Some health benefits of yogurt

A 250-millilitre (one-cup) serving of plain yogurt will give you a low glycemic load (GL) and a good deal of calcium. Like milk, yogurt has a naturally low GL (after all, yogurt is nothing more than fermented milk). The unidentified natural component in milk that experts think may help prevent insulin resistance is there in yogurt, too. Read on to learn more about the benefits of adding yogurt to your diet.

• Since it's fermented by bacteria, yogurt also contains acids, and acids can help lower blood sugar.
• You can drink your yogurt in a smoothie or eat it with fresh fruit.
• Another reason we like yogurt: it's a perfectly acceptable lower-fat substitute for some or all of the mayonnaise in creamy salads and the sour cream in baked goods, soups and chip dips.
• Compared to milk, yogurt is usually better tolerated by people who are lactose intolerant. Even though yogurt contains lactose, or milk sugar, the bacterial cultures used to make it produce the lactase enzyme required for proper digestion.When it comes to yogurt types, low fat and fat free are of course your best choices.
• Skip "fruit on the bottom" brands, which are usually loaded with added sugar. You can always add your own fresh fruit.

• To get the most bacterial benefit from yogurt, use it by the expiration date on the carton. The "friendly" bacteria begin dying when the yogurt is no longer fresh. Cooking destroys the beneficial bacteria, but even cooked yogurt is a low-GL food.
• Cooking with yogurt on top of the stove can be tricky since it usually curdles when boiled.
• When adding it to hot dishes, stabilize it first by mixing in five grams (one teaspoon) of cornstarch per cup of yogurt. Add it toward the end of the cooking time.

Frozen yogurt may seem like the next best thing to regular yogurt, but it's not. First, almost all frozen yogurt is sweetened and flavoured. While there are several low-fat and fat-free options, they're typically high in sugar.

In addition, levels of beneficial bacteria vary greatly. Some brands are heat treated after the bacterial cultures are added, rendering the bacteria useless to your health. In others, the bacteria are added to an ice cream–like mixture after the fact.