Does the YOGURT DIET actually work?

The original Yogurt Diet is a health and weight loss program that was developed by nutritionist Ana Lugue. The basis of her diet is the fact that many common chronic diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity are caused largely by poor diets. She believes that an inadequate intake of nutrients and good bacteria rather than excess calories is more of a contributor to those chronic diseases. By consuming three servings of yogurt a day, Lugue says your body will get the nutrients and good bacteria needed to help you lose weight and keep it off.

Yogurt provides your body with calcium, protein, vitamins and probiotics. Probiotics are some of those healthy bacteria. Probiotics help bolster the bacteria that naturally found in your body and can help ward off harmful bacteria. They also help keep your body’s digestive system running smoothly.

Research has shown that adding three servings of yogurt to your daily diet can help boost fat and weight loss. Some yogurt diets focus on just eating yogurt alone and cutting out all other foods, but by following Lugue’s diet of adding three servings of yogurt to a low-fat, reduced calorie diet, you will be following the best yogurt diet available.

Start by eliminating all foods that could be causing harm to your body. These includes things like processed foods, sugar and refined carbs. Replace those foods with whole grains, fruits, vegetables and of course yogurt. Look for whole-milk yogurts, low-fat and plain. Avoid yogurts that have added sugars and flavors. Eat a 4 to 5 ounce serving of yogurt 3 to 4 times a days, either before or after a meal, or as one of your snacks. Combining yogurt with clean living will provide the needed nutrients your body needs to lose weight fast.

Greek yogurt is a great alternative to regular yogurt because of its high protein content and fat-free nature. Greek yogurt contains up to twice the amount of protein as regular yogurts, and because of its natural thick and creamy texture, no thickeners like gelatin are added – making it a natural satisfying snack. Besides enjoying it as yogurt, you can use Greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream in dips and in most baking recipes – reducing the amount of fat in the recipes and providing your body with extra nutrients.

If you hate plain yogurt – you can follow the fruit yogurt diet by adding fresh fruit to your yogurt. By adding fresh fruit such as peaches, strawberries and blueberries you get the added nutrients of the fruit, sweetening your yogurt naturally. Avoid buying yogurts that have sweeteners already added to them because those sweeteners usually contain high amounts of sugar – thus diminishing the healthy benefits of the yogurt itself and adding extra, empty calories to your body.

Following the yogurt diet by adding three servings of yogurt to your daily meals can help boost your weight loss and help you prevent chronic disease such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and gastrointestinal diseases. Besides being full of proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats, yogurt contains a high amount of probiotic bacteria, which is imperative for proper digestion and ultimate health.

You can purchase Luque’s book on Amazon for a complete explanation on how the yogurt diet can benefit your body and help you lose weight. The book does a great job of clearly explaining how the digestive system works and why bacterial balance is imperative for you body to function properly. The book also includes 5 weeks of delicious menus made from combinations of foods that will help you lose weight. The recipes also include 90 different dessert options that will replace your favorite junk foods and curb your sweet tooth, by using yogurt as an ingredient substitute.

If you follow the yogurt diet eating rules and implement a regular exercise routine into your daily habits, you will find that weight loss will become easier and your body will function properly – making you feel better. You will not only be able to lose weight, but can help your body build defenses against chronic diseases that are plaguing society.

-Chauntel Katricia H. Savellano-

source: http://creativebioscience.com/blog/does-the-yogurt-diet-actually-work/

FEBRUARY HEART month Tips

-Chauntel Katricia H. Savellano-

Healthy Tip of the Day

-Chauntel Katricia H. Savellano

Special Yogurt vs Stomach Ulcer Bacteria

Results of the first human clinical studies confirm that a new yogurt fights the bacteria that cause gastritis and stomach ulcers with what researchers describe as almost vaccine-like effects, scientists in Japan reported March 22 at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.


Researchers have long known that yogurt, a fermented milk product containing live bacteria, is a healthy source of calcium, protein, and other nutrients. Some brands of yogurt are now made with "probiotics" — certain types of bacteria — intended to improve health. The new yogurt represents a unique approach to fighting stomach ulcers, which affect 25 million people in the United States alone, and is part of a growing "functional food" market that now generates $60 billion in sales annually.
"With this new yogurt, people can now enjoy the taste of yogurt while preventing or eliminating the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers," says study coordinator Hajime Hatta, Ph.D., a chemist at Kyoto Women's University in Kyoto, Japan.

The new yogurt is already on store shelves in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The study opens the door to possible arrival of the product in the U.S., the researchers suggest.

