Is Eating Yogurt Healthy For You?
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Is Eating Yogurt Healthy For You?
G. L. Hoffmann
Stop by the author’s website at http://www.vibranthealthworld.com for a copy of his “10 Steps to Health and Wellness” guide. It’s packed with useful information, and it’s free.
Yogurt is healthy for us right? Most of us have come to believe so. Yogurt has become so synonymous with healthy food and dieting that when we see somebody eating it we automatically assume that they’re on some kind of diet or health routine, and most likely they are.
Many of these people would be surprised to learn that the yogurt they’re eating is probably not healthy for them, especially if it’s processed yogurt.
In recent years yogurt makers have had great success in making their product more attractive to the mainstream market by packaging it in convenient containers, and adding flavoring, coloring, preservatives and other “unnatural” additives.
Some people indulge their sweet tooth by enjoying frozen yogurt as an ice cream substitute thinking that it’s healthier and lower calorie than ice cream.
It seems like frozen yogurt “parlors” have popped up everywhere. There, yogurt is available in a flavorful soft-serve consistency, and customers can add toppings like candy sprinkles and M&M’s. Many do, figuring they’ve saved a lot of calories by eating yogurt instead of ice cream.
The truth is that many of the most popular brands of yogurt are unhealthier for us than eating a bowl of ice cream.
These “processed” yogurts commonly contain ingredients such as:
*Tricalcium phosphate: A calcium supplement usually made from bone ash.
*Gelatin: Often made from animal bones (unless marked Kosher)
*Aspartame: This artificial sweetener is found in yogurts labeled “lite” or light.
*High fructose corn syrup (HFCS): Used as a sweetener, many believe HFCS contributes to obesity and alters the body’s insulin levels, increasing the risk of diabetes.
*Modified food starch or corn starch: Used to give yogurt an extra creamy texture and is a stabilizer, thickener and emulsifier.
*Potassium sorbate: Used as a preservative to extend shelf life, it neutralizes acids and prevents mold.
*Food dyes: Chemically made, numbered dyes may pose health risks. One type of dye, Carmine, is made from ground cochineal beetles. Yum!
Isn’t there any healthy yogurt?
If you’re looking for healthy yogurt, get plain yogurt. It’s loaded with protein and has more calcium than milk. For ingredients plain yogurt should contain only milk and live yogurt cultures and no artificial ingredients. Inspect the label and make sure that it contains none of the ingredients typically contained in processed yogurts.
Plain yogurt can be very healthy for you. If it’s fresh and unpasteurized it contains Acidophilus bifidus one of the “friendly” bacteria that inhabit our digestive systems. These “friendly” bacteria are vital for the proper functioning of the immune system and the digestive system.
Acidophilus bifidus:
*can help stop infections before they start.
*alleviates many conditions associated with antibiotic use, poor digestion and a compromised immune system.
*helps the body produce vitamin K, B vitamins, lactase and other chemical aids to digestion.
*can break down toxins produced by “unfriendly” organisms.
*can stimulate the immune system.
*can decrease susceptibility to allergies and infections.
*decreases digestive complaints, diarrhea and Candida overgrowth.
*may also shorten the duration of intestinal infections.
*may help in the fight against inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colon cancer and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Eating yogurt containing this bacteria can replenish and repopulate our digestive systems with Acidophilus Bifidus.*
So don’t pass up all yogurt, just the unhealthy ones. The right kind of yogurt can be very healthy to eat. Read yogurt labels. Look for plain yogurt and avoid processed yogurts that contain artificial and unhealthy ingredients. If you don’t like the taste of plain yogurt, dress it up by adding some strawberies, blueberries, or crunchy whole grains.
If you can’t or choose not to eat yogurt, you can still enjoy some of the main benefits of yogurt, friendly bacteria. Besides yogurt, acidophilus can be found in acidophilus milk and is also available as a supplement in capsule or powder forms. The label should indicate the total number of organisms present (which should be greater than 3 billion acidophilus organisms per cfu or colony-forming unit, plus greater than 1 billion bifidus organisms per cfu).
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