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Can you think of a food with a better reputation than yogurt? Whether it’s tangy, plain, thick Greek, or layered with berries and nuts, it’s become a symbol of healthy eating. You can’t miss the buzz, and you probably know you should eat it, but why exactly is it so good for you?
Yogurt is packed with nutrients, including some that build strong bones and help your blood pressure. Those little cups also have some friendly bacteria that may be good for your digestion. And research is starting to show that may be just the beginning of what it can do for your health.
How It Could Help You Stay Healthy
1. Cut your risk of type 2 diabetes. Several studies have shown that you may be less likely to get this condition if you you’re a regular yogurt eater.
“Yogurt stands out in that it may have some unique health benefits that may not be shared by other dairy products,” says study researcher Frank Hu, MD, PhD, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Why yogurt fends off diabetes better than milk isn’t clear, but it could be because it’s got probiotics — bacteria that are good for your health. Hu says it’s possible they reduce inflammation and improve how your body reacts to insulin, a hormone that manages the amount of sugar in your blood.
Another bonus: The study also shows that people who eat more yogurt gain less weight over time.
2. Get stronger bones. Like other dairy products, yogurt is great for your bones. It has calcium from the milk used to make the yogurt, and the manufacturer usually adds vitamin D.
Both are important nutrients for building healthy bones. Eating yogurt, especially early in life, can reduce your risk of getting osteoporosis, a bone-weakening disease, says Caroline Passerrello, a registered dietitian.
3. Improve your digestion. Probiotics — the “good” bacteria in yogurt — can be a friend to your tummy. “We’re learning more and more about this. These probiotics seem to be very healthy for the gut,” says Joan Salge Blake, a registered dietitian and a nutrition professor at Boston University.
Probiotics may help regulate your bowel movements, fight infections, or restore balance to your digestive system after a round of antibiotics, so you’re less likely to get side effects like diarrhea.
4. Lower blood pressure. A 2016 study shows that if you’re a woman who eats yogurt, it may help keep your blood pressure in check. Potassium, which is in yogurt, helps control it by flushing salt from your body.
5. Improve your immune system. It’s your body’s defense against germs, and once again, probiotics may lend you a helping hand.
“A yogurt a day is great,” Passerrello says. “As Americans, we don’t typically reach our dairy intake. A yogurt can be a great way to do that as a snack or a treat.” It boosts your immune system and you may be less likely to get sick.
How to Choose Yogurt
New yogurt styles and flavors seem to pop up all the time in the supermarket aisles. Look for ingredients that can help you make a healthy choice.
Sugar. Yogurt, like all milk products, has natural sugar in it called lactose. Six ounces of plain yogurt has about 12 grams.
Be careful, though. Many yogurts are super-sweetened, so check the sugar content as well as the ingredients to see how many sweeteners are listed.
To cut down on the sugar, choose the plain type, and top it with fruit or honey when you get home. Another way to go: Mix a sweetened yogurt with a plain one, Salge Blake says.
Calcium. To get the best benefit for your bones, check nutrition labels for yogurt that gives you about 20% of your daily value of calcium in a serving, Passerrello says.
Pay extra attention to Greek yogurt. It’s strained to make it thicker, so it has more protein but less calcium. Many brands boost their Greek yogurts with extra calcium, so pick one that has an amount you’re happy with.
Vitamin D. Milk and yogurt are often “fortified” with vitamin D, which means the maker adds it to the product. Check to see that you get more than 10% of your daily amount in a serving of yogurt, Passerrello says.
Probiotics. Yogurt, whether it’s made from cow’s milk or an alternative like coconut, soy, or almond milk, should say on the label that it contains live and active cultures. Unless your dietitian or doctor recommends that you get a certain strain to treat a specific problem, don’t worry about which type is listed.
“It’s sort of the same thing as eating the rainbow,” Passerrello says. “You don’t just want to eat one color fruit or vegetable. All those bacteria are good. There is no harm in switching it up and getting the benefits from all of them.”
Fat. Low-fat yogurt is the best choice for most people, since whole-milk yogurts have more saturated fat, which isn’t heart-healthy, Salge Blake says.
Whatever yogurt you choose, make sure you like it and will want to eat it often, Hu says. And keep in mind that you’ll get the healthiest results if you also have lots of fruits and veggies and few processed carbohydrates and meats.
“I don’t think yogurt itself is a magic bullet that will melt your weight away or melt diabetes away,” he says. But you’ll get benefits if you make it part of a well-rounded, nutritious diet.
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