“regular consumption of yogurt with live and active cultures”
Is there a way around eating yogurt, e.g., supplements, to get the same benefits? I know it’s good for you, but it’s the one thing that triggers my gag reflex and I couldn’t possibly eat it. (When DH eats it, I have to go to another room because of the smell.) I would love to have the benefits, though.
I’ve not tried any supplements - this is just my anecdotal experience. I would think that as long as they have live active cultures it should be worth a try. I sometimes only eat yogurt once a week.
I also limited my consecutive red meat intake (e.g. if I have a burger at lunch and a steak for dinner I’ll not have any the next day). I first tried activia but when I got tired of all the sweetness of it I changed over to plain yogurt. I avoid the ‘plain yogurt’ varieties which are really ‘sugar flavored’ as they have added sugar.
You don’t have to eat yogurt to get the good bacteria as dairy isn’t the only food that is fermented. Sauerkraut, kombucha, pickles are all fermented options. Check the natural food section to get kombucha (tea beverage) or sauerkraut and pickles that are made the old fashioned way by fermentation rather than with vinegar to get the tang.
There are many different cultures of yogurt.
IIRC the FDA requires all commercial yogurt to be made from a similar culture to be labeled as yogurt.
Kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut... some beers, most fermented foods. All different cultures sometimes different side effects.
As with most ethnic foods, every village has different variations. Some kimchi, I cannot stand, but love my homemade version.
See #19.
You might check out a product called Bio Salud:
It’s a cultured dairy drink packaged in little 2.1 oz. “shots”. Very tasty in a non-yogurty way. Sold at Walmart in the yogurt aisle — 99 cents for a six pack. Dannon makes a similar product but it’s much more expensive.