Yogurt is a derivative of milk suitable even for people intolerant to lactose. Rich in calcium and vitamins, yogurt rebalances the intestine and is a healthy and rich food. Let's find out better.
Properties and benefits of yogurt
Whole yoghurt contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats, a good percentage of calcium, vitamins, especially those of group B. A very satiating food, suitable for low-calorie diets, promotes the exchange of bile and balances cholesterol ; just think that a jar of 150 g of natural yoghurt supplies one third of the recommended daily intake of calcium at only 90-100 kcal.
Even those who suffer from lactose intolerance can benefit from this food, because lactose, through fermentation, breaks down into two sugars, glucose and galactose, easily assimilated by the body.
The acidity of yogurt promotes the development of an intestinal bacterial flora able to counteract the putrefactive phenomena that occur in the intestine. This action is due to the proportion between two fermenting microorganisms, Streptococcus termophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and the starting quality of the milk.
The whole white yoghurts on the market have more or less the same nutritional values and the preference may depend on the number of live cultures reported on the package. Other fruit yoghurts, cereals, etc. they must also be evaluated based on the caloric content.
Yogurt, ally of
Intestine, skin, central nervous system. Yogurt is also an ally of mothers : it is essential for proper nutrition during pregnancy, for developing the fetus because it increases folic acid levels.
Yogurt among natural probiotic supplements: discover the others!
Cosmetic use of yogurt
Many and many appreciate the double use that can be made of yogurt, which can be summed up in the motto: if you don't eat it, spread it! Any examples?
Moisturizing mask
Get a blender and mix a banana, 125 ml of natural yogurt, a tablespoon of honey and 2 tablespoons of oil. Spread on the skin and leave to act for 20 minutes and then rinse with plenty of warm water.
Toning mask
Mix a jar of yogurt with the juice of 3 tomatoes. Separately boil 100 ml of distilled water and 50 g of oatmeal. Once cooled mix everything until you get a creamy mixture to spread on the face. Leave on for 20 minutes then rinse with warm water.
Use in the kitchen
Here is the recipe for a healthy breakfast based on yogurt croissants.
Melt 125 g of butter in a bain-marie, then let it cool. Pour 250 g of flour into a mixer with 1/2 sachet of yeast, cooled melted butter, 125 g of whole natural yoghurt and a pinch of salt. Run the mixer until the mixture is compact.
Knead the dough by hand, spread flour on the pastry board and roll out the dough in a circle with a rolling pin. Cut it into 8 slices, adjust the edges and stretch each slice with a rolling pin. Stuffed with jam, Nutella or honey, roll the croissants, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put them in the oven at 180 ° for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
Trivia about yogurt
- A term of Caucasian origin, the etymology can be traced back to the Turkish word yoğurmak, which means "to mix with a tool." Other sources link the term to the Arabic yogurut which means "thick milk".
- Balle spatiali, famous parody of Star Wars, is a 1987 film directed by Mel Brooks. The director in the film plays a character called Yogurt who re-elaborates the famous sentence pronounced by Obi-Wan Kenobi from " May the force be with you to May the Effort be with you!"
- The cradle of yogurt was Danone. The first to study yogurt in the laboratory was the Russian microbiologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, intrigued by the longevity of the Bulgarian populations. He discovered how important Lactobacillus bulgaricus was for our body's health and convinced Spanish entrepreneur Isaac Carasso to develop industrial technologies for yogurt production. Carasso invested in the idea of the microbiologist and in 1919 he built the first commercial plant for the production of yogurt in Barcelona, calling his business Danone (it is the diminutive of the name of his son, Daniel, in Catalan) present on the market today. Isaac's heir, Daniel Carasso died in Paris in 2009 at the age of 103 years. On the occasion of the ninetieth anniversary of the product, Daniel Carasso declared to the press: My dream was to transform Danone into a product known throughout the world . A dream come true, from father to son.
- Between July and August, in the splendid setting of Vipiteno, take place the Yogurt Days: tasty tastings, musical entertainment and not, captivating offers.
