5 Surprising Health Benefits of Yogurt

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In honor of the Tour the World by Food blog hop, I decided to share with you some of the most amazing health benefits of yogurt – New York’s official “food”.

Didn’t know that New York has an official food? Well, it does! Yogurt! Isn’t that fun?

I was going to share with you a recipe (I have one here), but decided to share with you instead WHY you should eat it, since you probably have a few ideas HOW to eat it. Oh, yeah! I also will share with you how to get your kids to eat it (besides for serving it sugary sweet.)

5 health benefits of yogurt: 

Note: all of these are POSSIBLE health benefits, and results are not guaranteed. Source 

• Calcium –  Yogurt has plenty of calcium, a key ingredient in preventing osteoporosis.
• Active cultures, probiotics –   This is possibly the most famous health benefit of yogurt. It helps in improving gut health, and minimizing diarrhea, lactose intolerance, and a lot of other digestive issues. 
• The full factor – just like milk, yogurt makes you feel full! This is wonderful for you when you’re trying to get the most out of your calories. However, be careful with young children who need the calories! I give it to M to eat AFTER he’s had other food to eat. 
• Protein – If your toddler is like mine, and you struggle more with protein intake than vegetables, yogurt is a wonderful, protein-rich food! You can check out more easy proteins for toddlers to self-feed here. 
• Low fat dairy – yogurt fits into the low fat dairy category (if you choose a low-fat variety), which is said to lower blood pressure.

See why we always have yogurt in our house? Well, almost always. We happen to be out right now…

How to get your kids to eat yogurt: 

(Disclosure: contains Amazon affiliate links)

Children are very happy to eat yogurt – if it’s crazy sweet, and maybe even frozen. So how do you get them to eat the plain, no-sugar-added variety? Here are a few tips to help your children get the most out of the health benefits of yogurt.

1. Mix in fruit – if your children don’t go for whole fruit, add applesauce, or any pureed fruit. It’s sweet like flavored yogurt in the store, but without processed sugars.

2. Freeze it – they’re much more likely to eat it if it’s a frozen treat! So add fruit and freeze in ice pop molds, or freeze in ice cube trays and make smoothies. 

3. Shake it up – OK, adding Snickers ice cream bars might not be the healthiest way to serve it, but there are so many other things you can add in! Blend it with peanut butter, bananas, blueberries… You can even make a “yogurt shake bar” and allow your children to choose what goes in.

4. Sip it with a straw – everything tastes better with a straw, doesn’t it? It actually works wonders with getting a baby (who can have dairy products) or a toddler to self-feed. I use this straw sippy cup to serve it. For big kids, fun straws work wonders. 

Image attribution: yogurt image is modified from this image. 

Want to check out other official foods from around the world? Check out the list by clicking on the image below. You’ll find many delicious recipes to try, and ways to explore different cultures from your own home!

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