A type of bacteria called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) or over-use of aspirin and or other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, causes most stomach ulcers. H. pylori ulcers can be effectively treated and eliminated with antibiotics and acid suppressants. However, that simple regimen is unavailable to millions of poverty-stricken people in developing countries who are infected with H. pylori. New research also links childhood H. pylori infection to malnutrition, growth impairment and other health problems. As a result, scientists have been seeking more economical and convenient ways of dealing with these bacteria.

In the new study, Hatta and colleagues point out that H. pylori seems to rely on a protein called urease to attach to and infect the stomach lining. In an effort thwart that protein, or antigen, Hatta turned to classic vaccine-making technology. They injected chickens with urease and allowed the chickens' immune systems to produce an antibody to the protein. The researchers then harvested the antibody, called IgY-urease, from chicken eggs. Hatta and colleagues theorized that yogurt containing the antibody may help prevent the bacteria from adhering to the stomach lining.

To test their theory, the scientists recruited 42 people who tested positive for H. pylori. The volunteers consumed two cups daily of either plain yogurt or yogurt containing the antibody for four weeks. Levels of urea, a byproduct of urease, decreased significantly in the antibody group when compared with the control group, indicating reduced bacterial activity, the researchers say.

"The results indicate that the suppression of H. pylori infection in humans could be achieved by drinking yogurt fortified with urease antibody," Hatta states. The antibody was eventually destroyed by stomach acid, but not before having its beneficial effect.

Although the yogurt appears less effective than antibiotics for reducing levels of H. pylori, it is a lot easier to take than medicine and can be eaten daily as part of regular dietary routine, Hatta says. The antibody does not affect the yogurt's overall taste and does not cause any apparent adverse side effects, he notes.

But anti-ulcer yogurt is not for everyone, Hatta cautions. He notes that people who are allergic to milk or eggs should avoid the product. Although the yogurt contains egg yolk, which tends to have lower allergen levels than egg white, an allergy risk still exists, he adds.
Pharma Food International Company, Ltd. a Japanese firm that does research and development on the functional food ingredients, including the anti-ulcer yogurt, provided partial funding for the study.

Reference:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090322154405.htm

-Katrina A. Tan

Dog vs parrot

Even animals want yogurt. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aVD6LYWzavQ

-Katrina A. Tan

Fighting Arthritis with Yogurt

Yogurt rules at reducing the inflammation that triggers arthritis (and a host of other chronic, debilitating diseases).Yogurt provides inflammation-fighting bacteria, shuts down inflammatory chemicals in the body and helps control inflammatory glucose and insulin. Yogurt from grass-fed cows is definitely the best, as it has up to five times more anti-inflammatory CLA than yogurt from grain-fed cows.
1. Yogurt tackles inflammation with its bacteria. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled  study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology reports that yogurt bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus significantly decreased C-reactive protein (CPR) levels in the body. CRP levels are a blood marker for inflammation. Less inflammation means less pain.
This trial also showed that different bacteria strains have different abilities to affect inflammation. We would love to see similar research on other yogurt bacteria strains. (Note: Nancy’s yogurt is currently the only yogurt in the US that contains L. rhamnosus.)

2. Yogurt fights inflammation by shutting down cytokine production in at least 2 ways. The study mentioned above also showed that L. rhamnosus reduces the body’s production of cytokines, body chemicals that turn on inflammation in the joints.  Yogurt has another way to turn off those harmful cytokines, thanks to its lactoferrin. A 2005 review of lactoferrin studies “strongly suggests that lactoferrin is one of the key molecules” responsible for reducing inflammation.

3. Yogurt protects you from inflammation by balancing blood sugar. Yogurt literally knocks the tops off the glucose/insulin spikes that cause raging levels of inflammation in our arteries.  How does yogurt accomplish this? Its protein slows digestion. So glucose enters the blood stream at a more even, steady rate, triggering a slower stream of insulin. And since the bacteria predigest some of the sugars, less insulin is required overall. This also reduces inflammation.

4. Yogurt from grass-fed cows gives you increased anti-inflammatory power. Research shows that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is an important anti-inflammatory. And a study published in the Journal of Dairy Science shows that grass-fed cows have three to five times more CLA than cows raised on grain.  Similar studies show that milk from pastured cows has much higher levels of a variety of important nutrients, including the anti-inflammatory omega-3 oils.

5. What’s the right yogurt? Choose plain, unsweetened yogurt from happy, organically raised, grass-fed cows or goats. Avoid like the plague any yogurt that has added sugar, fake sugar, cookies, chemicals or unpronounceable additives that can cause inflammation. You want the live yogurt cultures of ancient healing traditions, not sugary, dead impostors.

