# Yoplait Banana Strawberry Yogurt?



## Sunshiner (May 12, 2010)

I've heard that hedgehogs can eat small amounts of yogurt as a treat every once in a while, and was wondering if Strawberry Banana yogurt from yoplait would be OK? Here are the ingredients: 

Cultured pasteurized grade A low fat milk, sugar, modified corn starch, kosher gelatin, natural flavor, citric acid, potassium sorbate added to maintain freshness, colored with carmine, vitamin A acetate, and vitamin D3. 

I am not at all sure about these ingredients, especially the sugar, citric acid, corn starch, and the coloring stuff, so if anyone knows if this yogurt is OK to feed Pixel, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!


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## hercsmom (Jul 6, 2010)

Here's a thread on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6578&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=lactose+intolerant+yogurt


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## shealynn87 (Jun 6, 2010)

A small amount of yogurt is fine because the live cultures in yogurt eat the lactose, but I would not do a flavored yogurt because of the sugar content. I think it would be fine to blend up some strawberries and mix it in a plain yogurt though


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## Sunshiner (May 12, 2010)

Ahhhh, I see. I was just wondering because that is the kind of yogurt we get. Mom gets a different kind, but I don't eat it, (and I wouldn't give it to Pixel,) because it is a weird color. :shock:


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## HedgeMom (Nov 7, 2008)

That yogurt is completely safe to use. I don't understand the comments about sugar or milk. Yogurt is all made from milk. The lactobacillus cultures eliminate any GI issues as it predigests the milk sugar.

Secondly, sugar is not unsafe. There is sugar in fruit and sugar in milk, sugar in carrots, in peas, in corn and in carbohydrates. The little bit of sugar in the yogurt is fine.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I wouldn't use it, but that's because I'm a purist. I prefer the fruit on the bottom varieties because they don't use gelatin to keep the yogurt/fruit from separating. That's a personal preference thing though.

I too don't understand the comments against yogurt. Take a look at the soft food diet recommendations for hedgehogs. You'll see that yogurt is quite often one of the ingredients added. I have used it several times as an ingredient in diets where the hedgehog needed to be syringe fed.


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## shealynn87 (Jun 6, 2010)

I've been told by quite a few people to avoid flavored yogurt because of the sugar.  
I have no problem giving yogurt to hedgies, mine loves yogurt, I was just forwarding the advice given to me.


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## Sunshiner (May 12, 2010)

O...K....  Thank you for the input, I was kind of wondering about the sugar thing. shealyn, no need for the  , alright?


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

The way I was taught in college when this discussion came up was that the sugar found naturally in fruits and vegetables have differences than the sugar added to a lot of foods that come prepackaged. The biggest differences I remember is that natural sugars found in fruits are monosaccharides that break down in the body more slowly. Most of the time refined sugar is added to things like flavored yogurts and is a disaccharide and behaves differently in the body. Anytime this discussion came up whether in Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chem in foods, Physical Chemistry or any other Chem or Biology class, or even speaking with a human nutritionist every source always said the same thing...that naturally occurring sugars are better for your body than refined processed sugars. It's true that in natural yogurt that the milk sugar is consumed in the process but what ends up happening is it tends to be a tad bitter to some peoples' palates so the company adds refined sugar to it. 

A little bit may not hurt the hedgehog but there is definitely a chemical and biochemical difference between a natural sugar and refined sugar. I'm not saying to encourage or discourage I just wanted to share with you what I had always been taught on the subject


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## HedgeMom (Nov 7, 2008)

Hedgieonboard said:


> The biggest differences I remember is that natural sugars found in fruits are monosaccharides that break down in the body more slowly.


Sucrose is a natural sugar. It occurs naturally in pineapples, apricots, beets, corn and other fruits and veggies.

During digestion, sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose, which are both monosaccharides. Which is why drinks sweetened with table sugar and natural fruit drinks both affect the blood glucose levels the exact same way. The only thing that slows the digestion and metabolization of sugars (any kind) is ingesting said sugar with fiber.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

> Sucrose is a natural sugar. It occurs naturally in pineapples, apricots, beets, corn and other fruits and veggies.
> 
> During digestion, sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose, which are both monosaccharides. Which is why drinks sweetened with table sugar and natural fruit drinks both affect the blood glucose levels the exact same way. The only thing that slows the digestion and metabolization of sugars (any kind) is ingesting said sugar with fiber.


I am a Chemist and this is not totally true. It is true that natural fruit drinks can affect the body similar as table sugar but that is because both are cases of a refinement process. Its true that sucrose does break down into a monosaccharides but this is true of any other sugar because monosaccharides are the building blocks to all sugar molecules. This being true does not mean they are behave the same in the body. Being digested with fiber is not the only thing that slows the metabolization of sugars, chemical bonds and other factors play a role also. There is no benefit to eating refined sugar and that is why doctors and nutritionists tell people to stay away from it.


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## Sunshiner (May 12, 2010)

Hmmmm. This is getting educational.  (I'm homeschooled, so I pick up on things like this. ) It's kind of interesting though. I gave Pixel a few licks, but she used it all to anoint herself with. :roll: Silly hedgiepiggy.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Chemistry is a very interesting science and it is amazing the deeper you get into it. I got to take almost every Chemistry and Biology class under the sun when I was earning my Chemistry degree and I loved every minute  

You have to love when they annoint with their snacks, then you get the look like they can't understand what you are looking at lol


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