\n\t\t\t\t\tFrom boosting your mood to strengthening your immune system and protecting against bowel cancer, yoghurt can be a superfood – if you eat the right type\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
When people look for the secret to a long, healthy life, they often turn to those who have lived the longest. Take Maria Branyas Morera, the world\u2019s oldest person, who died last year at 117. A study of Morera\u2019s microbiome found that her gut health was \u201cextremely youthful\u201d, like that of a child \u2013 something thought to be connected to her diet rich in fruits, vegetables and three yoghurts a day<\/a>. Yoghurt, among other things, could be the key to longevity.<\/p>\n Of course, we can squabble about how much any supercentenarian\u2019s lifespan is due to lifestyle or genetics, but there is lots of evidence to back up the positive impact eating plain full-fat yoghurt can have on your health (even if you don\u2019t make it to 117 like Maria).<\/p>\n \u201cYoghurt has many health benefits, thanks to being a fermented food, a great source of protein, and other nutrients like calcium,\u201d says Emily Leeming, gut scientist and registered dietitian. Calcium is essential for building and maintaining our bones and teeth as well as many other functions, but yoghurt also contains B vitamins (which may protect against heart disease) and phosphorus, magnesium and potassium (essential for processes like regulating blood pressure, metabolism and bone health). Many yoghurts are also fortified with Vitamin D, which promotes the health of the bones and immune system.<\/p>\n As Leeming mentioned, dairy yoghurt<\/a> is also a complete protein \u2013 this means it contains all nine essential amino acids needed for building and maintaining our muscles and joints. And though plant-based options aren\u2019t complete proteins and will have lower protein content, they can still be a good option. And these health effects can still be felt no matter what type of yoghurt you eat.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re choosing a yoghurt, ideally you should go for a plain unsweetened Greek yoghurt as they are higher in protein\u201d, says Leeming. \u201cBut even if you do choose a sweetened ultra-processed yoghurt<\/a>, research looking at sub-groups of ultra-processed foods has found that they still have a protective effect, likely because they still contain lots of healthy components \u2013 showing that not all ultra-processed foods are made equal.\u201d<\/p>\n Federica Amati, head nutritionist at ZOE, agrees but cautions against being too persuaded by any health halo. \u201cAlthough \u2018low-fat\u2019 yoghurts seem like the healthiest option, they\u2019re often high in sugar and other additives. Also, the live microbes are generally lost during processing, so it\u2019s best to choose Greek-style or natural yoghurt.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of five of the brilliant health benefits, a daily yoghurt can bring you \u2013 though we can\u2019t guarantee living to 117.<\/p>\n It\u2019s (really) good for the gut<\/p>\n Yoghurt is made through a fermentation process that results in probiotics. Some yoghurts will still contain live bacteria (aka probiotics) when sold, meaning they may benefit your digestive health<\/a>. While many yoghurts have been pasteurised (which can kill the beneficial bacteria), there are those which will still contain active cultures \u2013 they will say so on the packaging. And, the type of yoghurt matters here: kefir contains the most probiotics, but unpasteurised Greek and natural yoghurt can also contain some.<\/p>\n If you suffer with digestive issues, it may seem counterintuitive to actively eat more dairy (which can cause digestive problems). But a couple of studies have shown probiotics in yoghurts can lessen IBS symptoms<\/a>, and have also been found to potentially protect against antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and constipation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eating yoghurt regularly could even lower your risk of bowel cancer \u2013 one study<\/a> found there was a lower risk of a specific type of aggressive colorectal cancer if they ate two or more servings of yoghurt per week. Leeming points to another study by Oxford University where dairy products (like yoghurt) \u201cwere found to help protect against colorectal cancer, largely thanks to the calcium they contain. Calcium may help protect against cancer by binding to bile acids and fatty acids in the gut, lowering their potentially harmful effects.\u201d<\/p>\n It keeps you metabolically healthy<\/p>\n Yoghurt appears to protect from weight gain.<\/p>\n This could be for several reasons. Yoghurt is a good source of protein<\/a>, which supports your metabolism and increases the production of hormones that signal a feeling of fullness. Full fat yoghurts in particular (like Greek yoghurt) may also reduce incidence of obesity <\/a>because of the impact on a feeling of fullness.<\/p>\n And one study looking at over 120,000 cohorts for up to 20 years found that yoghurt appeared to protect from weight gain. The authors suggest that \u201cchanges in colonic bacteria from eating the yoghurt may have influenced weight changes\u201d.<\/p>\n It also appears to have a specific impact on lifestyle diseases connected to your metabolism. Yoghurt seems to be able to increase the good cholesterol and reduce blood pressure, and could protect against heart disease and type two diabetes. Again, it is believed that the bacteria in yoghurt may be reducing inflammation, or improving the body\u2019s natural insulin process.<\/p>\n It can keep sickness at bay<\/p>\n The ability to potentially reduce inflammation has wider ramifications as inflammation is linked to several chronic diseases. These probiotics in yoghurt can also strengthen your immune system and reduce your likelihood of contracting contagious diseases. <\/p>\n One study shows that probiotics could help reduce the incidences and duration of colds<\/a>, which could be due to the nutrients magnesium, selenium and zinc (which are known to play a role in the health of our immune systems).<\/p>\n If the yoghurt has been fortified with vitamin D, these immune-boosting properties are even more impactful.<\/p>\n The benefits of breastfeeding<\/p>\n Yoghurt\u2019s protective properties are even thought by some to extend to breast cancer.<\/p>\n According to Rachael Rigby, senior lecturer in biomedicine at Lancaster University, natural yoghurt contains a lactose-fermenting bacteria that\u2019s similar to the bacteria found in the breasts of mothers who have breastfed. This bacteria is known to lower the risk of breast cancer.<\/p>\n Researchers theorise that regular consumption of yoghurt could potentially have a similar protective effect<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s mood boosting<\/p>\n Studies in mice have even suggested that yoghurt can have a positive effect on mental health: researchers looked at the microbiomes of stressed mice and saw they had lost Lactobacillus, one of the key probiotics found in yoghurt. But when they ate Lactobacillus, their symptoms associated with low mood lifted. This study was replicated a few years later with similar results<\/a>. So perhaps Maria Branyas Morera\u2019s three daily yoghurts were even more effective than previously thought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From boosting your mood to strengthening your immune system and protecting against bowel cancer, yoghurt can be a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4318],"tags":[973,126,1203,105,4434,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-90653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-ageing","9":"tag-features","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-nutrition","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114484850537826927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}