There is a widely held myth in Spain that having more than one yogurt per day is excessive or unnecessary. However, the dietitian, nutritionist, and food technologist Mónica Gacha has completely debunked this belief on her YouTube channel, explaining the real way our body processes yogurts when we consume them daily.
The idea of only being able to have one yogurt a day is entirely uncertain, and even more so for those who rarely consume milk. When it doesn’t settle well, the most common approach is to try to compensate for that calcium shortfall with a yogurt; however, if you only have one, you’re falling short. “With a single yogurt we achieve approximately 25% of the daily recommended calcium intake”, explains the expert. Therefore, if you do not consume other dairy products or other foods rich in this mineral, the expert notes that you would need to have four yogurts per day (the classic 125 ml yogurts) to cover 100% of your needs. If your diet includes other calcium sources, “at least two yogurts would cover roughly 50% of the daily recommended amount”.
Additionally, the expert highlights a key advantage of yogurt over milk: the calcium in yogurt is absorbed much better thanks to its acidic pH, which makes it a perfect food for helping prevent osteoporosis.
How to Choose the Best Yogurt in the Supermarket
When shopping at the supermarket, the expert Mónica Gacha reminds us that not all yogurts are the same and that some can be less healthy if we overdo them. Her main advice is to always choose plain, whole yogurt, since by retaining its original fat content it is “more complete,” fills you up more, and naturally preserves vitamins A and D, which are lost in skimmed varieties and would need to be added artificially. She also urges us to avoid flavored yogurts or those pre-mixed with fruits and cereals, because they often contain hidden sugars; instead, she says that “all those additions we can make ourselves at home,” so the best approach is to buy it plain and add a handful of oats or chopped fruit yourself.
Additionally, if you buy those half-liter containers, be careful not to eat directly from the container to avoid going overboard; it’s better to pour it into a normal glass to properly control the portion.
The Benefits of Eating It Daily
Eating yogurt every day has a lot of positive effects on your body, and the expert explains which ones they are. To begin with, it is a food that is digested easily and quickly, thanks to the good bacteria it contains, to the point that it is even easy to digest for people who don’t tolerate lactose well. It also unquestionably helps the intestine when it comes to going to the bathroom, as it can be a good ally against constipation. Not to mention how beneficial it is for caring for and boosting the body’s defenses and protecting it against illnesses.
Finally, Mónica also addresses another myth that has circulated about yogurt and has scared many people: the idea that yogurt cannot be produced with milk containing antibiotics; thus, it can be affirmed that yogurt is a completely safe food.
