It seems like every time I walk by the cheese and yogurt section at the grocery store, there's another new yogurt in the cooler making wild claims about what it can do for me. Don't get me wrong, I love yogurt, but I'm reminded of the adage about taking things with a grain of salt when I see some of the miracles being promised. While I admit we don't yet know all the health benefits of some foods (yogurt included), there are a few things we do know: you can expect some digestive benefits when consuming yogurt with certain live bacteria cultures, greek yogurt tends to have more protein than other varieties, and it can be a healthy substitution for many other foods in your diet. This being said, all yogurts are not equal, and some may be no more healthy than your favorite frozen dessert. How is this possible? It's all in the processing. Check out these facts and recipes below for more yogurt ideas!
Did you know:
- Several of the yogurt brands in grocery stores have added sugars, thickeners, or secondary pasteurization processes that kill the bacteria in their products. This means that many, if not most, of the benefits in having eaten the yogurt are lost and you may as well have eaten ice cream.
-Making yogurt at home is an easy and inexpensive way to be sure you're getting the most from your yogurt (recipe and how-to next week).
-Heirloom yogurt cultures can be used indefinitely, some strains began to be used for starters thousands of years ago.
Breakfast
Greek Yogurt Parfait
Lunch
Chicken Salad Pita
Dinner
Souvlaki with Tzatziki