Yogurt is a dairy food that provides incredible health benefits to people, including preventing diseases or helping to maintain a healthy body, all thanks to its properties.
Therefore, in the following article, some of the benefits of yogurt will be explained in detail, as well as its properties and its preparation.
What is yogurt?
Yogurt is a dairy food that favors human nutrition and is made through a process of bacteria fermentation specific to milk such as bifidobacterium bifidum, streptococcus thermophiles, and lactobacillus bulgaricusbeing responsible for providing health benefits.
Important: An article published about yogurt in the Lasallian Research Magazineconfirms that these bacteria They are responsible for lowering cholesterolimprove intestinal flora, prevent cancer, and strengthen the immune system.
What are the benefits of yogurt?
As mentioned before, Yogurt provides incredible health benefits for people, being a highly recommended food to prevent diseases or strengthen the immune system, among others that will be highlighted below:
1. Strengthens the immune system
One of the main benefits that yogurt provides is that it helps strengthen the immune system, which is important for combatting the appearance of diseases or infections that may arise in the body, thus providing a healthier life.
Note: A study published by the Organization of Consumers and Users on yogurt, confirms that the immune system is reinforced by this food thanks to probiotics that it has, since they are responsible for maintaining or improving the normal microbiota.
2. Prevents cardiovascular diseases
Yogurt is a dairy food that helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, due to the probiotics it has, since antioxidant properties are attributed to it and have the ability to neutralize free radicals in the body, thus providing a lower risk of suffering from this type of pathology.
Important: A article published by American Journal of Hypertensionconcluded that consuming yogurt 2 times a week reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases in men and women significantly.
3. Reduces blood pressure
Consuming yogurt helps people reduce their blood pressure, Thanks to the dairy proteins it contains since these, in turn, are derived into small peptides, which can relax blood vessels in the body.
To highlight: A study on the Amino acids, Peptides and Proteins, explains that there are proteins that They function as supports in the body, one of them being elastin, which has the ability to provide elasticity in the arteries, thus reducing blood pressure.
4. Strengthens bones and teeth
Strengthening bones and teeth can be increased with the consumption of yogurts since it is a food dairy that is rich in calcium, This mineral is quite essential to maintain good bone density throughout the body.
In addition, those people who have a calcium deficiency in their body may have low bone density in their body, making all their bones fragile and brittle, making them easier to fracture. Therefore, yogurt is an excellent ally to strengthen your bone system.
5. Improves digestive health
Another benefit that yogurt provides is that it helps improve digestive health in people because protects the intestinal flora thanks to the probiotics it contains This dairy, therefore, is recommended to combat constipation.
Important: The yogurt does not contain lactose since it is degraded to lactic acid by the bacteria that said food contains, therefore yogurt is a Excellent alternative for people who are lactose intolerant.
6. Increases physical energy
Physical energy can be increased with the consumption of yogurt since it is a food that is rich in magnesium this being an important mineral for reducing fatigue and maintaining good functioning of the nervous system.
Fun fact: Yogurt, like other milk derivatives, contains a natural sugar called “lactase”, which is made up of glucose and galactose. These 2 are the 2 sugars that the body uses as a source of energy.
7. Helps control weight
Yogurt is considered an ideal food for overweight people since it contains a high amount of protein that helps regulate appetite and that they have a very low calorie and fat portion, which reduces the risk of obesity.
8. Promotes skin health
One of the benefits of yogurt that can be highlighted is that it promotes better skin health since It is used to exfoliate and clean parts of the body with acne because it has a good amount of zinc which helps eliminate this problem.
Important: It should be clarified that yogurts that are sugary or flavored with some other food are not healthy for the skin, since they can irritate it or generate more acne, which is why A neutral yogurt with live cultures is recommended.
What properties does yogurt have?
The main properties that yogurt has are vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, which play a fundamental role in receiving the aforementioned health benefits, so they will be explained briefly and in detail below.
For this purpose, reference will be made to a study that was carried out at the University of Rovira in Spain, where they talk about each of the nutritional values that yogurt has and its quality in the diet.
1. Vitamins
The vitamins A, D, B2, B3, and B12 are the most prominent in yogurt, which fulfill vital functions in the body such as improving vision, strengthening the immune system, and keeping the bones of the body healthy, among other benefits.
Note: Also found in yogurt, but to a lesser extent, vitamin E which is a micronutrient that acts as an antioxidant in the body and vitamin K which helps the formation of clots in the body.
2. Minerals
Yogurt is a dairy food that has multiple minerals the most notable being calcium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, sodium, iodine, and potassium. All of these micronutrients have regulatory and important functions in the body.
3. Amino acids
One of the most outstanding properties of yogurt is that it is a food with a high amino acid content, which is considered highly digestible due to the action of different proteolytic bacteria in which they release peptides.
How to prepare homemade yogurt?
Once the benefits that yogurt provides for health and the properties it has are known, its benefits should be mentioned and explained in detail. Homemade preparation to include it in a healthy diet.
Ingredients
- Whole or low-fat milk
- Ferment (industrial yogurt)
- Sweetener to taste
Preparation
- To prepare the yogurt, the milk must be heated in a pot to reach a maximum temperature of 80 degrees. A thermometer is used as a tool to measure heat.
- The milk is heated until bubbles form on the edges of the pot, at which point it is removed to allow it to cool to 45 degrees.
- Then the hot milk must be mixed with the ferment to start the fermentation process. In this step, you can use kitchen towels to maintain the temperature or place it inside the oven.
- The fermentation process should last at least 8-12 hours to achieve a thick texture.
- Finally, add sugar or another sweetener to taste and refrigerate it in the refrigerator.
Key Conclusions
- Yogurt is a dairy productwhich is made through a milk and ferment fermentation process.
- This food provides incredible health benefits in people, the most notable being the strengthening of the immune system and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
- It should also be mentioned that yogurt is a food that helps regulate weight body in people, being recommended to include in diets that seek to combat obesity.
- Yogurt has incredible nutritional properties, where we can mention a great variety of vitamins and mineralsas well as its high amount of amino acids.
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