Need more Culture in your life??

Everyone tells you that there is live cultures in yogurt, but what the heck does that mean?  That there are live little things crawling around in your yogurt?  well, lets discuss. :)  


"The words "live and active cultures" refer to the living organisms, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, which convert pasteurized milk to yogurt during fermentation. Note that the milk is pasteurized before culturing to remove any harmful bacteria. The process is very similar to that used when making beer, wine or cheese, in that beneficial organisms ferment and transform the basic food. This fermentation process is what creates yogurt, with its unique taste, texture and healthful attributes." -aboutyogurt.com

"Yogurt is made by adding two types of cultures - Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus - to warm milk. The bacteria convert the milk's sugar to lactic acid, which gives yogurt its unique flavor. Due to the presence of the acid, the proteins change their structure, forming a delicate gel. Other type of cultures, such as L. acidophilus and Bifidus cultures, can be found in some yogurts.

 Studies have shown that to get the benefits of the cultures, they have to be live when consumed. 

Overview of Yogurt's Health Attributes

Physicians have long recognized yogurt as a healthy, wholesome food for the whole family. A growing body of medical and scientific research examines yogurt's healthful properties:

Osteoporosis
One out of two women and one out of eight men will develop osteoporosis. Studies show that a diet high in calcium can help slow bone loss, thereby preserving bone mass and reducing the risk of developing this debilitating disease. Calcium-rich yogurt may also lessen the effects of osteoporosis among the elderly, as well as slow bone loss in post-menopausal women.

Hypertension
As many as 50 million Americans suffer from hypertension, or high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. When your family eats lowfat yogurt, they're getting calcium, potassium, and magnesium - three nutrients that have been shown to reduce hypertension. Studies also show that a calcium-rich diet helps regulate blood pressure in women during and after pregnancy.

Lactose Intolerance
The inability to digest lactose, the natural sugar in milk, results from a deficiency of the enzyme lactase in the body. Studies have shown that the live and active cultures present in yogurt allow it to be eaten by many of the more than one quarter of American adults who ordinarily experience lactose intolerance with other dairy products.

(**Notice that it says ADULTS, they found that the possible side effects to youth with lactose intolerance was not worth the study, so they did not do it.  I agree that it was very socially conscience of them to not test this out on children. But that means that there is no real research to determine whether children with lactose intolerance can eat yogurt or not. If you wish to try this out with your kids, please talk to your allergist first and do the test however they suggest.)

Colon Cancer
New studies indicate that calcium may reduce the risk of colon cancer. Furthermore, other studies have found that populations that eat large amounts of yogurt, or other fermented milk products, seem to have a lower risk of developing certain types of cancer, especially colon cancer. Ongoing studies are being conducted to confirm this relationship.

Yeast Infections
Vaginal yeast infections affect nearly 12 million women each year. Research suggests that when eaten regularly, yogurt-containing L. acidophilus, a culture found in some yogurts, may decrease yeast growth and infection in certain individuals.

Immune System
Studies suggest that live and active culture yogurt may enhance the immune systems of certain individuals by boosting certain markers associated with a healthy immune system."

(This means that based on your genetics, yogurt can boost the natural genetic markers in your system and thereby boosting your immune system, but it will not work as well on others, but the benefits aside from that if you just relied on the Calcium and the Live and active cultures to fight off infections, then you still receive a good amount of benefits.)

  
("Some yogurt products are heat-treated after fermentation, which kills most of the beneficial active cultures found in the yogurt. To help you identify those yogurt products that contain live and active cultures, the National Yogurt Association (NYA) has established a special Live & Active Cultures seal. The NYA is a national non-profit trade organization whose purpose is to sponsor health and medical research for yogurt with live and active cultures and serve as an information source to the trade and the general public. The Live & Active Culture seal, which appears on refrigerated and frozen yogurt containers, helps you recognize those products containing significant amounts of live and active cultures. The seal is a voluntary identification available to all manufacturers of refrigerated yogurt whose products contain at least 100 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture, and whose frozen yogurt contains at least 10 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture. Since the seal program is voluntary, some yogurt products may have some live cultures but not carry the seal. It is, however, the industry validation of the presence and activity of significant levels of live cultures." -yogurt.com)  Who would have thought that that there was a yogurt association.  :)

 Coming from someone that is not very fond of Yogurt, I have found many ways that I can eat it. With fresh fruit and granola, it offsets the texture issue I have with it. Or I mix up smoothies with it instead of milk. :)  Only Heat kills the live cultures, so as long as you do not cook it, then you will retain the live cultures and the benefits. :)

So start getting all those benefits today! 

A big thank you to the AboutYogurt.com for all their amazing articles that I got all this information from!  

Its a great read if you want to check out all the other parts of their site, which has a recipe tab. :)