Reference:
http://myhealingkitchen.com/medical-conditions/arthritis/arthritis-make-it-better/yogurt-fights-arthritis-inflammation-in-five-ways/


- Katrina A. Tan

Let's look back then...

The History of Yogurt

The word yogurt comes from a Turkish word meaning to curdle or to thicken. Today it is spelled yogurt, yoghurt, or yogourt, with yogurt being the most common American spelling.

It’s probable that the earliest yogurt was made by accident in Mesopotamia around 5,000 BC, when milk-producing animals were first domesticated. The milk was likely stored and transported in bags made from the stomachs of these animals, and the digestive juices and bacteria in the stomach linings made the milk coagulate and become acidic. Not only was it a new and interesting food, but the acidity and helped to keep it edible for longer than if it had just sat out in a bowl or jar.

There is also some evidence of yogurt being used as a cleaning product and a beauty lotion as early as 2000 BC. The acidity of the yogurt helps clean away dirt and rust, and also helps clear away dead skin and nourish healthy skin cells.

Yogurt was a popular food in the Middle East for thousands of years, and has been a staple of the Eastern European diet. It’s now eaten throughout the world, as a main course, a snack, an ingredient in many recipes, and a condiment. It has gained considerable popularity in America in the last forty or fifty years, in keeping with general trends toward organic, cultured, and nutrient-dense foods.

Yogurt can be mildly tart or quite sour, and can be thick enough to stand up on a plate, or thin enough to pour, or anywhere in between. It contains protein and calcium as well as a variety of vitamins. Additionally, the process of yogurt fermentation is very similar to the process of digestion, so it can be easily consumed.

Many people eat yogurt plain, while others prefer to mix it with fruits or vegetables, or to add flavors or sweeteners. It is used in a variety of recipes as a flavor enhancer or leavening, and frequently enjoyed as a refreshing drink.

~Villanueva, Destinee Anne L.

©www.culturesforhealth.com

 

 

DIY: Beauty Trick

Let me share a video of my favorite beauty guru from YT sharing bits of her beauty secret :)

 

~ Villanueva, Destinee Anne L.

Myths About Frozen Yogurt

#1. Frozen yogurt is naturally nonfat or low-fat, so I can have as much as I want.
Partially true. While most frozen yogurt is nonfat or very low in fat the calories still add up. Most nonfat "original" or "plain" (typically the lowest-calorie flavor at most frozen yogurt shops) is about 30-35 calories per ounce with about 20g of sugar—meaning that a large 16-ounce cup weighs in at 380 calories and 76g of sugar before adding any toppings.

Diet Tip: If you're going to spoon down one of these delicious frozen snacks, stick with the small for about 150 calories or the medium for 230 (just see Frozen Yogurt Myth 2 before you decide).

#2. Those toppings don't pack many calories.
True—if you go for fruit. Stay away from popular "healthy" snack toppers like granola, which adds 138 calories and 6.8g of fat per ounce, or a cereal such as Cap'n Crunch, which adds 116 calories and 3g of fat per ounce. Other "healthy" frozen yogurt add-ons to avoid include yogurt chips (150 calories, 8g fat per ounce), dried cranberries (96 calories, 0.4g fat per ounce) and mixed nuts (168 calories, 15g of fat per ounce).

Diet tip: For a variety of flavor and texture, add a few different fruits. One ounce of fruit is about 15 calories and 0.1g fat—and gives your frozen snack an added boost of vitamins and nutrients. Just make sure fruit is fresh, not in a sugary (and caloric) syrup.

#3. Frozen yogurt is full of healthy probiotics that support my immune and digestive systems.

True and false. While it's true that probiotics are naturally found in yogurt, those healthy bacteria don't always make their way into your digestive tract. "Shelf-life, manufacturing processes, stomach fluid and—particularly in the case of frozen yogurt—extreme temperatures can prevent probiotics from surviving and getting to where they can do the most benefit," says Marshall Fong, VP of Marketing at Ganeden Biotech, Inc. Although frozen yogurt does contain probiotics, the majority of them do not survive long enough for you to reap the rewards.

Diet tip: Frozen yogurt manufacturers, like Red Mango, are beginning to realize the delicacy of probiotics and are starting to use strains that can survive the freezing process and other challenges these healthy bacteria face. In the meantime try a supplement like Digestive Advantage, Sustenex, and AZO to get the full health benefits of probiotics.

#4. Frozen yogurt is a great lunch. I make lunch out of regular yogurt, why not frozen?
False. Frozen yogurt (and regular yogurt for that matter) is not an appropriate meal. A small serving (1 1/2 cups) of frozen yogurt does provide about 15 percent of your daily calcium and 5.5g of protein, but it also packs 30 grams of sugar. You'd never drink a glass of milk and call it lunch, yet the same serving of 1 percent milk provides 45 percent of your calcium, 19g of sugar and a much more significant 12.3g of protein.

