The FastDay Forum

Yogurt is made by bacterial fermentation of milk, a process that may boost digestive health because it produces the same good bacteria found in the gut. Plus, some yogurt contains additional good bacteria known as probiotics. It has been proved that probiotics may help with digestion and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as diarrhea following treatment with antibiotics, which kill off both good and bad bacteria. Probiotics help irritable bowel symptoms, abdominal pain and gas, although the benefits may depend on the strain of probiotics.

May I add that natural organic greek style yogurt is reportedly the top end product for probiotics due its triple filtering.
I like to pour it over a banana and sprinkle toasted hazelnuts, flaked almonds, Ceylon cinnamon on top. Yum :0)

I hope thats the normal and not fat-free version @Azureblue. There is a definite difference in taste isn't there. I like "Total" Greek yoghurt but they only ever have the fat-free one in our local Sainsburys which is most annoying.
It would be good to get a probiotic for my mum actually because she has IBS (no doesn't really face up to it). Its it worth getting something like a Yoplait? Is it Yoplait? Whats the one that comes in little pots that you have to have every day?..doh! Brain's gone

I have Yeo (other brands are available) as there is no added anything and LOTS of good fats!
Not having grains has removed my IBS :0)

Oh thanks for that @Azureblue. Does that mean you don't have bread, rice and pasta?

Yes! I have the odd buttered sesame rice cake, occasional buttered gluten free oatcake, but that's it for anything grain. I've barely touched the above this year as I'm getting my primal blueprint act together (see marksdailyapple.com).
Good fats, 80g protein, 50g carbs a day with 16:8 fasting is doing me good :0)

I invested in a yogurt maker a few years ago and having been making my own plain Greek style ever since. I make about 3 quarts in a batch which is a months supply for me and family. It's somewhat labor intensive to make it well, consistently, and probably not a big money savings but very rewarding.

[carieoates]

Thanks once again for the info Babydollangel. I have to be in the right mood to eat yoghurts, made done in a thermos flask several years ago. So was free so to speak.

I only eat yogurt as a raita.

I love yoghurt but struggle to get good yoghurt in Japan. I guess I should make my own...

I make my own with a little electronic Euro- cuisine yogurt maker my son got me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I use whole milk for good fat, and when I boil the milk first, it comes out into a thick, creamy, really good Greek yogurt. I haven't found anything in the stores that compares. It's so good for you, and about 3 years ago now I started taking Lactobacillus acidophilus for heartburn because I was having constant heartburn every night. Within 2 weeks it was gone, and I never have trouble with that anymore so I'm really big on making sure that I have yogurt and a couple probiotics everyday. It's fun & tasty to doctor it up with fresh fruit and chia seed and sometimes a little drizzle of agave nectar or honey. YUM...

[wildmissus]

@nursebean, I have just discovered that my Sainsbury's does sell the full fat Total greek yogurt - it is incredibly thick, most certainly not pourable, and it tastes amazing. @Azureblue, I had it this morning with strawberries, linseeds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and a tiny drizzle of honey - delicious.

I have noticed a huge difference in what you get when you buy a container labeled "Greek yogurt" in the U.S.. The 0% fat FAGE brand yogurt is far more delicious than the fuller fat versions from other companies. Indeed, most of the non-FAGE brand "Greek" yogurts seem suspiciously like regular yogurts from those brands, perhaps with some thickener added.

I like the fattier versions, but they don't fit under my very low fasting day calorie requirement. I've been eating the 0% FAGE yogurt as dessert on almost every one of the 90+ fasts I've done this past year.

OTOH, the claims for yogurt and stomach flora are over stated. So I don't eat yogurt out of a belief it will transform my health. I eat it because it is very high in a good quality protein with very little calorie load.

Unfortunately, the helpful bacteria that are missing from our digestive tracts after exposure to antibiotics are not the ones associated with positive health effects, and eating yogurt does not displace the bad bacteria associated with increased obesity. I had a chat with a very good young gastroenterologist about this last year and she confirmed what I had suspected. There's no harm in eating yogurt but it won't fix problems with overgrowth of yeasts or bad bacteria in your gut.

[carorees]

Yogurt is made by bacterial fermentation of milk, a process that may boost digestive health because it produces the same good bacteria found in the gut. Plus, some yogurt contains additional good bacteria known as probiotics. It has been proved that probiotics may help with digestion and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as diarrhea following treatment with antibiotics, which kill off both good and bad bacteria. Probiotics help irritable bowel symptoms, abdominal pain and gas, although the benefits may depend on the strain of probiotics.

While probiotics have been shown to help with diarrhoea following a course of antibiotics I am not aware that they have been proven to influence digestion and IBS. Prebiotics on the other hand have been shown to influence the composition of the intestinal flora.

@Peebles, I'm with you on the FAGE yogurt. I've been buying the plain 2% version and mixing it with a spoon of jam. It's great stuff. And indeed many so-called Greek yogurts list corn starch in the ingredients. Really irritates me - in my perfect world they wouldn't be allowed to call the yogurt Greek!