 kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greek yogurt | 13.63g | 157.53mg | 193.15mg | 15.07mg | 4.88g | 46.58mg |
| Yogurt | 5.69g | 198.36mg | 254.1mg | 19.67mg | 7.64g | 75.41mg |
"Yogurt" in the tables is the plain whole-milk row. Bold marks the better value in each column (lower, for sugar and sodium). 100 calories is 137g of Greek yogurt or 164g of regular yogurt.
Does Greek yogurt have more protein than regular yogurt?
Yes: 2.87× per 100g (9.95g against 3.47g) and 2.40× per 100 calories (13.63g against 5.69g), comparing plain lowfat Greek yogurt with plain whole-milk regular yogurt. The per-calorie gap is smaller because the Greek row also has more calories per spoonful, 73 per 100g against 61. Straining is the reason for both: it pours off liquid whey and leaves a thicker, denser yogurt behind.
Does regular yogurt have more calcium than Greek yogurt?
Per 100 calories, yes: plain regular yogurt has 198.36mg of calcium against 157.53mg for plain Greek yogurt, 1.26× as much. It also has 1.32× the potassium and 1.31× the magnesium per 100 calories. The usual explanation is the same straining step: some of the milk's minerals leave with the whey. Per 100g the gap nearly closes (121mg against 115mg of calcium), because Greek yogurt packs more yogurt into each gram.
We checked the small leads against USDA rounding. Pushing each value to the edge of its rounding range, regular yogurt still has at least 18.69mg of magnesium per 100 calories against at most 15.86mg for Greek. Per 100g, magnesium (12mg against 11mg) is too close to call.
Per 100g, side by side
| Food | Calories per 100g | Protein per 100g | Fat per 100g | Saturated fat per 100g | Sugar per 100g | Calcium per 100g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greek yogurt | 73 | 9.95g | 1.92g | 1.23g | 3.56g | 115mg |
| Yogurt | 61 | 3.47g | 3.25g | 2.1g | 4.66g | 121mg |
The fat and saturated fat columns mostly show lowfat milk against whole milk. A whole-milk Greek yogurt would carry more fat than the row here, and we do not hold one, so this page makes no Greek-against-regular fat claim.
Which yogurt has less sugar?
Plain Greek yogurt: 3.56g of sugar per 100g against 4.66g for plain regular yogurt, or 4.88g against 7.64g per 100 calories. In plain yogurt all of that is the milk's own lactose; straining removes some of it with the whey. Flavoured yogurts add sugar on top, and neither row covers them, so read the pack.
What the numbers leave out
Vitamin A is odd in these rows: the lowfat Greek row lists 90mcg per 100g against 27mcg for whole-milk regular yogurt, which is the reverse of what milk fat would predict. We report it as USDA files it and do not lean on it. Iron is under 0.1mg per 100g in both, so neither is an iron source. Live cultures, protein quality and how full each keeps you are not in the data. We hold no single-pot weights either: weigh your serving and scale the per-100g table, so 150g is 1.5× each figure.
Related
The full rows are on Greek yogurt and yogurt, and Greek yogurt vs yogurt lays them side by side. If protein is the reason you buy it, whey protein vs Greek yogurt works out what 20g of protein costs from each, and protein per calorie in dairy and eggs ranks the rest of the fridge.
Log the bowl, not the label
The hard part of yogurt is not the choice, it is the toppings: the granola, the honey, the handful of berries. Send Sunn "200g Greek yogurt with granola and honey" on WhatsApp and it logs the whole bowl in one message, so your protein for the day adds up without you opening an app.
Written by Espen Opdahl
Founder of Sunn. Building AI-powered nutrition coaching to make healthy eating simple. Nutrition data sourced from the USDA FoodData Central database.
Medical disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet or exercise routine.