Benefit No : Yogurt May Reduce The Risk Of High Blood Pressure
One study, which followed more than 5,000 university graduates in Spain for about two years, found a link between dairy intake and risk of high blood pressure.
We observed a 50% reduction in the risk of developing high blood pressure among people eating 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy a day , compared with those without any intake, Alvaro Alonso, MD, PhD, a researcher in the department of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, says in an email interview.
Although most of the low-fat dairy consumed by the study subjects was as milk, Alvaro believes low-fat yogurt would likely have the same effect. Dutch researchers recently reported that higher dairy consumption was modestly linked to lower blood pressure in 2064 Dutch men and women ages 50 to 75.
Should I Give Probiotics To My Kids
Probiotics can be beneficial for both adults and kids. If your child has an illness that requires an antibiotic medication for treatment, taking a probiotic can help shorten symptoms. Probiotics can also be used to help relieve constipation, acid reflux, diarrhea, gas and eczema in children.
Introducing probiotics into your childs diet through food is typically a safe way to give them probiotics. Foods like yogurt and cottage cheese are often part of a balanced diet and can add in good bacteria without much risk.
There are commercially available probiotic supplements specifically designed for infants and children. However, it is important to talk to your childs pediatrician before giving them any probiotic supplement or changing the childs diet to include probiotic-rich foods.
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Are Some Strains Better Than Others
Many probiotics contain mixtures of two or more individual strains of bacteria or yeasts. They may also contain prebiotics, which are compounds that the probiotics can feed on. If a formula contains both probiotics and prebiotics, it is called a synbiotic.
Products most often contain Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium species, although many other species exist. Different strains of the same species of probiotics can act in different ways, according to some research .
Some people take probiotics for maintaining everyday health. When using a probiotic for a specific health concern, people should speak to a healthcare professional about the best strategy. This is because show that different probiotics and dosages are effective for different conditions and situations.
Read on to learn more about the best probiotics for specific uses.
People can take probiotics in supplement form or in the form of foods and beverages such as yogurt and drinks that have live cultures added to them.
Fermented foods also naturally contain beneficial bacteria. Examples of fermented foods include:
- miso
- kimchi
- kombucha
Probiotic manufacturers measure amounts of bacteria in colony-forming units . Supplements can vary, with some commonly having a CFU of billions. Foods with added probiotics often contain lower numbers of bacteria. Generally, people might take higher-CFU products for specific conditions and a lower-CFU product for general health maintenance.
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What Ingredients Do You Need To Make Yogurt
Lets talk about the two ingredients youll need to make probiotic yogurt: milk and a yogurt starter culture.
- Milk: I recommend starting with organic, grass-fed whole cows or goats milk . You might be tempted to go for a lower milkfat, but really, you want the whole kit-and-kaboodle herethats what makes the end result creamy, thick, and packed full of good-for-your-gut probiotics. You can use raw milk, pasteurized, or ultra-pasteurizedall three will work just fine for yogurt-making.
- Yogurt starter culture: Youll need to inoculate your milk with some starter bacteria to get the yogurt-making process going, and there are two ways of going about this. You can either use premade plain yogurt with active cultures or you can use a freeze-dried yogurt starter culture.
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What Are Live Cultures
Alright, now were getting down to the nitty-gritty.
So, probiotics are filled with live or active cultures. What in the heck is are live or active culture?
Live cultures oftentimes referred to as active cultures as well should be broken down by their make. To begin from the top and work our way down, live cultures are microbes associated with foods, often as food fermentation agents, meaning live cultures aid in the fermenting process of fermented foods. On the next level, we look at the microorganisms, whichconsist mainly of bacteria yeasts. For instance, when it comes to dairy-based yogurt, live bacterial cultures help to convert milk into yogurt in the first place.
These food-found bacteria-based microorganisms are the live or active cultures that you are looking for in regards to obtaining health benefits.
On the other hand, some probiotics are microbes that would not typically be associated with foods , and these are usually not referred to as live or active cultures and are not readily available for consumption for obvious reasons.
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See How The Activia Probiotic Challenge Impacts 5 Women We Admire
Your gut plays an integral role in your overall health. Its responsible for way more than just digesting the food you eatwith research suggesting it even has an influence on your mood. So, it almost goes without saying that taking care of your gut is taking care of your body. And one of the best ways to support gut health is by increasing your intake of probiotics, which introduces good bacteria and helps balance the gut. After all, a well-balanced gut is a healthy gut.
Luckily, getting more probiotics is simple, and includes getting more delicious probiotic-rich foods into your weekly lineup . Every flavour of Activia contains live and active probiotics and may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive issues like: bloating, gas, discomfort and rumbling when consumed twice per day for 2 weeks as part of a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. So, whether youre a blackberry kinda person, or you prefer the taste of the strawberry probiotic drinkthey all provide the same benefits!
