The Benefits of Yogurt

The Benefits of Yogurt

Yogurt offers many benefits for Women 40 years old and older. Especially those women with diabetes. Yogurt helps to stabilize and control blood sugars. Additional benefits of eating yogurt are a healthy gut and improve bone health.
This post is for women 40 years old and above, who have diabetes and need to control their blood sugars. It will also benefit women without diabetes. There are 4 things you need to consider when choosing yogurt for yourself.

Look at the Sugar Content

Yogurt comes with a variety of sugar content. Sugar content in yogurts ranges from as much as 26 grams of sugar per serving to 5 grams of sugar per serving. (Serving size ranges from 4-8 ounces) Most yogurts are made from milk which has a naturally occurring sugar content. Many brands put in additional sugar to enhance the taste. You have to get the right one for your needs. If you are experiencing low blood sugars, you may need to use a yogurt with higher sugar content.  If you are trying to control your blood sugars, you may need to get the ones with lower sugar content.

Look At the Fat Content

The fat content in yogurt is from the milk products used. Yogurts range from 0% fat content to 4-5% fat content. 4-5 % is considered full fat. I do not recommend the 0% because all of the fat has been removed. Fat adds flavor and prolongs the feeling of fullness. Fat does slow down the digestive process. Studies have shown that fat from dairy products promotes health and does not increase the risk of heart disease.  I’ve seen women 40 years old and older experience early hunger and those with diabetes have low blood sugars with the lower fat content yogurts. So choose the yogurt with 2% – 5% fat content.

Look At the Protein Content

Protein is essential for cell building in your body. Protein takes longer to digest in the body, therefore prolongs satisfaction and fewer hunger pangs. Protein can range from 5 grams per serving to 18 grams per serving. As a rule, Greek yogurt has higher protein content than regular yogurt. Protein is important for women 40 years old and older because muscle cell loss is a part of the aging process. Taking in additional protein will help to preserve and build needed muscle cells.

Look At Ingredient Labels

I always recommend whole minimally processed foods as part of a healthy meal plan. Yogurt is no different. Yogurt is a processed product but you want to avoid those that contain industrial additives and fillers.

Criteria to look for:

• Is it organic? You want to choose the best product.
• Does it contain live bacteria? Live bacteria feed the gut and promote gut health.
• Calcium content – The body can absorb and use calcium in yogurt to promote healthy bones. Regular yogurt contains more calcium than Greek yogurt. This is important for women age 40 and older.
• Does it contain carrageenan – this substance can inflammation and promote disease. You want to avoid this ingredient as much as possible.
• Artificial sweeteners – avoid aspartame, saccharine, and sucralose. These are industrial sweeteners. Stevia and monk fruit are acceptable.
• Excessive sweeteners – cane sugar + maple sugar. 2 types of sugar to enhance the taste is not good. Avoid high fructose corn syrup.
• Artificial colors – these are usually used for “fruit and flavor” additives. These need to be avoided.
• Long words that are hard to pronounce – these are generally chemical additives. Avoid these totally. 

The Benefit of Yogurt in Action

Yogurt is a great product to use to control and maintain blood sugars. It is not a treatment for very low blood sugars – less than 70. Yogurt will take too long to raise the blood sugar but it is good to maintain the blood sugar.

I discovered how important this was when one of my clients was having several low blood sugar readings during the night. She would drink orange juice to bring the blood sugar up but it would drop again. I recommended that she eat low-fat high protein yogurt before bedtime. She is no longer has low blood sugars at night. She also eats yogurt as a snack during the day. Eating yogurt has helped her keep her blood sugar stay in range.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6743821/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/sep/22/research-suggests-a-diet-rich-in-dairy-fat-may-lower-the-risk-of-heart-disease