One of the healthiest food - Yogurt

Foodie Friday is here again! However, this week, I am going to share with you neither recipes nor food recommendation. It's benefits of yogurt and how to go about buying them.

Yogurt is good for health. In my school days, my professor, Prof Yip, recommends the eating of yogurt, and recommends that we eat those containing live probiotics Acidophilus and Bifidus. Because of the live culture, there is a medical concern whether people on medication or people with low immunity, such as organ transplant recipient and AIDS patients should be eating them. I personally think it is good to check with the doctor. Other than that, I think it is quite okay to eat yogurt especially after completing the whole course of antibiotic. This is because antibiotic kills the bad bacteria as well as the good bacteria in the body. Hence, by taking yogurt after completing the whole course of antibiotic (I personally will take it a day after I complete the whole course of antibiotic), it will restore the good bacteria in the gut. 

Below are some of the benefits of yogurt:

Benefits of yogurt

- Source of calcium

Yogurt is a good source of calcium, can help your child's teeth grow healthy and strong. If your child prefer sweeten yogurt, I suggest to make it a habit to brush their teeth after eating yogurt. I personally prefers to have plain one and use them as a dressing for my fruit salad.

- Easier to digest than milk

Yogurt are easier to digest than milk. The live culture in the yogurt creates lactase which helps to digest lactose. Hence, ppeople who are lactose intolerant find that they can take yogurt instead.

-prevents virginal infection

Consuming yogurt somewhat decrease the chances of virginal infection. 

- Healthy for the digestive system. 

The live bacteria, also know as probiotics, in the yogurt helps to maintain a healthy gut in your body. The large intestine needs these probiotics to help it fight against the bad bacteria. In doing so, it will boost the immune system.

More reasons can be found in Dr Sears:- 10 reasons why yogurt is top health food..

Consumers should check the label for indications that the yogurt contains live cultures. Avoid heat treated culture as most of the health benefit of yogurt were already lost during the pasteurising process. The 2 most beneficial ingredients are being lost in the process. Lactase were deactived during the process and the probiotics were killed. 

This is the brand that I usually buy. However they did not state whether theirs are live culture

I personally will try to choose plain organic yogurt whenever possible. The reason for choosing organic is because these cows were reared in such a way that they are not fed with GMO plants, free from antibiotics  and hormone. (Some animals were injected with hormones, such as growth promoting hormones. but I don't want that to be fed to my kid). I will look out for sugar, artificial colours or flavours. Hence, I often choose plain in the end. Actually, it doesn't matter that it's plain and sourish (because there is no sugar) You can always combine it with natural sweeteners such as fruits. That's what I do most of the time. If I am sick of eating this way, I may do one of the following.

Things to do with yogurt.

1.Make ice cream                                                          2. Make cakes 

3..Make a smoothie                                                        4. Finger painting

Lots of smoothie recipe here

Tabitha is sharing how to make this paint

5. As a bread spread (using Greek Yogurt)                 6. Make salad dressing 

All recipes

                                           
Beside yogurt from cow, there are also yogurt from goats and sheep, how you tried them?


Resource
10 reasons why yogurt is a top health food
YOGURT: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings
Acidophilus with Bulgaricus, Bifidus

More reading:
10 ways to use low fat yogurt
Yogurt: Some Uses You May Not Have Thought About!
How to make Greek Yogurt from milk (Greek Yogurt is the same as yogurt cheese)
8 best yogurt for kids (I strongly recommend this read)
How to Buy the Healthiest Yogurt: 5 Tips (and this too!)