Health
The Important Reason Why You Should Be Eating Yogurt Every Day
Christine Coppa,
While some herald yogurt as one of the healthiest
snacks out there (live cultures can help our digestive tracks along, and it's packed with calcium,
protein and vitamin D), other studies have shown
that eating it doesn't have a significant effect on
your overall health.
But whether you prefer the Greek stuff or you're
more of a fruit-on-the-bottom type, there's some
good news for yogurt lovers. A new study, funded
by the National Dairy Council and presented at
the American Heart Association's EPI/Lifestyle
2016 Scientific Sessions in Phoenix, says that
women who consumed five or more servings of
yogurt a week had a 20 percent lower risk of developing high blood pressure than women who
hardly ever ate the creamy snack.
"I believe that this is the largest study of its kind
to date to evaluate the specific effects of yogurt
on blood pressure," lead author Justin Buendia, a
PhD candidate at Boston University School of
Medicine, MA, told Medical News Today.
Dairy products like low-fat milk and cheese are
already known to reduce the risk of high blood
pressure in at-risk adults, say the researchers, but
this is the first to look at the independent effect
of yogurt alone. In fact, the team of doctors found
34
a positive link between daily servings of milk and
cheese and lower risk of high blood pressure, but
according to Buendia, this was not as strong as
the effect of yogurt.
So, consider this a ringing endorsement to go nuts
and eat a cup of yogurt a day. Literally-add nuts
(and berries!), because the healthy effects of
eating
yogurt five times a week were even more pronounced in women who also ate a balanced diet
that included lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and
beans (a 31 percent reduction in high blood pressure risk, specifically). "Adding yogurt to an otherwise healthy diet seems to help reduce the longterm risk of high blood pressure in women," noted Buendia.