The principle of yogurt for digestion

The overwhelming yogurt commercials seem to have implanted in most of our minds the idea that yogurt promotes digestion and the absorption of food nutrients. Is this in fact true? Follow Lohas.com to find out the truth.

The first step is to select probiotic yogurt

Yogurt is fermented milk, which is richer in nutrients than regular milk, but the function of improving digestion is what ordinary lactic acid bacteria (S bacteria: Streptococcus thermophilus and L bacteria: Lactobacillus bulgaricus) cannot do, only probiotics (B bacteria: Bifidobacterium lactis and A bacteria: Lactobacillus acidophilus) can help digestion. If the yogurt contains only L and S bacteria, it is only a yogurt that is more nutritious than milk, but it does not promote digestion. Only yogurts with A and B bacteria or either of them in the ingredient list can be called probiotic yogurts, i.e. yogurts that promote digestion. Secondly, active probiotics enter the human intestine to promote digestion. To achieve this, the following two conditions must be met.

Probiotics are still active before drinking yogurt

As probiotics require a high, or even harsh, living environment, it is an extremely difficult task to ensure that the probiotics we drink into our stomachs are still alive. Probiotic yogurt requires a cold chain from production, storage and transportation to sales, and the storage temperature from beginning to end should be kept below 4°C. This is the reason why yogurt is sold at low-temperature counters. If you see probiotic yogurt on the room temperature shelf, then the probiotics inside are not active at all, and there is no need to spend more money than ordinary yogurt to buy probiotic yogurt. In addition, the time between buying yogurt from the supermarket and putting it in the refrigerator at home should not exceed two hours, because after a bottle of probiotic yogurt has been de-cooled for more than two hours, the probiotic bacteria that can survive are very few.

Probiotics reach the intestine alive

When probiotics reach the intestine through the mouth and digestive tract, the percentage of probiotics that can remain active is relatively low. This is because the stomach acid and bile in the digestive tract extinguish most of the probiotics. Therefore to increase the number of live probiotics in the intestine can be done in the following three ways. (1) expand the base of active probiotics intake. People can choose yogurt with relatively high probiotic content in the process of purchasing yogurt. (2) Choose probiotic yogurt with a more tenacious life force. In the same environment, the more active yogurt can be more likely to be alive in the intestinal tract. According to research, the more tenacious probiotic bacteria are LGG, BB-12 and Daidan bacteria, Daidan bacteria exist in the common Yakult. (3) Choose the right time to drink yogurt. If there is acid accumulation in the human stomach, it means that there is more secretion of stomach acid, if you drink yogurt at this time, then the survival rate of probiotics will be very low. If you drink probiotic yogurt when the stomach acid secretion is less, the survival rate of probiotics will be greatly improved. Generally speaking, the amount of stomach acid secreted by the body is the most after meals, and the least amount is secreted when you wake up in the morning.

Conclusion

1. Regular yogurt (without live probiotics) is more absorbable than raw milk, but does not promote human digestion of other foods. 2. Yogurt that promotes food digestion and absorption must: a. contain probiotics (A bacteria: Lactobacillus acidophilus and B bacteria: Bifidobacterium lactis); b. remain active before drinking. I hope that this article can help you to dispel the rumors, live more scientifically and healthily, and drink the yogurt that really promotes digestion.