Inner Goodness by Aldi coconut yoghurt review
Here we will give a hands-on, taste-tested review of Inner Goodness by Aldi coconut yoghurt. We’ll look into the benefits, ingredients, nutrition, uses and flavour of this dairy-free yoghurt. And we’ll talk about its strengths and weaknesses.
This vegan yoghurt is available in Aldi supermarkets in Australia.
You might also be interested in reading our article about the best vegan yoghurt in Australia reviewed or the best Aldi yoghurt in Australia reviewed.
Ingredients of Inner Goodness coconut yoghurt
As is common with coconut yoghurts, the ingredient list is longer than dairy yoghurt typically is.
The specific ingredients are: coconut milk (93%) [coconut cream (coconut extract, water), water], dextrose (maize), tapioca starch, corn starch, modified starch (1442), thickeners (406, 410) and live yoghurt cultures.
What is hard to believe is that there are essentially 5 types of thickeners in this yoghurt! This includes the tapioca starch, corn starch and modified starch whose primarily purpose is to thicken the yoghurt, as well as the two added thickeners.
These thickeners are guar gum and locust bean gum, both of which are natural.
The modified starch is hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate which is a chemically altered version of natural starch.
Let’s see later on how these ingredients translate into taste and texture…
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Benefits of Inner Goodness coconut yoghurt
Here we’ll look at the health benefits of this yoghurt as well as comparing some key health metrics against Coyo coconut yoghurt which is a more premium coconut yoghurt. We’ll also compare a few factors against dairy yoghurt for context.
Probiotics
Probiotics are live, beneficial microbes that have been proven to offer health benefits.
While this yoghurt does include live cultures, they don’t state which strains are included so we don’t know whether any of those would be considered probiotic.
In terms of the actual amount of these live cultures, there are 100 million colony forming units per 100g.
For context, Coyo includes two probiotic strains which give a much higher 2 billion colony forming units per 100g.
Read more about the benefits of probiotic foods.
Postbiotics
Postbiotics are essentially things probiotics produce during fermentation. These include healthy short-chain fatty acids which nourish our gut lining and may help reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Other health measures
One thing to be conscious of when buying coconut yoghurt is that it has a very different nutritional profile to dairy yoghurt.
Fat: This yoghurt is fairly high in fat with 8.2% fat - which would place it towards the top end of dairy yoghurt. However, this is much below Coyo which has 14.9% fat. It’s also important to note that the fat in coconut yoghurt has a higher percentage of saturated fat than dairy yoghurt does.
Protein: Compared to dairy yoghurt the protein content is very low - it is only 1% protein. Coyo isn’t much better at 1.3%.
Calcium: Again, compared to dairy yoghurt this yoghurt would have extremely low levels of calcium. Neither coconut yoghurt even mentions the calcium metrics.
Sugars: This yoghurt is fairly high in sugar for a coconut yoghurt - not surprising considering it includes added dextrose. It has 4.3% sugar, while Coyo is much lower with 1.4%. For context, a full-fat dairy yoghurt like Tamar Valley Greek style yoghurt has 5.7% sugar from the naturally occurring milk sugars.
Appearance
As the picture above shows, it has a strange slick and shiny appearance with a bizarrely smooth surface. To be honest, it doesn’t look right and does look like something heavily processed.
Texture
As expected, the excessive use of thickeners leave the texture being oddly gooey. There’s an element of creaminess from the fat, but overall the texture is inescapably strange.
Flavour
The aroma is just like coconut, without any real yoghurt characteristics.
The taste is of fresh coconut with a low to moderate acidity. And it’s decently refreshing.
Overall, the taste itself is fine, but the texture will never not be strange for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Uses
This yoghurt could be had on its own, with fruits and granola, or put in a smoothie.
Cost of Inner Goodness coconut yoghurt
A 500g tub from Aldi costs $4.49 - which, while cheaper than some other brands, is still quite expensive for what you get.
Summary
Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5.
Verdict: Inner Goodness by Aldi coconut yoghurt has a decent taste, but a strange texture from the various added thickeners. It is cheaper than others, but still not cheap. Like many other vegan yoghurts, some health metrics are not ideal.
Pros
dairy free (if that’s important to you)
decent refreshing taste
Cons
odd texture
high in fat (even if lower than some competitors)
low in protein
very low in calcium
no information on the probiotics included (if any)
fairly low actual amount of live cultures (ie colony forming units)
while cheaper than some other coconut yoghurts, it’s still quite expensive for what it offers
Factors we consider in our ratings
The factors we consider when doing a review (and the weightings of each of these) may vary depending on the product we are testing, but here are the key general factors we consider when we settle on a rating for a product.
Health benefits
We find out how the product will be good for your health and outline the benefits for you in simple language. This often involves doing research so you don’t have to. We often link to scientific studies or articles summarising scientific findings so you can dig deeper if you want to.
Things detrimental to health
We want to highlight where a product might include something bad for your health - even if it might be good for you in another way. This could include such things as pointing out certain additives it contains or high sugar levels.
How its made
This will vary depending on the product, but we want to see a quality process for making it and quality ingredients. For example, we want to see a kombucha traditionally fermented with lots of different microbial strains and we want to see a yoghurt made with fresh milk and not milk powders.
Price
While we expect quality products to be more expensive, they still have to be priced within reason. On the other side of things, a product which is priced very competitively will get a ratings boost based on the value it provides.
Flavour
For some products flavour won’t be a factor (eg probiotic tablets), but for others, like yoghurt or kimchi, flavour is a key aspect because these products are made to be enjoyed as well as being healthy! We will try to be as subjective as possible and describe the flavour in detail so you can get an idea of whether you would like it or not.
Our favourite gut health products in Australia
YourBiology Gut+ probiotic not only offers 10 strains of probiotics, but also includes two types of prebiotics, three digestive enzymes and vitamin D for gut health support. All this means it offers a lot more benefits for gut health and general health than most probiotic supplements do
FixBIOME is a natural and very evidence-based supplement which is specifically designed to get your gut back into good shape. Perfect for those who need a gut reset
Read more about the best gut health products in Australia.
Your reviewer
This hands-on review was written by Travis, the founder of this website, long-time gut-health enthusiast, science nerd and passionate kombucha maker of over 10 years!
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