Diet tip: Like regular yogurt, frozen yogurt can be a healthy accompaniment to a light lunch. For a well-rounded meal try a protein and vegetable rich sandwich followed by a small frozen yogurt topped with 3 ounces of your favorite fruits and 5 chopped almonds. Altogether, this lunch will set you back just 430 calories while providing a great balance of fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy and carbohydrates. Plus, it satisfies your frozen snack sweet tooth too!

#5. "Real" or "natural" frozen yogurt is better for me than the Ben & Jerry's version.
False. While all frozen yogurts are not created equal, they are fairly comparable. Pinkberry, one of the leaders of the "real" frozen yogurt movement, serves up 116 calories, 0g of fat and 20g of sugar per half cup. TCBY boasts 98 percent fat free vanilla, which weighs in at 120 calories, 2g fat and 17g of sugar. Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt is basically on par with 130 calories, 1.5g fat and 16g of sugar in half a cup of their vanilla frozen yogurt.

Diet tip: Before you indulge in a frozen snack, think about what you're getting. Lots of women order the large (16 oz) cup at their favorite frozen yogurt shop and think they've made a healthy choice. Throw on sliced banana and a sprinkling of shredded coconut and you're looking at 530 calories. That's more than an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's vanilla frozen yogurt (520 calories). If you're looking for quantity and all the goodies along with it, you're better off splitting a pint of Ben & Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie frozen yogurt with a friend. It will set you each back 320 calories and 5g fat, many fewer calories than a large fro yo—and way less money too!

~Villanueva, Destinee Anne L.

© http://www.shape.com

Some Uses of Yogurt You May Not Know About (CADENA)

I love yogurt and over the years have tried finding a variety of ways to put it to use for both health and creative purposes. As a health care worker and mom of active children, yogurt often came to the rescue in some surprising ways.

The health benefits of eating yogurt on a daily basis is often advertised and preached in health magazines and commercials. Yogurt made from active cultures has been shown to enhance your immune system, prevent diarrhea and yeast infections, sooth and help prevent stomach ulcers and is even a healthy addition to your pet's diet . Have you wondered how many other uses is there for a container of plain, active- culture yogurt?

Facials: To cleanse, moisturize and tighten. Simply apply a generous coating of plain, active-culture yogurt to your face , close your eyes and relax for 20 minutes then rinse well with cool clear water.

Revitalizing Facial Mask : 1 teaspoon plain active-culture yogurt, 1tsp fresh orange juice with pulp, 1 tsp of aloe. Mix together well and spread onto face, allow to sit at least 5 minutes before rinsing off with cool clear water. ( Cool cucumber slices on your closed eyes while you wait for either of these treatments really does reduce puffiness and redness as well!)

Relieve sunburn pain: My children often got too much sun before I realized just how long it had been since the sunscreen was applied. A coating of plain yogurt quickly cools hot sensitive skin and adds much needed moisture. Of course your little ones will groan 'Ewwww....gross!' but then giggle as the cool yogurt starts easing the burn! For extra moisture you can add a dollop of aloe gel to the yogurt before applying. Let sit on the red skin for several minutes then toss your little ones into a tub of cool water to rinse off!

While on the topic of children and yogurt here are a few more projects I introduced to them while they were young enough to think I was a 'genius'.

Yogurt Cheese: Introduce this as an 'experiment' and your kids may decide they like this cheese on a cracker better than peanut butter! Simply place a colander in a bowl(to catch liquid) then line the colander with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Pour a pint of plain yogurt into the colander. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight - 24 hours. The longer it drains the firmer your cheese will be. Then blend cheese with your choice of herbs and enjoy in dips or spreads in place of cream cheese. Each child can make their own flavor combination!

Finger Paints: Yogurt makes a great edible finger paint. All you need is a few drops of food color to make the 'paint' any color you wish. You can even give a lesson in primary and secondary colors and show the little ones how yellow & blue=green or red & yellow=orange. Then see how many colors you can come up with. Spread a large drop cloth under the work area for easy clean up. Better yet, use an inexpensive disposable tablecloth and simple toss in the trash after the fun is done! Also works great to 'paint the sides of the shower' while playing in the tub. Easily rinses off with cold water!

Moss 'Paint': You need to help prepare this one mom. I suggest getting an old blender at a yard sale for this project. It will come in handy for future messes you don't want mixed with edible food later as well!

