Vitagen vs. Yakult
Tue, 21 November 2006, 5:16 pm by jadeiteI love these little fermented milk drinks so much. (Ew, fermented milk. Now that I think about it that sounds kinda gross.) I’m the kind of person who can actually crave for these drinks.
When I was young I remember we actually went on a church field trip to the Vitagen factory to see how they were made. The girl who brought us around told us that Vitagen was healthier because they use real fruit juice. Me being a small kid, I totally bought into the healthy hype and I started picking Vitagen over Yakult.
Eventually Vitagen and I grew apart as I grew older and I hadn’t drunk it for yonks when I suddenly started having cravings again this year. However over the years I had heard from countless friends that “Yakult tastes better”. My weak rebuttals of “But…but Vitagen uses real fruit juice!” were not very convincing. Not being very discerning about my fermented milk choices I picked up a pack of Yakult last week to relive old times.
This started an avalanche. I have consumed three delicious packs of Yakult in the last two weeks. I must say it doesn’t seem to do anything for my pooping habits; unlike Derelyn who drinks two bottles and immediately has to rush off to the loo. But perhaps that’s a bit too much info for my Gentle Readers.
Last night however when I was out doing some 3am grocery shopping (God bless Prime Supermart) with Kerri and Qiyan and Marcus, I discovered that Vitagen costs the same as Yakult (S$2.70) but packs 25ml more into a larger bottle. Gasp! This brought out the kiasu aunty in me.
“Look! I can get 25ml more for the same price! AND Vitagen has real fruit juice,” I asserted proudly to Marcus (who wasn’t listening).
Today I opened the last bottle of my Yakult, which happened to be grape flavored, and in a burst of inspiration opened the grape-flavored Vitagen as well, to facilitate a showdown between the two premium fermented milk drinks on the market.
As you can tell I am trying to avoid studying. Gee, is it 5pm already? *innocent*
Visual proof that Vitagen bottles are bigger than Yakult. Vitagen - 125ml. Yakult - 100ml. I’m eager for Vitagen to prove its worth so that I can go around and inform people smugly that Vitagen “has real fruit juice, okay, and it tastes better, so there!” Also so that I can continue buying Vitagen because I get 100 more ml of drink per five-bottle packet. I am such an aunty.
So anyway.
The purple Vitagen is lighter colored than Yakult, a little paler, while Yakult has a richer color, and is slightly pinker than the more lavender-toned Vitagen. Yakult also has a stronger, sweeter smell than Vitagen.
(If only I put as much effort into my studies, ha.)
Time for the taste test!
*rolls fermented milk thoughtfully around in my mouth, swishes and spits*
Hmmm, yes. I see what they mean. Yakult is definitely sweeter than Vitagen, with a more robust and intense flavor. Vitagen on the other hand tastes rather weak and vaguely insipid when compared to Yakult; though I must also admit that if I hadn’t drunk Yakult immediately after to compare, I might not have realized the difference so clearly.
Texture-wise however, Vitagen seems to be a tad thicker and leaves more of an aftertaste than Yakult does.
Health-wise, Vitagen might still win the competition. It’s not as sweet because, well, it says in large print on the bottle, “LESS SUGAR”. Which is probably healthier. Vitagen also contains dietary fibre (prebiotics) and lactobacillus acidolphilus culture. I’m sure we all remember the ads where the Vitagen culture goes into the intestine and zaps away all the bad germs. Yakult has live L. casei Shirota strain.
According to my *ahem* exhaustive Google searches, L. casei Shirota strain “may accelerate the innate immune response of the respiratory tract and protect against various respiratory infections in neonates, infants, and children, a high risk group for viral and bacterial infections.” (Hori, T., Kiyoshima, J., and Yasui, H., 2004).
L. acidolphilus on the other hand,”protects against the entrance and proliferation of “bad” organisms that can cause disease. This is accomplished through a variety of mechanisms. For example, the breakdown of food by L. acidophilus leads to production of lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and other byproducts that make the environment hostile for undesired organisms. L. acidophilus also produces lactase, the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar (lactose) into simple sugars. People who are lactose intolerant do not produce this enzyme. For this reason, L. acidophilus supplements may be beneficial for these individuals.” (DeBusk, R., et al, 2002).
Also, dietary fibre or probiotics “are claimed to prevent and control diarrhoea, lessen the effects of lactose intolerance, relieve constipation, lower cholesterol, prevent and control thrush (a vaginal yeast Infection) and even prevent bowel cancer, as well as stimulate the immune system.” (Wahlqvist, 2002).
