[spoiler alert] Most store-bought yogurt is NOT as good
for you as you think it is...

If you eat yogurt, I've got a great guest article here from my
friend and top nutrition specialist Mike Geary that you'll definitely
want to read.

You'll discover the major problems with some types of yogurt
and also which food you can eat that's BETTER for you than
yogurt...

Nick

------

The Problem with Yogurt (a MUST-read
if you eat yogurt)
By Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of the Best Seller: The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging

As you've probably noticed in the last couple of years, probiotics
are all the rage as one of THE most important factors that
helps control your immune system (an estimated 70% of
your immune system resides in your gut), as well as your
digestive system health (and over 170 other health conditions
that can relate in some way to your gut flora).

Most people "think" they get enough health-boosting probiotics
from yogurt (the average person eats yogurt almost daily).
Unfortunately, there are some problems with yogurt that you
need to be aware of...


1. First problem with yogurt:

Some brands of yogurt actually contain live cultures and
some do not. Almost all yogurts found in the US start with
pasteurized milk... that's not such a problem because once
the live cultures are added and the milk fermented, you once
again have a live and active food that's easier to digest than
regular milk and has a reduced lactose content due to the
consumption of lactose by the microbes.

Sadly, some brands pasteurize the yogurt AFTER it's been
fermented (cultured) which kills the beneficial probiotics.
On the other hand, most good brands of yogurt do NOT
pasteurize after fermenting, so the probiotics are still alive
for your benefit.

The amount of probiotics in yogurt varies widely based
on the brand and type, but I've seen estimates anywhere
from 1 Billion to 6 Billion CFUs per cup. This is decent,
but low compared to some other probiotic sources we'll
discuss in a bit.

The KEY is that you need to look for "live and active cultures"
on the label, or another labeling that indicates the probiotics
are still active.


2. Second problem with yogurt:

Most yogurts in the US are sadly adulterated with way
too many sweeteners, whether sugar, corn syrup, or
artificial sweeteners.

Remember that sucralose kills probiotics, so any yogurt
that's been sweetened with sucralose (aka, splenda) will
most likely have a greatly reduced probiotic content or
possibly even be fully dead.

And most other yogurts are produced to appease the
overly aggressive sweet taste buds of American consumers,
so they simply contain too much sugar to be considered
healthy.

I always recommend choosing unsweetened plain yogurt or
plain greek yogurt and adding your own stevia or other
natural sweetener if you need extra sweetness beyond the
addition of whole fruit. Personally, I love to simply add a
small scoop of Biotrust Low-Carb Vanilla protein to my
plain yogurt (along with some berries and nuts) and it
makes the PERFECT sweetness in my opinion!

I also personally choose FULL-fat yogurt and not all of
this silly skim 0% yogurt that's out there these days.
Remember that the extra fat in full-fat yogurt satisfies your
appetite and cravings so that you eat less calories later in
the day. Also, if you can find yogurt from grass-fed cows,
the fat portion of the yogurt is VERY healthy and contains
powerful vitamin K2 (shown to reduce heart disease risk)
as well as CLA (found to reduce cancer risk and help to
reduce body fat), and also omega-3 fats, which you also
know are vital to your health.


3. Third problem with yogurt:

The last problem with yogurt that I wanted to bring to
your attention today is that yogurt is not necessarily the
best source of probiotics, both in terms of quantity and also
variety of strains.

Variety is KEY when it comes to the overall power of probiotics
for your immunity and digestion.

Most yogurts only contain 3-4 strains of probiotics. On the
other hand, Kefir is a fermented dairy drink that contains
anywhere from 10-20 strains of probiotics depending on
the brand and type. In addition, Lassi is an Indian style
fermented dairy drink that also contains a much wider variety
of strains than yogurt does.

In terms of quantity of probiotics, yogurts generally contain
between 1 Billion to 5 Billion CFU's per cup, whereas most
Kefir or Lassi contains anywhere from 7 Billion to 50 Billion
active CFU's per cup depending on the brand and type.
Most yogurts are only cultured for 2-3 hours, whereas kefir
is generally cultured for 12-16 hours, increasing it's probiotic
content and making it easier for digestion.

Also, most Kefir is 99% lactose free and is by far the easiest
to digest type of dairy on the market due to the "predigestion"
that the active cultures perform on the kefir before you drink it.

Kefir is a GREAT addition to any smoothies that you make
instead of using water or almond milk because you get the
immune system and digestive system benefits of the
probiotics in Kefir, which you can't get in almond milk.

Again, I personally choose FULL-FAT (for the reasons I
described above with full-fat yogurt as well) when I look for
a good kefir and I try to find grass-fed as well. If I don't use
kefir in smoothies, one way I like it is just simply to add a
small touch of real maple syrup, vanilla, and chia seeds to
a cup of kefir -- amazingly delicious snack for anytime!

Interestingly, I recently found out from their website that
Lifeway brand kefir is made from grass-fed milk in ALL of
their products (even though they don't include that on the
labels), so the fat content in Lifeway kefir will also contain
those ever so important nutrients of vitamin K2 for heart
health, CLA for cancer protection and body fat reduction,
and omega 3 fats for overall health. The full-fat greek kefir
by Lifeway is my favorite and I use it almost every day!

With all of this said about yogurt and kefir, please note that
I do NOT drink regular commercial milk that's been pasteurized
and homogenized. It's a dead food that has harmful
microscopic fat particles due to the homogenization. On the
other hand, yogurts and kefirs generally start with pasteurized
milk, (but NOT homogenized), and are made alive and easier
to digest again through the fermentation process.

For this reason, I choose to NEVER use commercial milk,
but I use yogurt several times a week, and I use Kefir DAILY
because of it's health benefits and great taste.

Lastly, if you're skeptical that ANY dairy could possibly be
good for you because you've fallen for certain anti-animal
food propaganda that floats around out there on the internet,
here's one last fact to consider that might make vegans want
to switch to vegetarians...

It's well known that in the Caucasus Mountains and other areas
of eastern Europe, that natives to that area drink kefir daily
throughout their lives and routinely live to over 100 years old.
And in India, fermented dairy in the form of Lassi is routinely
consumed with daily meals, and they display much better
health than the average American.

Clearly, if "dairy was bad for you" as many so-called "experts"
seem to like to claim, these natives in the Caucasus Mountains
that drink dairy every day of their lives wouldn't be living to
100 years old! Just shows you to beware of who you trust
for your health information.

I have another article coming up soon for you about why
dairy fat is being shown in many studies to PROTECT you
from heart disease, despite the false propaganda you've
been fed for years now about dairy fat being "deadly". This
shocks most people! But there's a lot more to the story and
I'll explain more in the next article on this topic coming soon.

Lastly for today, now that you know the vital importance of
probiotics to your digestion, immunity, and overall health,
make sure to check this out:


Find out if you have a DANGEROUS bacterial imbalance in
your gut (handy quiz)


Also, remember that VARIETY of probiotics is KEY... that's
why in addition to kefir, lassi, yogurt, and fermented veggies
(krauts, kvaas, etc) as good sources for a variety of strains of
probiotics, I also personally take this powerful probiotic
supplement daily, which I think is particularly powerful due
to the micro-encapsulation technology which keeps the
probiotics alive through your harsh stomach so that they
can properly colonize your intestines.

To your success!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of the Best Seller: The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging

-------------

Hope you enjoed the article!

Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"



P.S. If you know anybody else who might benefit from this
information, feel free to forward this email to them!

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Plain text links from this email
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/7/foods-that-fight-aging.htm
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/biotrust/protein.htm
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/biotrust/probiotic.htm
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/biotrust/probiotic2.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------