Benefits Of Eating Yogurt Daily

Yogurt is a quick breakfast choice that will benefit your body, especially when eaten daily. When you buy yogurt, look for low-fat or fat-free varieties. Avoid consuming unnecessary amounts of sugar by purchasing plain yogurt. You can sweeten yogurt at home with honey, maple syrup or fruit, or add granola or whole grain cereal. Read the label to ensure that there is a list of added probiotics, such as casei, rhamnosus, acidophilus, bifidum, thermophilus and bulgaricus.

Enhanced Immune System

According to an article on ABC's website titled "Yogurt Found to Reduce Children's Infections," daily yogurt eating can reduce illness and infections. The article mentions a strain of bacteria, Lactobasillus casei, that is found in many yogurts. In a three-month study conducted by researchers at Georgetown University Medical, children who ate the probiotic enhanced yogurt drink had 24 percent fewer gastrointestinal infections and 18 percent fewer upper respiratory infections than children who were getting regular yogurt.

Improved Cholesterol Levels

Eating cultured yogurt that is rich in probiotics can help lower the bad cholesterol---LDL---and raise levels of the good cholesterol---HDL. The World's Healthiest Foods website mentions a study by Fabian E in the "Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism" in which women who were given probiotic yogurt experienced a dramatic increase in HDL as well as decreased LDL cholesterol.

Lower Body Fat

According to The World's Healthiest Food website, regular consumption of yogurt will promote low body fat. A calcium-rich diet that includes foods like yogurt and other dairy products promotes weight loss. Yogurt also minimizes the loss of muscle, and muscle burns fat. Regular yogurt eating also helps speed up the metabolism so you can burn more calories throughout the day.

Fresher Breath

The book "Good Gut Bugs" by Kathryn Marsden explains how probiotics increase good stomach bacteria and reduce bad stomach bacteria. Marsden claims that almost all chronic bad breath is caused by bad bacteria.This bad bacteria causes rotting teeth and unhealthy gums. Eating a probiotic-rich yogurt daily will greatly reduce the "bad bugs" in you stomach and lead to better breath and oral hygiene.

Improved Digestion

A study published on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website examined the effect of the probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis on the stomach. Bifidobacterium lactis is found in many yogurts and fermented milk drinks like kefir. The women in the study, all of whom had no GI disorders, did report a significant improvement to their GI well-being and digestive symptoms.