Wednesday, August 22, 2012

What are the Health Benefits of Plain Yogurt?

Plain yogurt provides excellent nutrition and health benefits. Its nutrition facts include its high content of calcium and proteins. It aids digestion and boosts immunity.

Yogurt is a very popular food across the world. It can be eaten as a snack or with your meals. It is a highly nutritious food packed with calcium. Plain yogurt is prepared by adding bacterial culture to the warm milk and incubating it for a few hours. It is highly delicious as a snack. It can also be mixed with fruits to increase its taste and nutritional value. The bacterial culture in yogurt helps the body to absorb the nutrients better. 
Photo by Sifu Renka Under Creative Commons Licence


Yogurt for Digestion   

 Some people cannot drink milk because they have lactose intolerance or a protein allergy. The culturing of milk makes yogurt easier to digest. 

Yogurt and Calcium

Yogurt is one of the best available sources of natural calcium. 250 ml of milk contains about 500 mg of calcium. An adult requires about a gram of calcium every day. Yogurt can also increase the absorption of calcium by the body. Culturing milk breaks down sugar lactose into glucose and galactose. They can be digested easily.

Protein and Yogurt

Protein is essential for muscle growth, digestion and creation of antibodies. Cultures present in yogurt help the body to absorb protein. 

Colon 

Yogurt can help to promote colon health according to the pediatrician Dr. Sears. Yogurt contains lactobacteria, the bacterial culture to promote the health of colon. They lower the chances any colon disease. Calcium present in yogurt does not allow excess growth of cells on the colon lining.  It reduces the chances of colon cancer.

Yogurt and Immunity 

Yogurt helps to boost the overall immunity of the body. Gastro intestinal tract contains friendly bacteria.  Probiotic yogurt helps to multiply these bacteria. This helps to boost the immune system and ward off diseases. 

Yogurt and Yeast Infection

Eating yogurt can boost the population of friendly bacteria inside the body. These bacteria can help to destroy yeast and get rid of the vaginal yeast infection. Yeast is a kind of fungus. Friendly bacteria in the body destroy this fungus.

Yogurt for Skin Care

Lactic acid present in yogurt is good for skin care. It helps to prevent dry skin and facial wrinkles. Yogurt can also be used as face mask. It helps to remove dead skin clogging the pores. Just apply plain yogurt to the face and wash it off after 30 minutes.

With its antibacterial and anti-fungal properties yogurt can help to get rid of acne. It can also help to get of acne scars as it contains zinc. 

Plain yogurt is a very good remedy for sunburn. It is also a very good remedy for age spots and skin discoloration.

These are some of the health benefits of plain yogurt

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