Yoghurt has gained in popularity over the years for its probiotic properties, and even antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties. Here’s a list of the types of yoghurts in the market, and the benefits of eating them!
Did you know that Yoghurt can help cakes remain moist long after it comes out of the oven? Here’s a recipe that uses yoghurt!
As a child, yoghurt was a mainstay in our kitchen at home. Sometimes when she was too tired to cook, my grandmother would mix yogurt with rice, lightly sprinkle it with salt and serve it with a side of spicy Indian pickle. While this may seem like subsistence living to many, it is comfort food for me today! Although I have evolved to be a bigger fan of sambal than pickle, this combination works wonders!
Yoghurt, especially the natural kind, is fantastic when eaten on it’s own. However, some may be easily put-off by plain yoghurt. Fortunately, yoghurt can be had with fruits and honey, or even granola, to add some excitement to your meal. Here are some recipes to help incorporate yoghurt into your diet!
Given our uncertain times, food consumption is at the tip of everyone’s mind. We want to eat food that’s good for us, food that helps to repel diseases and build or boost our immunity. I recently did a feature on Turmeric and its healing properties. This is really a follow-up to that article, an expose on yoghurt, if you will!
Natural Yoghurt is unflavoured and unsweetened, telling of its name. It’s made with adding the right amount of bacteria to a large vat of milk, usually cow’s milk. This helps to ferment the milk and create a thicker, probiotic-rich yoghurt.
Greek Yoghurt
There are 2 types of Greel Yoghurt; The actual greek yoghurt and the ‘greek style’ yoghurt. Actual, full-fat greek yoghurt is made from Goat’s milk, and is also known as Goat’s milk yoghurt. ‘Greek style’ yoghurt on the other hand is made from cow’s milk, but processed like Greek Yoghurt so that the right consistency is achieved.
Naturally, this type of fermented milk is much higher in fat than natural yoghurt, and can be a lot creamier too! Greek Yoghurt is made by straining milk culture and removing the liquid whey, leaving behind a highly viscous yogurt that is great in cakes and salads. It’s less runny than natural yoghurt, so it cannot be used as a drizzle like natural yoghurt can.
Indian yoghurt, otherwise known as Dahi, is made with cow and sometimes buffalo milk. It can be creamy just like Greek yoghurt, but is not strained like the former. Indian yoghurt is also made via a fermentation process, where a little yoghurt is added to a batch of milk and left out in the open for it to ferment overnight. This process of using a yoghurt starter can also be seen in sourdough breads, where sourdough starter is used.
Vegan Yoghurt
Vegan yoghurt is made with plant-based milk, and similar techniques as actual dairy yoghurt. This is not just great for vegans, but for the lactose intolerant, too! While there are many products online, vegan yoghurt is usually coconut yoghurt. There are recipes online, like this one, that use cashews and frozen peaches to create a yoghurt blend instead.
Benefits
Consuming yoghurt regularly has many benefits, especially for the digestive system. Yoghurt contains live culture, or probiotics, that can boost gut microbiota. This essentially means that it enhances the volume of good bacteria in your gut, keeping away gut-related complexities such as IBS. It also helps to boost the body’s immunity, making it easier for you to naturally fight diseases. There is research that shows yoghurt can protect against Type 2 Diabetes.
Yoghurt is also a fantastic diet food, thanks to its high protein content. The protein in yoghurt helps to keep you full longer and curb cravings for sweet things, which is a real problem for this writer. Research shows that snacking on yoghurt reduces the portion of dinner meals a person consumes, as opposed to snacking on high-sugar items. This can result in weight loss.
The calcium content in yoghurt, along with potassium and phosphorus can help to strengthen bone density in ageing women. At least three servings of yoghurt a day can help to maintain bones and keep them from deteriorating with age.
Yoghurt can be very much like red wine; it’s an acquired taste. While there are many versions in the market, nothing is as good for you as the original, non-sweetened version. Many yoghurt tubs that have flavours introduced also have excessive amounts of sugar in them. This is to make them more ‘appealing’ to the masses, when the sugar actually inhibits or overshadows the positive effects of consuming yoghurt. Always read the nutrition labels when you purchase yoghurt!