Tuesday 2nd May 2023
It's all about the Yogurt
As a two-part blog series, award-winning nutritionist, Lucy Williamson, will be solving some yogurt conundrums providing greater insight into the goodness within our delicious organic yogurt range.
First up, we asked why she thinks Yeo Valley Organic yogurt is a healthy food in general. Over to you Lucy…
Being organic means the cows eat mostly grass (and over winter – preserved grasses and crops). This health-giving plant goodness is passed into the milk (1) and although this varies according to the rhythms of the season, here are some top-line health facts that may actually surprise you:
- Fats. Organic dairy has heart-healthy Omega 3 unsaturated fat and less saturated fat. But all these fats also carry valuable vitamins for us, like Vitamin A for immunity and Vitamin E which, being an antioxidant, helps slow the ageing process. Even better, other fats within organic dairy (an Omega 6 called CLA and another called ‘Ruminant Fat’) may reduce the risk of Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and weight gain. (2)
- Sugars. Yeo Valley Organic’s natural yogurts get their sweetness, as the name would suggest, naturally from its lactose – a healthy sugar which our gut microbes love and help us to digest; even dentists approve!
- Calcium - Yogurt has been shown to be the best food to provide children with this vital nutrient (which can be very hard for our body to absorb from plants). Useful to know because cases of soft bone disease, or ‘Rickets,’ are on the rise again in the UK. It’s also a great food during perimenopause too to help keep bones strong.(3)
- Yogurt is a truly functional food. All its nutrients work together to our benefit. For example, one of its proteins makes it easier for us to absorb its calcium and of course its protein is of very high quality too.
- What about Gut Health? – The cultures in live yogurt are a natural probiotic. Interestingly these same good bacteria pre-digest its lactose making it far more digestible too!
For further information around the impact that nurturing your gut health can have, follow Lucy @lucywilliamsonnutrition on social media or sign up for her monthly foodie tips around gut health via her website here. And if you loved this blog post, make sure to check out part two!
References
Van Vliet S, Provenza FD, Kronberg SL. Health-Promoting Phytonutrients Are Higher in Grass-Fed Meat and Milk. Vol. 4, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 2021.
Lamarche B, Givens DI, Soedamah-Muthu S, Krauss RM, Jakobsen MU, Bischoff-Ferrari HA, et al. Does Milk Consumption Contribute to Cardiometabolic Health and Overall Diet Quality? Canadian Journal of Cardiology. 2016 Aug 1;32(8):1026–32.
Gentile C, Chiarelli F. Rickets in Children: An Update. Biomedicines. 2021;9(7).
