Ah, yogurt. How do we love thee? Let me count the ways.
Sheer deliciousness: Creamy and clean, like rolling around in the snow as a kid.
Never boring: OK, some processed yogurts are patently predictable and that’s why some people prefer supermarket yogurt, but make your own at home and the result is always a surprise.
A blank slate: Add fruit, oats, or seeds for breakfast. Lunch may be spicy yogurt dip with veggies or yogurt-enhanced soup. Dinner finds yogurt in marinades, sauces and casseroles, subbing for milk or cream.
Nutritional dynamo:
High calcium: Appetite control can be dependent on calcium mechanisms according to a review in Nutrition Reviews in July 2015. Read Impact of yogurt on appetite control, energy balance, and body composition by Angelo Tremblay and colleagues for more insight. Calcium of course builds bones and regulates nerve transmission. Read up on calcium and its function as well as recommended amounts (it’s not so easy getting what we need) at Mayo Clinic online.
Fair amount of protein: keeps you satisfied and builds immunity. The authors cited above write: “Studies in humans have shown that consumption of milk and yogurt increases the circulating concentration of the anorectic peptides glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 and peptide YY (PYY).”
Yogurt replaces junk food: Dish out a bowl of yogurt, honey and fresh berries for dessert or snack. Ice cream and cake won’t be quite so tempting. Keep it on hand, all the time, front and center in the refrigerator. Curb those unhealthful enthusiasms.
And finally: Yogurt teems with probiotics. Few foods are as easily accessible, delicious and loved by billions.