Into a blender, pour a pint of plain active-culture yogurt, a few good size pieces of lawn or yard moss and a cup of water. This can be painted onto terra cotta pots to give an 'aged' look when placed on the patio or garden for a few days. If you have a damp shady area under some bushes or trees that nothing seems to grow in, pour the remaining 'moss paint' in the area and keep damp, you should soon see the moss grow and spread in the 'painted area'. Why not try 'painting the ground in a design? Perhaps your child's initials?

Pets: Don't fprget your pets out when considering the benefits of yogurt. If you have a pet who tends to get 'gassy', it is often a result of not enough live bacteria in their digestive tract. Add a few tablespoons of yogurt to the pet's meals and you should see a difference in just a few days.

Has Fido found something foul to roll in or tried to play tag with a pole cat? Massage a thick layer of yogurt into their fur before giving them a bath for a squeaky clean and fresh smelling furry friend! A yogurt massage once a month, before his bath,will help Fido's fur shin and cut down on dogie dandruff as well!

-CADENA, Maria Monica A. (from yahoo.com)

Lemon Yogurt Cupcakes Recipe (CADENA)

Ingredients

• 1 14 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 14 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 12 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
• 1 egg
• 12 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tsps grated lemon zest
• 3 tbsps fresh lemon juice
• 12 tsp lemon extract

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 350F and use muffin pan, lined with paper liners.
2 In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
3 In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, butter and egg until smooth. Add yogurt, lemon zest and juice and lemon extract, beating until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating just until smooth.
4 Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 22 to 25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.
5 Top cooled cupcakes with your favorite icing.

-CADENA, Maria Monica A. (from food.com)

Funky Facts and Fun with Yogurt (CADENA)

Well, enough of that health benefit lecture, let’s look at what people around the world really think of yogurt, okay, doctor out of the window, just old wives tales, some of them are real by the way, don’t dismiss.

-In Nepal, Yogurt is believed to bring good luck when one leaves the house for a special purpose. So before a journey, one has to hog some yogurt for good luck, and before a wedding, the groom has to be fed some yogurt by his mother. Hmmm, what about the bride? Well, I guess she doesn’t need it because it’s usually the guy who is screwed after saying ‘I do’.

-In parts of Punjab, it is believed that having yogurt before exams ensures success (even when you haven’t studied). So folks, if those ATKTs won’t go away, you know the reason why, you didn’t drop into yogurt bay before going for the paper.

- In Turkey, they believe that if you want to make good quality sweet yogurt, you have to pick bushes from the grave yard and throw them in the fire that’s used to warm the milk. So in case you see the guy who served you the other day at Yogurt bay near a cemetery, no, don’t be scared, he’s not a vampire.

- Oh by the way, every month has a lucky food to go with it, black eyed peas (not the band) for January, Noodles for February etc… and yes, Yogurt for May. But if you ask me, I think frozen yogurt is all rounder, January to January.

- They say that ice cream is a comfort food, and improves “LOOOVE”. BUT! It also brings along with it, piles and piles of calories, so guess what can bring all this minus the calories ; ) hehehehe *wicked laugh*

- Okay, this one here, guys pretend like they are not affected, but after a heavy dose of antibiotics, we are all susceptible to yeast infections, and the doctor might prescribe more medicines to deal with that, but the simples and best solution is eat a lot of yogurt and you’ll be fine. (NB, fact not fiction).

And for all that acne that is ruining your pretty/handsome face, yogurt is cool to treat that too, you can either take it orally, or apply it directly on your face to make a facial mask, but yeah right! Fat chance I’ll be applying my yummy yogurt on my face, I don’t have Scooby Doo’s tongue to lick it off after that.

-The name yogurt is derived from the Turkish term ‘yogurur’ which means long life. So the Turks knew a thing or two about the health benefits of yogurt eh? But sorry, if you walk into yogurt bay and ask for ‘a cup of long life’ most likely the dude behind the counter will tell you missed the entry to the temple a few yards back.

-okay, so how was yogurt discovered? Well, that’s a controversial one, they say over 5,000 years ago, some nomadic dudes were roaming in Europe with goat milk in bags, and after a few days, the stuff became semi solid, then the craziest of the dudes decided to taste that funky stuff that hitherto, no one dared taste coz they thought it would bring instant death. Then crazy dude says hey! It tastes great, and the whole world then joined in the scramble to make their milk go bad so that they could taste it after churning it in bags, and yogurt bay was born (sorry, I mean yogurt). But I doubt that Europeans are the ones who came down to India to teach us about yogurt, there must be a better explanation of its origin, our in house scientist, Dr. Swirl will research on it and let you know next time. 

-CADENA, Maria Monica A. (from yogurtbay.com)