Adding Yogurt to Your Diet

After taking a month off from blogging - oops! I thought I would finally write something up and share with you all. This month I am working at a new local yogurt store called YoYo before I start my internship.  They asked me to research several reasons why yogurt will benefit someone's overall health and nutrition.  Adding yogurt to your diet each day has many great health benefits. There are multiple ways to add yogurt throughout the day.  You can add it to a high fiber cereal, a mixture of frozen fruits, use it to replace mayo in other foods or spread in some vegetables for a spread for a sandwich.  Below I will leave you with 5 reasons why yogurt will benefit your overall health!

Benefits to Adding Yogurt to Your Diet

• Reduce the risk of High Blood Pressure: Lowering LDL and raising HDL levels
• Research shows a link between high dairy (calcium) intake and low blood pressure. The higher intake of dairy, the lower the risk of high blood pressure.
• Yogurt contains low sodium levels and high potassium levels. Both these nutrients are key in lowering blood pressure.
• Calcium and magnesium are found in yogurt and work together to lower blood pressure without reducing your salt intake.
• Improve digestion
• Yogurt contains good bacteria known as probiotics.
• Probiotics stay in the gut to help move and break down foods while fighting the bad bacteria.
• The good bacteria can soothe symptoms of lactose intolerance by ridding the stomach of the bad bacteria.
• Protect against colon cancer                       
• Yogurt contains a healthy bacterium that promotes a healthy colon.
• The more bacteria that is consumed from yogurt will help to decrease the chance of developing colon disease.
• Calcium is a nutrient that aids in colon health. Calcium discourages the growth of cells lining the colon, which increase the risk of colon cancer.
• Prevent Osteoporosis
• Yogurt contains substantial amounts of vitamin D, phosphorus and calcium. Calcium is vital to the body for proper bone growth. In order for calcium to be absorbed by the body, vitamin D is needed.
• Yogurt contains Vitamin D, which will allow calcium in the food to be absorbed by the body.  The phosphorus will aid in maintenance of bone density.
• Since yogurt provides calcium, it helps in preventing osteoporosis so that the body does not have to steal the calcium needed for other functions from the bones.
• Improves immune function
• Probiotics, the good bacteria enhance resistance to and recovery from infections.
• The yogurt will protect the intestinal tract, which prevents the gastrointestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease.