Revised: Why Is Eating Yogurt Daily – And Your Gut’s Health – Creating a Healthcare Revolution?

My Yogurt-Filled Frig!

Possibly the most significant nutrition discovery in decades is all about your gut, and it can make or break your health, in ways that are shocking. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it has caused a health care revolution. A healthy gut affects every organ in your body – from your brain to your toes – and, for a variety of reasons, most Americans (and that could be you) have an unhealthy gut, one that causes disease and distress. I believe eating yogurt daily is one of the only methods, and certainly the easiest one, we can use to make up for the healthy gut we abused and lost while growing up and now as adults. Why is this critical for your future and your health, as well as the health of your children, friends, relatives, and your elderly parents?

For years, I’ve wondered why people who regularly ate this versatile food seemed more likely to enjoy superior health, fight off illness more effectively, lose body fat more easily – while keeping, and even increasing muscle, seemed more alive, energetic and happy (and even if those benefits were a figment of my imagination). Thankfully, scientific research is now backing my observations of 25+ years. This has been a remarkable nutrition discovery. We always knew the microbiome (the 100 million cells in your gastrointestinal tract) was important, but the new studies show the effects of a healthy or unhealthy microbiome are vast, more than we ever could have imagined. The tired, old saying, “You are what you eat,” Is truer than we ever realized!

The health of your microbiome starts in utero, continues at birth, and in infancy. If you were breastfed, you have many health advantages. For instance, you are less likely to be obese or have diabetes later in life. That’s because breast milk is filled with healthy microbes, called probiotics (and prebiotics, which I’ll discuss later), which boost your immune system. They also decrease insulin resistance, thus lowering your blood sugar and insulin levels. Insulin is a “growth factor” which, when too high, is correlated with heart attack, colon cancer, and other cancers, and is a precurser to diabetes. It is also associated with increased inflammation, a risk factor for diseases from colds and flu, to arthritis, even mental health and risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s.

One cause leading to an unhealthy microbiome in developed countries, is a diet composed of low fiber, refined foods, and a dearth of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. You need these high fiber foods (called prebiotics) to nourish the probiotics, and together in the GI tract they form the critical prebiotic/probiotic duo creating a microbiome teeming with healthy microbes that fight off chronic and acute diseases.

One study found when children are given a high level of antibiotics, they experience more obesity, diabetes and infections later in life when compared with children who received less antibiotic therapy. Of course, antibiotics save lives! But they not only destroy bad, disease-causing bacteria, they also destroy the healthy microbes/bacteria. Scientists are working on finding a balance that would make antibiotics kinder to the good microbes which naturally kill off disease.

It seems the healthiest microbiomes start in infancy, and once that window is closed, it may be very hard, if not impossible, to make up for it as adults. As you age, healthy gut microbes decrease, but when you’re elderly particularly, you are more prone to disease-causing microbes such as Salmonella and E-Coli, making the need for a healthy microbiome more important than ever.

As of yet, there is no test to measure your gut microbes, or the health of your microbiome. We don’t even know everything that we need to be looking for! The gastrointestinal tract is still quite mysterious and idiosyncratic. I work with many clients with GI issues, and their solutions vary widely.

That’s why I believe foods such as yogurt, which contain natural probiotics, are critical to your health. I push all my clients to eat yogurt daily, and I do as well. When someone tells me they don’t like it, I insist they try every flavor or type imaginable until they find one they enjoy. There are even yogurts that are more like desserts, so I encourage people to enjoy those if those are the only yogurts they find delicious (yes, deliciousness is important!). Plain Greek yogurt can be used in place of sour cream in recipes.

More about probiotics and your health…