What happens to your body if you drink a cup of yogurt every day? You will never guess the answer

Yogurt is a drink that many people love to drink. Some people like its thick texture, some like its sour taste, and some like its rich nutrition...

When you open a box of yogurt, the aroma of milk and fermentation hits your nose immediately. When you take a bite, it is icy cold with a hint of sourness and sweetness. The texture is delicate, dense and smooth, making you want to take another bite, and you won't want to let go of the yogurt.

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However, the choice of whether to drink yogurt is not entirely based on taste. Some people are more concerned about its "nutritional value". Is yogurt good? What changes will occur to the body if you drink it for a long time?

Let me first say the conclusion: Yogurt is a healthy drink. Drinking it regularly can supplement nutrition and is good for the body, but the prerequisite is to buy really good yogurt .

What's hidden in a cup of yogurt?

Yogurt is a dairy product made from raw cow (sheep) milk or milk powder, which is sterilized and fermented with lactic acid. It not only retains the nutritional value of milk, such as providing high-quality protein and calcium, but is also rich in probiotics, and its nutritional value is further improved through the fermentation of microorganisms.

At present, there are many kinds of yogurt on the market, and the prices vary greatly, ranging from a few yuan per cup to more than 20 yuan per cup. How to choose among these different yogurts? Which ones have food additives and which ones have added sugar?

To understand this, we must first understand the classification of yogurt. The yogurt we buy in supermarkets can be divided into four categories according to different fermentation agents and food additives: plain yogurt, flavored yogurt, plain fermented yogurt and flavored fermented yogurt .

Image source: provided by the author

At present, flavored fermented milk is the mainstream product on the market. However, many people think that flavored fermented milk is not good because it not only contains food additives but also may contain excessive sugar.

In fact, this cannot be generalized, because at least 80% of flavored fermented milk is milk. If other nutrients can be added for nutritional enhancement, or relatively healthier sugar substitutes are chosen to replace sucrose, the overall nutritional value of flavored fermented milk can be improved to a certain extent.

It is recommended that you pay attention to the nutritional information and ingredient list when buying yogurt, so that you can see exactly what is hidden in a cup of yogurt .

The question is: How to read the nutritional information and ingredients list of yogurt? Let's give an example.

This is a cup of plain yogurt. There are three ingredient indicators that we need to focus on, namely: ingredient list, protein content and carbohydrate content .

Image source: Internet

Let’s first look at the protein content : every 100 g contains 3.8 g, which is much higher than the national standard: the protein content of fermented milk should be above 2.9% to be confirmed as real yogurt.

There is also a kind of "sour milk" drink on the market, which many people confuse with yogurt. The protein content of this kind of drink is usually around 1%, with low nutritional value and high sugar content. It is not recommended to drink it frequently.

Let's look at the carbohydrate content : 4.7g per 100g, which proves that there is no added sugar, which is very good. This is because milk itself contains about 5% lactose, and yogurt with a sugar content of about 5% is usually yogurt without added sugar.

Finally, look at the ingredient list : the ingredient list is arranged in order of quantity used from most to least. Generally, by looking at the first few ingredients, you can easily see the "true face" of the food. Usually "the simpler the ingredient list, the better", and yogurt is no exception.

From the ingredient list, we can see that the ingredients of this original yogurt are very simple, which is cow's milk + the two most commonly used lactic acid bacteria, without adding anything else.

Have you learned it? Next, let’s take a look at a flavored fermented milk.

Source: Internet

The protein content is 3.0 g per 100 g, which is higher than the national standard of 2.9 g, so it is real yogurt;

The carbohydrate content is 13 g per 100 g, which is much greater than the 5.0 g contained in raw milk itself, and sugar is added.

Looking at the ingredient list, white sugar, pectin (thickener) and resistant dextrin (water-soluble dietary fiber) are added.

According to the Chinese Dietary Guidelines, children and adults are advised to consume no more than 50 g of added sugar per day, preferably no more than 25 g. If you drink a bottle of flavored fermented milk like this, it is equivalent to consuming added sugar (13-5)/100 * 250 = 20 g. It is recommended to drink less.

To sum up: Yogurt is rich in nutrients. When buying yogurt, pay attention to these 3 points and you can choose really good yogurt :

Choose foods with more than 2.9 g of protein

The carbohydrate content should be around 5 g

The simpler the ingredient list, the better

Drinking yogurt for a long time is really good for your body

If you choose a really good yogurt and drink a cup every day, what effects will it have on your body?

1. Can fully absorb various nutrients

The high-quality protein in milk is one of the nutrients we want to take in. In addition, it also contains calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin A.

Yogurt not only completely retains all the ingredients in the raw cow's milk, but during the fermentation process, many proteins are broken down into small molecular peptide chains and amino acids, and large molecular lactose is broken down into galactose, glucose, etc. This makes yogurt itself easier to digest and absorb than milk, and various nutrients are more fully utilized.

2. Not prone to calcium deficiency, especially for people with lactose intolerance

Milk and dairy products are the best choice for calcium supplementation. Although many plant foods contain a lot of calcium, the absorption rate may be very low due to the influence of ingredients such as oxalic acid and phytic acid.

The calcium and protein in milk and dairy products are combined together, which not only makes them stable in food and easily digested and absorbed after being eaten, but also as a liquid drink, it is easy for even children to take in enough.

According to the recommendations of the "Balanced Diet Pagoda for Chinese Residents (2022)", the recommended daily intake of milk and dairy products for adults is 300-500 g. You can drink a glass of milk for breakfast and a cup of yogurt for lunch. For children, you can eat 2-3 slices of cheese for breakfast and drink a bottle of milk or yogurt during breaks .

Especially for people who are lactose intolerant, because they lack lactase in their bodies, they are prone to diarrhea after drinking milk. However, in yogurt after microbial fermentation, lactose is broken down, and the live bacteria contain β-galactosidase, which helps the digestion of lactose.

3. Long-term drinking of yogurt helps regulate the balance of intestinal flora

Intestinal health is an important factor in determining the health of the body. Foods rich in dietary fiber, such as vegetables and fruits, can provide nutrients for beneficial intestinal bacteria and are beneficial to the balance of intestinal flora.
As a fermented product of probiotics, yogurt can naturally provide nutrients for the probiotics in the intestines and also help maintain the balance of intestinal flora. Experiments have confirmed that the activity of E. coli in yogurt drinkers is significantly reduced, and this effect also exists in heated yogurt.
In short, in summer, ice-cold yogurt is really a delicious, nutritious and healthy drink choice, so drink it now!

References

[1] GB 19302-2010 National Food Safety Standard Fermented Milk [2] Xiao Yuhua, Lin Yuguang. Study on lactose malabsorption in healthy adults using hydrogen breath test [J]. Modern Preventive Medicine, 1999, 26(1): 19-20. [3] Alvaro E, Andrieux C, Rochet V, Rigottier-Gois L, Lepercq P, Sutren M, Galan P, Duval Y, Juste C, Doré J. Composition and metabolism of the intestinal microbiota inconsumers and non-consumers of yogurt. Br J Nutr 2007;97:126–33.

Author: Nine-pointed Star popular science author

Review | Xue Qingxin, the first batch of nutrition instructors of the National Health Commission, China registered nutritionist