YOGHURT is a wonderful health food. Many people are not aware that there is very little difference between the nutritional value of yoghurt and the milk it is made of.
The special benefits of yoghurt lie not in its nutrition but in the friendly bacteria which turn plain milk into yoghurt. The biggest benefit of consuming yoghurt is for people who cannot digest milk because the lactose in it gives them cramps or digestive discomfort. The yoghurt bacteria themselves provide an enzyme which helps in the digestion of lactose. So if milk leaves you with a tummy ache, reach for the yoghurt. All gain, with no pain.
Yoghurt is good for everyone. Researchers have known for years that it can prevent or atleast reduce the severity of various infections that cause diarrhoea. Once inside our system, they disrupt colonies of bad bacteria, preventing them from multiplying. Yoghurt also raises the acid levels in the intestines and creates an atmosphere that discourages bad bacteria.
Studies also show that yoghurt can reduce the digestive problems caused by antibiotics. Once antibiotics are on a microbe-killing spree, they also destroy some helpful microflora that normally protect us against infection. Yoghurt helps to re-establish this microflora.
Latest research suggests that yoghurt can strenghten our over-all resistence also. It stimulates the immune system to produce more protective enzymes and more natural killer-cells in the blood. It also helps indirectly where the lactic acid bacteria present in yoghurt prevent potential cancer-causing compounds in the body from turning into active cancer-causing compounds.
However, these benefits of yoghurt are found ONLY in fresh yoghurt (prepared everday). Commercial frozen yoghurts are highly processed and may not have the same properties.
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