Now on to the challenge: getting started is simple and keeping it up is just as easy. Take the Activia Probiotic Challenge by eating one Activia twice a day for 14 days. Seriously. The Challenge is not much of a challenge at all if you make it your own. To give you a better understanding of whats involved, we sat down with some ladies we admire to get their opinions regarding the challenge:
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Emilie Desjarlais
About Activia Lactose Free
All Danone yogurts contain lactose, except for Activia Lactose-free yogurt. Yogurt is well tolerated by people with lactose intolerance. These people have difficulty absorbing the sugar found in milk, known as lactose, because they produce little or none of the lactase enzyme required to break down lactose into two sugars, thereby making it absorbable. The fermenting agents in yogurt contain this enzyme and pre-digest a part of the lactose. Furthermore, because of its thick texture, yogurt travels slowly through the digestive tract and therefore enters the intestine little by little, allowing for better absorption of the remaining lactose.
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Oikos Triple Zero Greek Nonfat Yogurt Peach
Net carbs: 7 g
Review score: 3 stars
This yogurt is sold as a health-conscious choice. The triple zero refers to the yogurt having 0% added sugar, 0% artificial sweeteners, and 0% fat.
As with some other yogurts, the whey is often separated from the solid yogurt when you open the container, but once mixed, the yogurt has a nice silky smooth consistency.
The peach flavored yogurt has a somewhat sickly orange hue to it and I wouldnt say it tastes much like peach. Its not very sweet either, so the overall experience is somewhat disappointing,
From a blood sugar perspective, the yogurt didnt do much more damage than Id expect 7 grams of carbs would do. I didnt see a spike and with about 1 IU of insulin I hardly saw any blood sugar increase at all.
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Don’t Limit Yourself To Yogurt
Although a healthy choice, yogurt provides a limited number of strains compared to other probiotic foods and supplements.
And that’s important because a healthy gut is dependent on a diverse range of different bacterial species.
To populate your gut with more good bacteria consider adding fermented foods to your diet.
Fermented foods like Kefir, sauerkraut and kombucha contain a more probiotics than yogurt.
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Is It Better To Take Probiotic Pills Or Eat Yogurt
Supplements are also a better choice for individuals who have allergies or other specific dietary needs. You can even take them on an empty stomach. Probiotic pills also tend to have a longer shelf life than yogurt. One disadvantage of probiotics pills is that they dont have any other minerals or nutrients to offer.
Is Yogurt A Good Post
Yogurt is a great post-workout food, as long as its Greek. Mens Fitness claims that Greek yogurt contains twice as much protein as regular yogurt. Mix it with nuts and fruit for a snack with the perfect balance of protein and carbohydrates. They recommend combining yogurt with red currant, they will help you get rid of muscle pain.
Is yogurt good for weight loss
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Benefit No : Yogurt May Help Prevent Osteoporosis
Adequate nutrition plays a major role in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, and the micronutrients of greatest importance are calcium and vitamin D, says Jeri Nieves, PhD, MS, director of bone density testing at New Yorkâs Helen Hayes Hospital.
Calcium has been shown to have beneficial effects on bone mass in people of all ages, although the results are not always consistent, says Nieves, also an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at Columbia University.
The combination of calcium and vitamin D has a clear skeletal benefit, provided the dose of vitamin D is sufficiently high, she adds.
And what qualifies as sufficiently high?
Currently, 400 IU per day is considered an adequate intake of vitamin D for people ages 51-70, Nieves says. But more may be better.
This amount is likely to be sufficient for most young adults for skeletal health, although many would argue that for overall health, more than the 400 IU may be required, even at these younger ages, Nieves said in an email interview.
Nieves believes that older people specifically can benefit from more vitamin D.
Many dairy products, including some yogurts, are made with added vitamin D. Find out which brands have added vitamin D by checking out the table below, and by reading labels when you shop.
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What To Look For In Your Probiotic Supplement
While taking a probiotic supplement can be more effective than yogurt at introducing all that beneficial bacteria into your digestive system, keep in mind that not all supplements are created equal. Your probiotic supplement can beat yogurt’s probiotic benefits if you pick one that displays certain key characteristics.
The number of live bacterial strains in the supplement is obviously a key factor in its efficacy. The bare minimum amount of bacteria needed to be considered effective is 1 billion colony forming units per day. If the supplement you’re considering doesn’t list the number of CFUs it has, there’s reason for concern: testing company ConsumerLab.com found that many of the probiotic supplements they tested that did not specify their CFUs with live bacteria numbering in just the thousands, which is far too little be effective.
The specific types of bacteria in the supplement is also important, as different strains can help with different health concerns. For example, Lactobacillus acidophilus has been shown to reduce cholesterol, while Lactobacillus plantarum has proven effective in reducing the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Other strains have been shown to improve immune function, reduce inflammation, combat the effects of diarrhea, and more. Finding a supplement that has the right diversity of strains to address your particular health issues is key to getting the biggest benefit from your probiotic.