There you have it. Vitagen sounds healthier but doesn’t taste quite as good as Yakult. If you’re going for taste, buy Yakult. If you rather err on the side of price and its health benefits, Vitagen’s for you.
Me, I think I’m going to stick to Yakult. The taste really does beat Vitagen hands down.
Citations:
DeBusk, R., et al. April 2002. Retrieved from http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/Lactobacillusacidophiluscs.html
Hori, T., Kiyoshima, J., and Yasui, H. 13 April 2004. Retrieved from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=440622
Wahlqvist, M. 5 April 2002. Retrieved from http://www.healthyeatingclub.com/info/articles/func-foods/probiotics.htm
[...] I dun intend to do a detailed rundown about the benefits of both… That’s already been done… And my choice is clear… YAKULT… Because it just tastes nicer… (Even though my grape Yakult exploded on my leg, making it sticky and gross after I’d taken my shower.) But there was one silly incident that occurred in my blur-blur childhood days… According to Biggie Sis, I went to visit a Vitagen factory for a kindergarten class excursion. And we were brought around to see how everything worked. At the end of the talks and all, the lady asked us the standard question, “So what yoghurt drink do you like?” [...]
Hey, sorry- this is so random, my name is Sophie and I used to live in Kuala Lumpar, every week, my mum, brother and I used to go the supermarket where we’d get a couple of 6 packs of Vitagen…I’ve now moved back to the UK, and I can’t find them anywhere, any ideas where I could get some…They remind me so much of my childhood - i’d be so grateful for any ideas!! Please email me them on: miss_courtney@hotmail.com.
Thanks again!! Sophie xx
Hey Sophie!
Man, I don’t think they have Yakult in the UK. And I’d gladly offer to ship some to you except…I think you have to keep them refrigerated?! So they’d spoil by the time they reached you!
Vitagen is a Singapore-Malaysia Brand (Marigold). So it is not possible to find it over in the UK. But of course you can find Yakult in the UK, just drop by any Tesco or Asda, it is there everyday.
So who ripped of whom first? The bottles seem to be the same shape! Yakult tastes a little too sweet but I’d still go for Vitagen. I like their original flavour and grape. The rest aren’t so nice, to me at least.
Say no to ersatz Malaysian shit.
And of course Vitagen ripped off Yakult. And being a bolehland company, they tried to sue Yakult for ripping them off. DUH.
http://gssq.blogspot.com/2006/06/this-is-hilarious.html
vitagen is the pioneer in cultured milk drink in singapore, its just that yakult had a greater appeal to the locals as it came from jap(hence ASSUMED better quality), sweeter taste and its marketing campaign was quite successful.
but the facts shows that vitagen is much more healthier compared to yakult, dietary fibre & less sugar.
its a pity they didnt position themselves well enough to get the message across.
yakult has higher sugar content than coke btw, so u girlies better not drink too much lest u get fat…mua haha
I prefer yakult cuz it tastes better, sweeter.
And I’ve never had a problem with being fat, so there :P
yakult has the other bottled stuff. Cost more but not as sweet as those bottles mentioned but packed in more L Acidophilus as labelled. At end of the day i vouch for better heatlh if gonna drink regularly.
I bought Yakult for my son who has serious constipation problem with of course some medication help as well. after reading a couple of their sites on the content, i’m confident that Yakult will help him unless someone can convince me theoriotically that I should go for Vitagen (which to me taste yukkie..) because of the ‘ingredient’ in there that will help very bad constipation. Both seems to have the same ‘ingredient’.
A month ago i bought 4 packs of Yakult. So that amounts to 4 packs x 5 in a bottle which adds up to 20 bottles. I consumed 20 bottles within 5 days with an average of 4 a day. After the 2nd day, i went to the toilet 3 times.. this continued for the rest of the remaining 3 days (3 times a day as well).. and by the end of the month, i lost 3KG.
I kid you not.
Yakult diet. This must be tried to be believed!!
yakult better those who like vitagen they shold suck breast milk instead
!!!!!
Each time, I do my shopping at NTUC Fairprice, I will buy a packet of Yakult and two packets of Vitagen, two packets has discount.
My son likes Yakult and he says Yakult is better.
My hushand wants Vitagen and he says it is less sugar and taste better. As For me , I drink what’s available in the fridge as I think both are good for me.
freeze yakult, tastes better than ice cream (: