Is it healthy to eat yoghurt?
If you eat yoghurt, Is it healthy yogurt?
I found this brand new article for you that shows you some of the
problems with some types of yogurt and also which food you can eat that’s
BETTER for you than yogurt…
The Problem with Some Yogurt (what to look for)
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist
As you’ve probably noticed in the last couple of years, probiotics are all the
rage as one of THE most important factors that helps control your immune system
(an estimated 70% of your immune system resides in your gut), as well as your
digestive system health.
Most people “think” they get enough health-boosting probiotics from
yogurt (the average person eats yogurt almost daily). Unfortunately,
there are some problems with yogurt
that you need to be aware of…
1. First problem with yogurt:
Some brands of yogurt actually contain live cultures and some do not.
Almost all yogurts found in the US start with pasteurized milk… that’s not
such a problem because once the live cultures are added and the milk fermented,
you once again have a live and active food that’s easier to digest than regular
milk and has a reduced lactose content due to the consumption of lactose by the
microbes.
Sadly, some brands pasteurize the yogurt AFTER it’s been fermented (cultured)
which kills the beneficial probiotics. On the other hand, most good brands of yogurt do NOT
pasteurize after fermenting, so the probiotics are still alive for your
benefit.
The amount of probiotics in yogurt varies widely based on the brand and type,
but I’ve seen estimates anywhere from 1 Billion to 5 Billion CFUs per
cup. This is decent, but low compared to some other probiotic sources
we’ll discuss in a bit.
The KEY is that you need to look for “live and active cultures” on
the label, or another labeling that indicates the probiotics are still active.
2. Second problem with yogurt:
Most yogurts in the US are sadly adulterated with way too many sweeteners,
whether sugar, corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners.
Remember that sucralose kills probiotics, so any yogurt that’s been sweetened
with sucralose (aka, splenda) will most likely have a greatly reduced probiotic
content or possibly even be fully dead.
And most other yogurts are produced to appease the overly aggressive sweet
taste buds of American consumers, so they simply contain too much sugar to be
considered healthy.
I always recommend choosing unsweetened plain yogurt or plain greek yogurt and
adding your own stevia or other natural sweetener if you need extra sweetness
beyond the addition of whole fruit. Personally, I love to simply add a
small scoop of Biotrust Low-Carb Vanilla protein to my plain yogurt (along
with some berries and nuts) and it makes the PERFECT sweetness in my opinion!
I also personally choose FULL-fat yogurt and not all of this silly skim 0%
yogurt that’s out there these days. Remember that the extra fat in
full-fat yogurt satisfies your appetite and cravings so that you eat less
calories later in the day. Also, if you can find yogurt from grass-fed
cows, the fat portion of the yogurt is VERY healthy and contains powerful vitamin K2 (shown to reduce
heart disease risk) as well as CLA (found to
reduce cancer risk and help to reduce body fat), and also omega-3 fats, which
you also know are vital to your health.
3. Third problem with yogurt:
The last problem with yogurt that I wanted to bring to your attention today is
that yogurt is not necessarily the best source of probiotics, both in terms of
quantity and also variety of strains.
Variety is KEY when it comes to the overall power of probiotics for your
immunity and digestion.
Most yogurts only contain 3-4 strains of probiotics. On the other hand, Kefir is a fermented dairy
drink that contains anywhere from 10-20 strains of probiotics depending on the
brand and type. In addition, Lassi is an
Indian style fermented dairy drink that also contains a much wider variety of
strains than yogurt does.
In terms of quantity of probiotics, yogurts generally contain between 1 Billion
to 5 Billion CFU’s per cup, whereas most Kefir or Lassi contains anywhere from 7 Billion to 50 Billion active
CFU’s per cup depending on the brand and type. Most yogurts are only
cultured for 2-3 hours, whereas kefir is generally cultured for 12-16 hours,
increasing it’s probiotic content and making it easier for digestion.
Also, most Kefir is 99% lactose free and is by far the easiest to digest type
of dairy on the market due to the “predigestion” that the active
cultures perform on the kefir before you drink it.
Kefir is a GREAT addition to any smoothies that you make instead of using water
or almond milk because you get the immune system and digestive system benefits
of the probiotics in Kefir, which you can’t get in almond milk.
Again, I personally choose FULL-FAT (for the reasons I described above with
full-fat yogurt as well) when I look for a good kefir and I try to find
grass-fed as well. If I don’t use kefir in smoothies, one way I like it
is just simply to add a small touch of real maple syrup, vanilla, and chia
seeds to a cup of kefir — amazingly delicious snack for anytime!
Interestingly, I recently found out from their website that Lifeway brand kefir
is made from grass-fed milk
in ALL of their products (even though they don’t include that on the labels),
so the fat content in Lifeway kefir will also contain those ever so important
nutrients of vitamin K2 for heart health, CLA for cancer protection and body
fat reduction, and omega 3 fats for overall health. The full-fat greek
kefir by Lifeway is my favorite and I use it almost every day!
With all of this said about yogurt and kefir, please note that I do NOT drink
regular commercial milk that’s been pasteurized and homogenized. It’s a
dead food that has harmful microscopic fat particles due to the
homogenization. On the other hand, yogurts and kefirs generally start
with pasteurized milk, (but NOT homogenized), and are made alive and easier to
digest again through the fermentation process.
For this reason, I choose to NEVER use commercial milk, but I use yogurt
several times a week, and I use Kefir DAILY because of it’s health benefits and
great taste.
Lastly, if you’re skeptical that ANY dairy could be good for you because you’ve
fallen for certain anti-animal food propaganda that floats around out there on
the internet, here’s one last fact to consider that might make vegans want to
switch to vegetarians…
It’s well known that in the Caucasus Mountains and other areas of eastern
Europe, that natives to that area drink kefir daily
throughout their lives and routinely live to over 100
years old. And in India, fermented dairy in the form of
Lassi is routinely consumed with daily meals, and they display much better
health than the average American.
Clearly, if “dairy was bad for you” as many so-called
“experts” seem to like to claim, these natives in the Caucasus
Mountains that drink dairy every day of their lives wouldn’t be living to 100
years old! Just shows you to beware of who you trust for your health
information.
Lastly for today, now that you know the vital importance of probiotics to your
digestion, immunity, and overall health, make sure to check this out:
Find out if you have a DANGEROUS bacterial imbalance in your gut
(handy quiz)
Also, remember that VARIETY of probiotics is KEY… that’s why in addition to
kefir, lassi, yogurt, and fermented veggies (krauts, kvaas, etc) as good
sources for a variety of strains of probiotics, I also personally take a probiotic supplement daily, which I think is
particularly powerful due to the micro-encapsulation technology which keeps the
probiotics alive through your harsh stomach so that they can properly colonize
your intestines.
If you are feeling the urge to ‘feel’ healthy and want to change your body and lifestyle check this out
I love seeing people feel the benefits of a healthy lifestyle without being over the top