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What Is Another Word For Good Quality
Fine compensation. Adjective. very good. strange. Adjective. very good or extremely impressive. senior officer. Adjective. very good quality. Excellent qualification. Adjective. formally very good. Spring. Adjective. high quality or standard. incredible. Adjective. Of the highest quality. sparkling. Adjective. horrible.
Best Low Fat Astro Biobest Probiotic Yogurt
- Per serving : 70 calories, 1.5 g fat , 70 mg sodium, 7 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 6 g protein
- Probiotic strains: 1 Billion+ Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, Bifidobacterium lactis Bi-07
Astros plain yogurt contains over 1 billion active probiotic cultures and 7 essential vitamins and minerals. It is also 90% lactose-reduced, when compared with regular plain yogurt, so may be a better option for those who are sensitive to lactose.
Astro BioBest has only 1.5 grams of fat per serving, making it a great option if you are watching your fat intake, or if you find high-fat dairy difficult on your digestive system.
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Is Activia Suitable For Vegans
Current Activia products contain milk and therefore are not suitable for vegan consumers. However, we are constantly innovating our products based on consumer feedback, trends, and our latest product research, and are committed to developing a range that suits the needs of as many people as possible.
Does Activia Have More Probiotics Than Greek Yogurt
A great deal of fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, miso, and tempeh contain probiotics. What are the advantages of Dannons Activia over regular old-fashioned yogurt that more effective in providing these results than regular good old-fashioned yogurt, is one that begs a good answer. Yes, Dannon .
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What Is The Best Probiotic Drink
Best Overall: Siggis Non-Fat Probiotic Drinkable Yogurt Best Dairy-Free: Califia Farms Mango Probiotic Drinkable Yogurt Best Kombucha: GTs Synergy Trilogy Organic Vegan Raw Kombucha. Best Sparkling: Kevita Sparkling Probiotic Drink Mojita Lime Mint Coconut. walmart.
The 10 Worst Yogurts You Can Buy, Based on SugarAnd What to Buy InsteadYoplait Mix-Ins Coconut Chocolate Almond. Wallaby Aussie Greek Honey. Yoplait Whips Peanut Butter Chocolate Girl Scouts. Fage Split Cup Honey. Chobani Flip Peanut Butter Dream. Noosa Caramel Chocolate Pecan. Dannon Fruit on the Bottom.
It May Protect Against Osteoporosis
Yogurt contains some key nutrients for maintaining bone health, including calcium, protein, potassium, phosphorus and, sometimes, vitamin D.
All of these vitamins and minerals are especially helpful for preventing osteoporosis, a condition characterized by weakening of the bones. It is common in the elderly (
However, research shows that consuming at least three servings of dairy foods, such as yogurt, on a daily basis may help preserve bone mass and strength .
Summary:
Yogurt is rich in vitamins and minerals that play a key role in bone health. Consuming it regularly may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
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How Do I Support The Normal Functioning Of My Gut Health
A healthy gut can be defined as a state of physical and mental well-being without gastrointestinal symptoms that require the consultation of a doctor, absence of any disease affecting the gut, and also the absence of risk factors for diseases affecting gut. Many factors impact your gut and your microbiota. Some of these are less controllable, for example C-section, antibiotics, stress, and hygiene. Other factors can be controlled through lifestyle choices, for example eating a balanced diet and having an active lifestyle.
At Activa we believe it is important to eat dairy products as part of a balanced and varied diet. All of our products provide a source of calcium, which supports your gut health, by contributing to the normal function of digestive enzymes.
What Kind Of A Yogurt Product Is It
There are many different Activia products around the world, so the ingredients will vary according to country. Because of this, I’m just going to comment in general terms about those in the United States. Please always read ingredients lists before you buy and consume any product.
As of January, 2019, these products are available in the US:
- Fruit
- Light
- Fiber and Cereal
- Fruit on the Bottom
- Drinks
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What Health Benefits Exactly Is Activia Yogurt Supposed To Offer
Activia is the leader in the probiotics crazea fad for microrganisms you can now find in a new Kashi cereal, wellness bars, a host of competing yogurts, and the functional food industry, products consumed not for traditional nutrition or pleasure but for presumed medicinal qualities. Probiotic yogurts recently have been alleged to ward off everything from hay fever to secondary infection. But an appeal to digestive health seems to be aimed specifically at women, of whom half report ailments of the midsection and nearly 100 percent, one can surmise, would prefer a slimming of the midsection. By targeting the female stomach, Activia sales topped $130 million in 2006, a very unusual success for a new food products first year. The following year, sales increased by 50 percent. * As a very funny video on Current TV puts it, open the refrigerator of any woman over 40, push aside that rotisserie chicken, and there youll see a tidy row of green plastic yogurt containers.
But is Ms. Curtis referring to excessive or inadequate, um, passage? Dannon issued a press release about a poll on digestion in conjunction with the products U.S. launch that tried to ascertain Americas most backed up citiesOrlando is at a standstill, and were not talking trafficsuggesting that constipation is the scourge that dare not speak its name. And, indeed, the Activia Web site says that the product helps to regulate your slow intestinal transit.
