What about yogurt?

Anonymous

I've been coming across so many articles touting the healthy benefits of eating yogurt and am wondering what kinds of yogurt are healthiest and which have contraindicated ingredients. For example, since reading in several sources that our dairy products should always be organic and verified as free of hormones & pesticides, I ate Stonybrook Farms yogurt almost excluusively. The trouble is that I like other flavors and consistencies and now, reading that we should eat a lot of yogurt, none of these articles seem to distinguish among the different types. Like how about the Activia/probiotics ones?

Does anyone have any good references or resources that address this question?

~Marin

idaho

The reason you should eat yogurt is because it has acidophilous in it.  you can buy acidophilous pills at almost any store and take them,  Just a thought.... Tami

marejo

I eat Activia every day.  Every morning.  Not because I have digestive issues because I love how it tastes.  I put one carton in a dish and add my blueberries and maybe strawberries or blackberries.  It's my mid morning snack almost everyday and I love, love, love it.

Healthy eating all.

Mary Jo

NatureGrrl

Just my opinion, of course, but I'd stick to the organic yogurts --  I like others better (I love Yoplait!) but I'm not putting any more chemicals/hormones/etc. in my body than I have to at this point. 

My favorite yogurt, however, is homemade, using true organic and hormone-free milk.  I love it plain but also make vanilla (a bit of vanilla extract and sugar to taste in each jar before it sets).  Those are the only two I really care about -- if I want fruit I can add it fresh. 

Most of the digestion-touting yogurts don't have much, if anything, in them that regular yogurt doesn't have. Yogurts made with active yogurt cultures have probiotics in them. Dannon is making a mint on the marketing of their Activia. Sadly, because of the way scientific data can be manipulated and skewed, and the way studies can be set up to give results in a way that's biased for or against something, you have to be able to read original research to know what's true and what isn't about any studies "proving" this or that.  I tend to be highly skeptical of any research that's funded by/done by the company that will benefit from favorable results.  I'm not saying people don't benefit from things like Activia -- but there's not enough good evidence that they wouldn't benefit just as much from any live-culture yogurt.  So I stay with organic yogurt.

Here are a few links that may help or may just confuse the issue more.  I tend to respect information that comes from a website with good science behind it (Mayo Clinic, WebMD, etc.) and stay away from information that may sound compelling but sites no reliable research to back up what it says.  

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/probiotics-topic-overview

http://www.webmd.com/diet/vitamins-supplements-8/probiotics (note:  at the end of this article, it suggests that if you have cancer you don't take probiotics without consulting your dr.  Interesting.  Now I want to know why!  From what other information I found, that may apply to probiotic supplements and people with terminal or highly advanced cancer, but I think I'll still double check.)

London-Virginia

I am very fond of yoghurt myself.

It is very healing on sore skin too.

Jorf

Love the greek yogurt - rich and creamy (even the fat free), low calories, high protein. Great breakfast food.

carollynn79

I too eat the StoneyBrook only.  We add fresh, canned or frozen fruit to it.  We produce and out up most of our own fruits and vegtables.  I have receipes and process instructions to make my own so will try soon.