Yogurt is a milk product obtained by fermentation of milk-specific microorganisms (e.g. Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus.)
With few exceptions, milk and yogurt have similar vitamin and mineral compositions.
Just like milk, yogurt is considered to be one of the best sources of protein, folic acid, calcium, and Vitamin B2. Compared to milk, yogurt has less amount of lactose, Vitamin B6-B12, and more amount of free amino acid, free fatty acid, folic acid, peptide, calcium, phosphorus, and choline contents.
In short, conventional yogurt contains a large number of nutrients essential for health and has relatively low-calorie content, making it a high nutritional density product.
How does yogurt help in boosting immunity?
Studies have shown that yogurt induces changes in gastrointestinal microecology. Increased amounts of lactic acid bacteria in the intestines can suppress the growth of pathogenic bacteria, which contributes in turn to reduces infection and heightened anticarcinogenic effects.
Lactobacillus presence in the intestinal tract has been suggested to be prophylactic.
Yogurt consumption improves overall immunity (or with the increase in lactic acid bacteria):
- Induces cytokine production (a group of immunoregulatory proteins),
- Enhances phagocytosis (often happens when the cell is trying to destroy something, like a virus or an infected cell, and is often used by immune system cells.),
- Increases antibody production (a protective protein produced by the immune system in response to the presence of a foreign substance, called an antigen),
- Improves T cell function ( a type of white blood cell), and
- Increases natural killer cell activity ( a type of white blood cell)
Yogurt for multiple health benefits
There is a substantial evidence base for investigating the health effects of conventional yogurt and that this evidence base is largest around weight management and nutrition-related health outcomes, cardiovascular health, GI health, and cancer.
A study on daily consumption of yogurt during pregnancy and after delivery concluded that daily yogurt consumption may reduce skin hypersensitivity to histamine (e.g. It helps the body get rid of allergen in this case, an allergy trigger) and thereby reduce the risk of atopic dermatitis (makes one itch and leaves red blotches, usually on your face, arms, and legs) during infancy.
A Study highlighted that high consumption of fermented milk products (yogurt, buttermilk, and Gouda cheese) may protect against breast cancer.
As per a European study, some of the cardiovascular disease risk factors, especially total and abdominal excess body fat decreased, showed improved cardiorespiratory fitness, with the increase in the consumption of yogurt and milk- and yogurt-based beverages.
Another study concluded the benefits of yogurt intake in diabetic patients. Greater low-fat fermented dairy product intake, largely driven by yogurt intake, was associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes development in prospective analyses. These findings suggest that the consumption of specific dairy types may be beneficial for the prevention of diabetes.
In postmenopausal women it was observed, adding three servings of yogurt to the daily diet of older women with habitually low calcium intakes resulted in a significant reduction in bone resorption (the process of breaking down the tissue in bones and release the minerals, resulting in a transfer of calcium from bone tissue to the blood) and help in improving bone health.
The consumption of yogurt may ensure changes in the balance and metabolic activities of the indigenous microbiota. Yogurt consumption may lead to changes in the equilibrium and metabolic activity of gut microbiota, leading to improving an individual’s immunity.
