Yogurt is a delicious dairy product. However, not all yoghurts are healthy. We can only talk about the benefits if this product contains live bacteria and does not contain artificial colors, preservatives or flavors.
Natural yogurt is a dairy product made from whole milk without the use of chemical colors, thickeners or preservatives. Due to the absence of preservatives, its shelf life does not exceed two weeks. Natural yoghurt can contain fruits and berries.
How to distinguish natural from unnatural yogurt?
The assortment of yoghurts in city stores is huge, but in crowded supermarket windows you will most likely find only pasteurized dairy products with a shelf life of more than a month.
The first thing to look for when choosing yoghurt is the shelf life. If it exceeds two weeks, the product does not contain live bacteria, which means that there will be no health benefits from its use. For the intestinal microflora, only that yogurt is useful, which contains live bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria. Ideally, you should buy yogurt with a shelf life of no more than one week. The less fermented milk product is stored, the more nutrients it retains.
It is not recommended to buy yoghurt if its packaging has an inscription “the product has been heat-treated”. This means that the product has been pasteurized after cooking, so there are no live bacteria left in it.
When choosing natural yoghurt, you should pay attention to its composition. This product must contain the bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and the presence of Lactobacillus acidophilus is also desirable.
Pay attention to the calorie content of the product, it is best that it be no more than 250 kcal. The higher the calorie content, the more various additives (sweeteners, thickeners, fat, etc.) are in the composition of yogurt.
Can you make natural yoghurt at home?
If you have not found normal yogurt in stores, you can prepare it yourself. And for this it is not even necessary to have a yogurt maker, you can get by with an ordinary thermos. You will need a thermometer (for liquids and foods), fresh milk, yoghurt starter (available from pharmacies), and you can add any berries and fruits you like to the yoghurt.
The milk must be boiled. After it cools down to a temperature of 40-45 ° C, it should be poured into a clean thermos. Then sourdough is added to the milk and the thermos is closed with a lid. After 6-8 hours, the yogurt will be ready. The finished product should be refrigerated. Fruits and berries can be added to it just before consumption.
