Yogurt (or yoghurt) is that sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, oddly textured product that you find in abundance in the dairy aisle of your supermarket. But what really is yogurt?
What is Yogurt
Very simply, yogurt is fermented milk. It is made by adding ‘live cultures’ (or bacteria) to milk and allowing it to “incubate” for several hours. Pretty simple, really, so why does it warrant the high prices in supermarkets?
Health Benefits of Yogurt
The health benefits of yogurt are really abundant and range from gastrointestinal to nutritional. Most yogurts these days are probiotic (without which they are not worth eating), which means they contain active live bacteria that are advantageous to your system. Some of the most common active bacteria in yogurt are l. acidophilus, l. bulgaricus, s. thermophilus, and bifidus. These live cultures, when ingested, assist in the bacterial balance of your intestines, which in turn aids in good digestion.
The live cultures in yogurt also help alleviate the pain due to certain gastrointestinal conditions. The live cultures helps break down lactose from milk, allowing for those with lactose intolerance to digest milk with more ease. Yogurt can also aid in alleviating constipation, diarrhea, and symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Live cultures can also keep ulcer-causing bacteria under control, decreasing the change of ulcers and improving your overall intestinal health. Lastly, the live cultures in yogurt can aid in preventing yeast infections in women.
Yogurt is high in protein and calcium. Low fat yogurt has around 7 grams of protein per 6oz and full fat yogurt has even more. The calcium in yogurt can help prevent osteoporosis in people of all ages. Yogurt also has advantageous levels of potassium, magnesium, and vitamin B-12.
How to Choose Yogurt
Supermarkets are stocked with so many different yogurts that choosing one can be very difficult. But there are certain key attributes you should look for when choosing a yogurt. First, make sure that the yogurt packaging says “with probiotics” or ” contains live cultures”-if it does not have live cultures (described above), it isn’t really worth eating. Secondly, check out the sugar content-you don’t want more than 25g of sugar per 6oz yogurt cup. Thirdly, choose organic when possible. Remember that yogurt is made out of milk and you probably don’t like pesticides and growth hormone in your milk, so you wouldn’t want it in yogurt either. Next, decide whether you want to go for low fat or full fat yogurt. The taste difference is often fairly large (full fat being much thicker with a more well-rounded taste). The benefits of low fat and full fat yogurt are the same, but the fat content and protein content will vary slightly. Lastly, experiment with flavored and non-flavored yogurt. Plain yogurt usually has less sugar than flavored, but is distasteful to many. Flavored yogurts come with a variety of fruit tastes, from strawberry to blueberry to blackberry.
Best Brands of Yogurt
When available, the best yogurts to choose are either Brown Cow (full fat or low fat) or Wallaby (low fat). Brown Cow and Wallaby use natural sugars and real fruit without adding too many foreign ingredients.
Incorporating Yogurt into Your Diet
If you’re not used to eating yogurt, it can be an odd texture to get used to. You can easily mask the texture by eating it with granola for breakfast (a great, nutritionally balanced breakfast). Yogurt is also great used to ward off hunger during the day as you wait for dinner. If you like flavored yogurts, they are often great as desserts, poured over fresh berries. Over all, its best to eat a few cups of yogurt per week to maximize the health benefits, so eat it whenever you like.
