Have you noticed the variety of yogurt that is available at the grocery store? As you shop for yogurt, the most important thing to remember is to be an informed consumer. Quite simply, buying the plain, low fat or nonfat yogurt is really the best. It is also less expensive. Plain yogurt is also versatile. It can be sweetened, flavored with vanilla or lemon, served on a baked potato or with fruit, among other things. You can also add powdered cocoa to plain, nonfat yogurt for a new twist.
Yogurt is indeed a super food. But it is not just delicious and nutritious. Many people turn to yogurt to help them get enough calcium to meet their daily needs. Typically, a cup of yogurt has 450 milligrams of calcium, compared to 300 in a cup of milk. This is 30 to 50 percent of most people’s daily needs. What people may not realize is that yogurt has much more to offer than just calcium. Yogurt is also packed with high-quality protein, magnesium and a variety of vitamins. Numerous health benefits beyond its nutritional value have been associated with consuming yogurt. These specific health benefits depend on the strain and viability of the culture in yogurt. This is why it is important to choose yogurt with a seal indicating that it contains live, active cultures.
Yogurt is a mixture of milk – either whole, reduced-fat, low fat or nonfat – and cream fermented by a culture of lactic acid-producing bacteria. Foods that have live bacteria in them are called probiotics and yogurt is one of the best know probiotic foods. We naturally have bacteria in our intestines, and the key is to increase the health-promoting, friendly bacteria as much as possible. The bacteria found in yogurt actually helps to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter, and Staphylococcus. The bacteria found in yogurt also helps to boost our immune systems, enhance digestion, increase mineral absorption, and synthesize certain B vitamins. Scientists have found that intake of yogurt with active cultures may fight other sources of infection and protect against cancer.
For those who cannot tolerate milk because of the lactose, which is the sugar in milk, yogurt is usually well-tolerated. The bacteria in yogurt with active live cultures break down some of the lactose in milk. In some cases, the bacteria may stay alive for a while in the intestinal tracts, and in this case, they will continue to help digest the lactose. Also, many yogurts contain lower amount of lactose than milk.
Sweetened fruit yogurt is somewhat less nutritious because the fruit and sugar, usually preserves, takes up space in the cup, so you get more sugar and less yogurt. Current recommendations suggest that yogurt is an excellent food for children over three months of age. It can be introduced gradually into the diet as the child beings to learn to eat solid foods, usually between four and six months.