I love yogurt and try to eat some every day. Many years ago when I was first starting to study vitamins and healthy eating I read an article that said eating yogurt would help you to live longer. Can’t find that article now since it has been about 30 years since I read it, but there is a lot of other information out there on the health benefits of yogurt. First though, if you are going to purchase it be sure to get the kind that has “active cultures” in it. Not sure which kind to get? Check out this article.
The Leaf Lady has some good information on yogurt, although she spells it differently:
Yoghurt is an ancient wonder food, strongly antibacterial and anti-cancer. A cup or two of yoghurt a day boosts immune functioning by stimulating production of gamma interferon. Also spurs activity of natural killer cells that attack viruses and tumors. A daily cup of yoghurt reduced colds and other upper respiratory infections in humans. Helps prevent and cure diarrhea. A daily cup of yoghurt with acidophilus cultures prevents vaginitis (yeast infections) in women. Full fat yoghurt helps fight bone problems, such as osteoporosis, because of high available calcium content. Acidophilus yoghurt cultures neutralize cancer-causing agents in the intestinal tract. Plain old yoghurt with L bulgaricus and S. thermophilus cultures, both live and dead, blocked lung cancers in animals. Yoghurt with live cultures is safe for people with lactose intolerance.
In reality it is not the yogurt but the bacterial cultures that it contains that are so beneficial to your overall health. Some of the potential benefits indicated in studies using probiotics (definition: Live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.):
- Bowel regularity
- Preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea
- Reducing symptoms associated with lactose intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome
- Reducing diarrhea (from illness) in children
- Enhancing the immune system and reducing allergic response
- Decreasing severity of gut inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, and gastro-enteritis
- Reducing the risk of colorectal cancer
Some last sources of information:
- Canadian Living has a lengthy article
- WebMD has information
- eSsortment has a short article with some of the health benefits of yogurt
Lastly, many of the references listed here also include recipes for both making your own yogurt and using yogurt. Enjoy!
April 22, 2008 at 10:21 am
I have long been a big fan of yogurt, and of late, with an eye towards holding my bones together, I’ve switched over to soy yogurt, and while I know that soy is largely helpful with the onset of osteoporosis (a great little bit about that here) but I’m not totally sure I’m getting all that live mircoorganism goodness now that you mention it… Do know/have any idea about this? I’m set to research it now that you’ve pointed this out, its not so much the yogurt as the live little bits… I’m hopefully soy yogurt covering both bases, but I’ll find out and report back if you like. Either way, thanks thanks, hadn’t even really thought if it!
April 22, 2008 at 11:09 am
Robin replies:
Most yogurts are high in calcium, so just check the labels when you are shopping. The label should also tell you if they are using active cultures. I did do some checking on soy yogurt and found a couple of interesting items about it. One talks about fruit yogurts being a treatment for Type 2 diabetes, and the other tells you how you can make your own soy yogurt, interesting because you need to start with regular, active culture yogurt to make it.
If all you want is the active cultures, you can go to the drug store or health food store and purchase freeze-dried multidophilus containing L.Acidophilus cultures. This is good to take if you’ve had to be on anti-biotiocs for a while.
Let me know what you find out.
Thanks!
September 24, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Ive been addicted to yoghurt just for 2 weeks now, and I noticed that my bowel movement has become regular.
Eating Yoghurt is the best solution I tried against constipation. No more tea, suppository and grainy foods for me. Yoghurt simply do the job well.