Plain Yogurt ? Your Prescription for a Healthy Gut
Do you realize the largest organ in your body is your gut? If you were to roll it out it would equal 25-28 feet – hence the need to take good care of it with healthy foods for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Enter plain yogurt.
One of my favorite foods is plain yogurt and a high quality kind contains healthy bacteria designed to help keep your gut in check and what could be better than a healthy colon?
Unfortunately, the best place to eat plain yogurt is in Europe. I’m not sure why but European yogurt is world’s better than our American yogurt which has become a vehicle for sugar and sweeteners (especially now targeted to kids).
Thank goodness yogurt is in fashion again is not seen as a”diet” food or food for just women as it was a decade ago.
Many cultures throughout the world eat plain yogurt with some or all of their meals so it is surprising it has been so undervalued by Americans and turned into something extremely sweet.
Having yogurt with lots of additives and sweeteners decreases the effect of the healthy bacteria.
On my quest for the perfect tasting yogurt I come up short. Â I think I’ve tried every plain and organic yogurt on the market only to come back to the same one:Â Straus Organic whole milk plain yogurt. I frequently get asked in my office – why the whole milk?
Besides the fact that it tastes about 100 times better than the low fat, with only a few more grams more of fat why not? Besides the healthy bacteria for your gut fashionably known as probiotics, plain yogurt provides you with high quality protein and calcium. Straus is the closest tasting to those in Europe.
For breakfast or lunch you can mix it with fruit and nuts, or have as a side dish with veggies/beans for a vegetarian dinner. I also use it in place of mayonnaise in chicken, egg or tuna salad and creamy dressings.
If you happen to shop at Trader Joe’s they sell Straus yogurt under their name of “Trader Joe’s Organic European yogurt” as is Trader Joe’s style. They have companies make their product for them and put the Trader Joe’s label on it.
If you are used to sweet yogurt it can take some time to recondition your taste buds to less sweet. Adding in frozen fruit, a little honey or Healthy Nut Mix from A Recipe For Life can help with making the transition.
Yogurt is an easy way to get your protein, calcium and healthy cultures for your gut all in one food – with only 1 ingredient plus the cultures it is a clean affordable unprocessed food to include in your daily diet – truly the perfect prescription for a healthy gut.
