Why drink yogurt every day?
Do you eat or drink yogurt? Working with the Yogurt Council made me aware of the huge number of health benefits of yogurt. And today, many experts say we should have at least a pot a day, and if possible, two. I usually have mine as dessert, but the latest research says I should be?eating it as a starter.
That was the suggestion from a US study which found that women who ate yogurt before a high-fat, high-carb breakfast (two sausage muffins and two hash browns) had lower levels of inflammation in their blood and less blood sugar than those who hadn't.
"Yogurt before a meal is a feasible way to improve post-meal ?metabolism and may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases," said the team from Wisconsin, US.
A simple pot of yogurt can ease hay fever symptoms, keep bones strong and even reduce the risk of heart disease. It may also help with weight loss and prevent infections. And perhaps more surprising is the more fat there is in a yogurt, the better. Yogurt is heavyweight nutrition, providing around a third of our daily iodine and calcium, and nearly 15% of our daily protein, which is similar to a boiled egg.
It also provides 30% of our daily phosphorus, needed for healthy bones and teeth, and around a fifth of our recommended amount of vitamin B12 (to release energy from food) and potassium (which helps with healthy blood pressure).
My mum used to feed my sister and I sour milk and it's the curdling that makes yogurt a wonder food. Yogurts are made by fermenting (curdling) milk with two bacteria, streptococcus thermophilus and lactobacillus bulgaricus, which produce an acid that preserves the yogurt and kills off harmful bacteria such as salmonella .
Fermented yogurt helps control blood pressure and therefore the risk of heart attack and stroke. Fermentation makes good bacteria called probiotics, which contribute to our gut health, and prebiotics, which feed the good bacteria. Together they boost our immunity levels.