How to make sure the yogurt you buy is really good for you

Greek flavor, fermented, or packed with probiotics? Smoking it from a pouch, spooning it into a compote, freezing it in a pot, or not including “bits”?

There's a yogurt for every food fetish, nutritional trend, and health concern. If you're feeling depressed 25% of the time, it might even be the solution, according to market researcher Mintel. generation z British yogurt consumers eat yogurt to make themselves feel better.

While it's still unclear whether it works for them, yogurt's other health benefits are clear. “Yogurt generally holds high levels of calcium and is a good source of iodine, vitamin D, B2 (riboflavin), B12 and zinc,” says leading nutritional therapist Lucy Miller.it has been link to Things like selenium and magnesium reduce the risk of osteoporosis, improve bone density, and improve immunity.Fermentation makes it easier to digest than milk, so nutrients are absorbed more easily. It's cheap, easy (you don't even need to chew it), and it's loved all over the world.

Here's a complete guide to know which pots to choose from your supermarket shelves and why.

Great for gut health

You've probably seen the blurb posted on bathtubs – yogurt is good for the intestinesIn other words, order is key to almost every aspect of health. really? Well, to some extent… “About 70 percent of our immune system is in the gut, so anything that supports gut health supports immunity,” says the author, forthcoming in Microbiome Scientist says Dr. Emily Leeming, author of the book. genius gut. “My own research has found that all types of yogurt are associated with a greater variety of health outcomes. microbiome Another study found that people who eat a lot of yogurt Bifidobacterium animalis,” she says. That said, there are differences between brands.

why? Simon Gaisford, Professor of Pharmacy and Probiotics at University College London, said: “Yogurt is made by fermenting milk, so as a general rule it should contain a lot of lactic acid bacteria (probiotics).'' talk. But in reality it looks like this: “One of the main problems with industrial-scale fermentation is the risk of contaminating the product with undesirable species. Therefore, yogurt is often pasteurized after fermentation. This sterilizes the yogurt and adds probiotics. If you're looking for a probiotic punch, you should look for something naturally fermented and unpasteurized, like kefir, he says. [which] Should not be pasteurized. Other than probiotic supplements, I think kefir is the best for gut health. ”

If pasteurized yogurt is available, you can also look for yogurt that is then freeze-dried and has probiotics added to it. How do I know? “If you buy yogurt, make sure it still contains live bacteria,” advises Dr. Leeming. “You can tell this by looking at the label on the back of the yogurt pot. It should say something like 'living culture.'”

Prof Gaisford agrees that probiotic strains should be listed, but their numbers are usually not listed, making it difficult to assess their efficacy. It may be a mistake to have high expectations for breakfast. “When we tested the yogurt, it didn't contain bacterial counts close to the actual yogurt count.” probiotic supplements” he says.

But if you're eating for gut health, be especially wary of artificially flavored yoghurts, says Professor Gaisford. “There is evidence that artificial colors are bad for you, and artificial sweeteners are not absorbed and often cause bloating.” Adding sugar can negate some of yogurt's gut-friendly effects. There is also gender. A 2022 study conducted on mice and published in the journal Cell found that high doses of sugar can damage the intestinal lining and cause inflammation.

So when it comes to guts, Gaisford recommends unflavored ones made by Tim's Dairy, Yeo Valley and The Collective. He also praises Marks & Spencer's new kefir 'gut shot', developed in collaboration with nutrition company Zoe.

What to buy: