Portata:
Ingredienti:
Cotture:
Cucina:
Difficoltà:
Menu:
The essential use of yogurt lies in its probiotic function, meaning its live lactic ferments which are beneficial for the proper efficiency and health of the intestinal flora (provided there are at least 100 billion ferments per 100 grams of yogurt, so it is best consumed fresh and kept cold because the ferments die over time and more quickly at higher storage temperatures). But with organic low-fat yogurt we satisfy an important ethical and health-related need.
What is yogurt
Yogurt is a term of Asian origin, probably first produced in the Balkans. The first studies on yogurt’s beneficial effects on human health are credited to Ilya Metchnikoff, a Russian biologist and Pasteur’s student. In the early 19th century, he noted how Bulgarian populations were particularly long-lived and attributed this to their high yogurt consumption, which he believed countered bacterial infections thanks to its beneficial effect on the intestinal flora (the microorganisms in our stomach that allow us to assimilate foods).
It is fermented milk inoculated with selected cultures of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. We can say yogurt is a “living” food because it contains billions of living microorganisms that are especially beneficial for pregnant women. The lactic acid it contains supports digestive enzymes and can inhibit the production of putrefactive substances.
Whole Yogurt
Whole yogurt is certainly a complete food because it contains proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Besides its clear benefits on intestinal flora and consequently on the assimilation of many substances (vitamins primarily), yogurt is definitely a food to include in a healthy diet because of its many advantages. It can even be used by people with lactose intolerance, the milk sugar. Many people experience intestinal discomfort if daily milk intake surpasses a certain amount (sometimes even one glass). During yogurt preparation, lactose is split into glucose and galactose by fermentation, which do not cause the same unpleasant effects as the original sugar. This is particularly important since lactose-intolerant individuals often struggle to get enough calcium in their diet due to avoiding milk.
With yogurt, this calcium deficiency can be addressed. Other calcium-rich foods, like cheeses, are higher in calories and must be limited in the diet. Moreover, cheeses tend to acidify the body and are therefore incompatible with an anti-inflammatory diet. Consumed low-fat and thus with reduced fat content, yogurt provides an important alkalizing action for the body.
Milk fermentation before ingestion, as with yogurt, produces a “pre-digested” product, avoiding the typical acid-forming processes all animal foods undergo.
Fresh low-fat yogurt is an exception, being the only animal protein source that nourishes without producing acids. An optimal way to consume yogurt is as a snack as well as at breakfast.
At breakfast, it is ideal to mix it with fruit, mainly papaya (which can be substituted with peach, fig, or plum), sweetened preferably only with cane molasses (or alternatively honey or raw cane sugar).
Absolutely avoid refined sugar (sucrose or white sugar). Acidic fruit should only be used if there are no skin conditions and never mixed with sugar derivatives or sweets, not even with honey or cane molasses.
Excellent with dried fruit and cereal seeds, especially sunflower seeds but also flax seeds, ideally freshly ground using a small home stone mill. Be careful not to sweeten the yogurt or juice if taken with orange juice or occasionally with some lemon juice, which can be beneficial.
Natural Low-Fat Yogurt
Natural low-fat yogurt represents the main and perhaps today the only source of animal protein with a basic function, fundamental to rebalancing the acid/base ratio of our body, which is notoriously always skewed acidic. This ratio is key in managing our health and must be maintained balanced for those who have good health and recovered for those who have lost or are losing it. It is important that the yogurt is low-fat and organic.
“Low-fat” because, as just mentioned, it has an alkalizing (or basic) function: only low-fat yogurt has this property, while whole yogurt has a slightly acidifying effect.
It is also very useful for it to be organic, to protect against the notorious xenoestrogens present in large numbers in conventionally farmed produce, especially intensive chemical agriculture, which fed to conventionally raised animals (unless they are fed genetically modified feed!), then end up in the milk. Finally, “organic” protects against these and all other synthetic hormones, additives, antibiotics, and other medications administered to animals.
Moreover, organic foods contain 10 to 100 times more of the primary substances the body needs, like vitamins and minerals—essential for the functioning of our vital systems.
Pesticides harm plants as antibiotics harm humans. Yogurt is the product that best protects us from the devastating effects of both these unhealthy categories.
Here is an excellent way to eat yogurt and an ideal recipe for breakfast.
Budwig Cream Recipe
(re-energizes, does not cause weight gain, actually reduces bloating)
Ingredients
Take a large cup and fill it with:
- 1 tablespoon linseed oil or olive oil if you really don't like linseed
- 100/125 g low-fat yogurt organic
Instructions
- Whisk everything until forming a smooth cream, then add the juice of half a lemon, a small very ripe banana, mashed. 1 tablespoon of honey or, better, cane sugar molasses, 3 tablespoons of ground ingredients (preferably with a stone grinder) including seeds of: flaxseed, sunflower, sesame, nuts, oats, pearl barley, brown rice, buckwheat, millet.
- Mix everything to form a cream, add a seasonal fruit, cut and mixed together.
Yogurt is an excellent alternative to milk because it does not cause the same intolerance problems! Like milk, it contains a favorable ratio of the three macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats), but the true benefit of yogurt lies in the carbohydrates it contains. Typically, yogurt has much less lactose than milk, making it much easier to digest.
The fermentation of milk prior to ingestion, as with yogurt, produces a “pre-digested” product, avoiding the typical acid formation process to which all animal foods are subjected. Indeed, many lactose-intolerant people who cannot drink milk can take yogurt without problems. In the production of yogurt, lactose is split by fermentation into glucose and galactose, which do not cause the unpleasant effects of the original sugar. This is particularly important because lactose-intolerant individuals often find it hard to introduce a significant amount of calcium into their daily diet due to avoiding milk.
Final recommendation: never use refined sugar and never industrially prepared fruit yogurts; fruit must always be added fresh at the time of consumption!
