Granola and yogurt make the perfect food partners, pairing the crunchy texture of the cereal's nuts and grains with the creamy sweetness of the yogurt. People often enjoy the combination as a meal, or even as a layered, parfait-like dessert. Not only does it taste delicious, but the ingredients may also offer you several potential health benefits.
Calcium
You need calcium to help maintain the strength of your teeth and bones. Yogurt provides high levels of this essential mineral at a rate of almost 50 percent of your recommended daily value per 8-oz. serving, according to the U.S. Office of Dietary Supplements. If your granola is commercially prepared, the office states that such ready-to-eat cereals also typically come with calcium fortification.
Protein
Protein helps with the building and repairing of tissues like muscles in your body. Yogurt gives you a dose of protein, though the specific amount varies depending on the brand or product line. Similarly, many nuts and whole grains --- all chief components of most granolas --- come bursting with protein.
Active Bacteria Culture
Many yogurt products are known as probiotic because they contain active cultures of live bacteria, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center. Such yogurt has numerous benefits for your health, according to the center, including potentially enhancing the strength of your body's immune system.
Improving Your Sleep
The Mayo Clinic advises people suffering from insomnia or difficulty falling asleep to eat a small snack a couple hours before bed. This may help you fall asleep faster, according to the clinic, by keeping hunger pangs at bay. For such purposes, the clinic specifically recommends eating yogurt sprinkled with granola.
Energy
The health editors of "Shape" magazine suggest eating granola combined with low-fat yogurt before bed, but for a different reason. The magazine reports that this snack, eaten in the evening and digested overnight, helps to "frontload" your muscles with a special form of carbohydrates known as glycogen. This helps to increase your energy levels the following day and may help improve the results of your morning exercise routines.
Fiber
Fiber helps you digest your food better and may also lower your risk of health problems like heart disease, reports the Harvard School of Public Health. The school suggests eating 20 to 30 g of fiber daily. Granola inherently contains lots of fiber due to ingredients like whole grains and nuts. Fiber content varies depending on the whole-grain concentration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that a cup of typical granola supplies approximately 11 g of fiber. Some yogurt also provides fiber, especially if it contains fruit.
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