I’m a big fan of yoghurt… particularly greek yoghurt and organic yoghurt from dairy’s that are against “bobby calves”.
Other than being high in protein, and higher in lysine, for those of you who need extra lysine for health reasons, it makes a yummy super fast healthy snack when mixed with some fresh chopped fruit.
Today, Kara Landau – Dietitian, Founding Manager of Corporate Nutrition Melbourne, Author and Public Speaker is going to share the benefits to your gut and the benefits to you mentally from consuming Greek Yoghurt.
Check it out below… and don’t forget to comment!
Warm regards
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com, VFT – Fun, Hot, NO B.S. Fitness!
Greek Yoghurt To Boost The Gut And The Mind!
By Kara Landau
Did you know that your gut is the most densely populated area within your body with neuro-transmitters (the chemical signals that pass messages throughout your body)? Who would believe that serotonin, your mood elevating neurotransmitter, is actually higher in concentration within your gut, than your brain!
What does this mean?
If you want to elevate your mood, reduce inflammation within your body, and boost your body’s ability to absorb the nutrients from the foods that you eat, keeping your gut lining healthy is extremely important!
So how do you actually keep your gut happy?
Consuming foods rich in probiotics, the live microorganisms found in foods like Greek style yoghurt, is one of the key factors to achieving this! This will ensure that you strengthen your immune system by keeping a healthy balance between the “good” and “bad” bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract, and thereby boost the integrity of your gut lining!
Not a bad result for eating something you would enjoy anyway, right?
A range of studies in humans have shown that consuming probiotic rich formulas help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression related behaviors; Showing that the connection between a healthy gut and healthy brain definitely exists!
And what if you don’t like Greek yoghurt or dairy products?
Don’t worry, there are plenty of other rich sources of probiotics! For example, there is Kefir (which you can make into a dairy free milk or a water based beverage and use in smoothies, drinking yoghurts or even a frozen dessert), sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), kimchi (Korean spicy cabbage), tempeh (a fermented soy bean product), miso and a huge array of other fermented vegetable products that also contain these healthy bacteria that keep your gut and your mind a float.
So next time you question grabbing that second yoghurt for the day out of your fridge, don’t worry, go for it, your stomach, mind, and taste buds will be thanking you for it!
For more information on how to ferment your own vegetables why not check out the following websites?
1. Step by step beginners guide to preparing cultured vegetables: http://pennythoughts.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/cultured-veggie-tutorial-with-step-by- step-photos/
2. Video tutorials on how to make kefir, yoghurt, kombucha and a range of other cultured foods: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/how-to-videos
3. You can also subscribe on this same website and gain access to free e-books with a variety of recipes and ‘how to” manuals: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/free-ebooks-fermented-cultured-foods
4. A directory on where to find kefir grains around the world (for free or the cost of postage): http://www.webaware.com.au/ferment/finding_kefir.php
Kara Landau is the founding manager of Corporate Nutrition Melbourne, an Australia wide workplace nutritional consultancy service provider, as well as highly proactive nutritional communications consultant, public speaker, and author of a world wide released publication ‘The Clean Separation’ – empowering young adults to take control of their lives through nutritious dietary choices during a stressful life event.
Through her social media profiles as the ‘Travelling Dietitian’ Kara continues to provide enlightening, practical and engaging nutritionally focused content in an interactive manner to promote healthy eating in a modern format to the global population.
Kara is a progressive, pragmatic and infectiously passionate dietitian who has appeared on a range of broadcast media, including: A Current Affairs, Channel 7 News, Channel 9 News, Channel 10 news, NovaFM and International Radio. She has also been quoted in numerous publications such as: Womens Health and Fitness, Sunday Life Magazine and Body + Soul.
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