Benefits of Yogurt

Yogurt is one of the healthiest foods you could eat, if you know what to look for while buying it. There are lots of people who just don’t like eating yogurt because of its taste but doesn’t everything that is healthy for you taste bad. Don’t let your yogurt sit around to long before eating it.

Plain 1 or 2% yogurt is the healthiest yogurt you could buy. It has 25% more calcium then milk and has some vitamin A. The calcium is good for helping to keep your bones and teeth healthy while vitamin A helps the lining of your eyes stay healthy as well as your urinary, intestinal and respiratory tracts. There are many other health benefits that you can get from calcium and vitamin A.

Another good thing about yogurt is that it is cultured with live bacteria. These live bacteria are good bacteria that help you digest the yogurt easier and help to fight off the bad bacteria within your body. A container of “fruit on the bottom” yogurt may seem to be a healthy snack when in fact it contains 6 teaspoons of sugar. If you have to eat your yogurt with fruit buy some fruit from the grocery store to add to your yogurt once you are home. This way you don’t have to worry about the 6 teaspoons of sugar while you enjoy your yogurt. When buying your yogurt you want to look for yogurt that is 1 or 2%, fortified with vitamin D, plain, high in calcium and vitamin A. You also want to get yogurt that has no added fruits.

There are many ways to get around the taste of yogurt, if that is what is stopping you from eating it. You can eat it with toast and peanut butter, which will cover most of the taste and can create an entire, healthy breakfast. You could add fresh fruit to your yogurt which makes it tastes great and makes it even healthier.    

 One thing to remember about yogurt is the longer it sits the less healthy it is. Live bacteria feeds off lactose, which is why yogurt is so easy on the stomach. If yogurt is left sitting for too long the live bacteria start to die off. This will happen even if the yogurt is stored in the fridge.

To get the full health benefits from yogurt, watch what you buy, eat it soon after buying it, and stay away from “fruit on the bottom” yogurt. If you don’t like the taste of yogurt there’s lots you can do to change the taste and have a healthy diet!    

This article was written by Jenny Hanna, 2006.