Yogurt is a great snack or part of a meal, IF you are careful about which kind you put in your shopping cart. I can never say it enough, you must read labels! Yogurt can be beneficial to our digestion and immune system when we choose the right product.
First, make sure the yogurt you are buying contains live cultures such as, L. casei and L. acidophilus. Look for "live cultures" on the packaging. If the container says "heat treated after culturing" do yourself a favor and put it back on the shelf. The manufacturers will heat treat the yogurt to prolong the shelf life. The process of heat treating yogurt can denature lactase enzymes and destroy live cultures. The lactase enzymes are important for digesting lactose, the milk sugar in the yogurt.
But what else is lurking in your yogurt? Upon reading the labels you will find a majority of yogurts contain high fructose corn syrup. Ideally, the yogurt should contain no added sugars. Avoid those products with artificial flavorings and colors. Recently I looked at a yogurt containing carmine, which turns out to be pigment from dried bugs. Yes, a "natural" coloring, but I think most of would rather not ingest bugs! The Yoplait brand has many varieties and they each have at least one of these undesirable ingredients.
Rather than buying the flavored and sweetened yogurt, try switching to an organic plain whole milk yogurt, like Nancy's (this brand can be found at New Seasons, Whole Foods and Azure Standard), and mixing it with the berries that are now in season. Sprinkle a little granola on top, and you've got yourself a delicious snack filled with nutrition that will truly do your body good! You will also find a decent selection of plain organic yogurts at Trader Joe's.
One last thing to think about: the fat free yogurts with sugar added can cause blood sugar spikes (increasing the likelihood of fat being stored in your body rather than being burned by your body). The whole milk yogurts eaten with fresh berries will keep your blood sugar even, reducing insulin surges. The milk fat will also satiate your appetite and there is nothing to fear of the fat as long as it is organic and eaten in moderation. Eating the yogurt with the fat and only the naturally occurring lactose sugars, as nature intended, keeps our insulin levels steady for good health.
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One other thing to look for in yogurt is dried milk. A lot of dried milk comes from China, where they not too long ago had some serious contamination issues. My preference with yogurt is that it contain nothing but whole milk and cultures, which makes it hard to find yogurt I can buy!
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