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Yogurt

Yogurt is a dairy product made by fermenting milk using a number of bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Enterococcus faecium, Streptococcus thermophilus and others.

Yogurt is used to restore a normal bacterial fauna in the intestine after the use of antibiotics and to treat antibiotic-related diarrhea and acute diarrhea in children. Yogurt is also used to treat and prevent vaginal infections with fungi and bacteria, and to prevent urinary tract infections. Some people use yogurt for lactose intolerance and to treat high blood pressure and Helicobacter Pylori infections that cause stomach ulcers. Yogurt is also used to prevent colorectal cancer and sunburn.

Some women use yogurt inside the vagina to treat vaginal yeast infections and vaginal bacterial infections during pregnancy.

Yogurt is also consumed as a food and used as a milk alternative for people who suffer from lactose intolerance.

How does yogurt work?

Yogurt contains bacteria that can help restore a normal bacterial fauna in the digestive tract and vagina. This could help treat diarrhea and vaginal infections.

How effective is yogurt?

Yogurt may be effective for the following conditions:

  • Diarrhea in children: Yogurt formula given as a substitute for milk formula to infants and young children appears to relieve persistent diarrhea.
  • As an alternative to milk for lactose intolerance: Eating yogurt with live bacterial cultures appears to improve lactose intolerance in children and adults who cannot process lactose.
  • Treatment of bacterial infections with Helicobacter pylori bacteria in combination with other medications: The standard treatment for stomach ulcers caused by Helicobacter Pylori includes treatment with lansoprazole. Additional use of yogurt containing Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium appears to help patients adhere to their drug treatment. This makes the treatment more effective in killing the Helicobacter pylori bacteria. However, consuming yogurt without the mentioned medication does not seem to kill Helicobacter pylori bacteria.
  • High cholesterol levels: Consuming yogurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and a combination of Enterococcus faecium and Streptococcus thermophilus appears to lower cholesterol levels in people whose cholesterol levels are on the borderline of moderately high cholesterol levels. This type of yogurt appears to lower total cholesterol levels and levels of bad LDL cholesterol, but does not increase levels of good HDL cholesterol.
  • Diarrhea associated with antibiotics
  • Prevention of vaginal yeast infections.

Yogurt may be ineffective for asthma and for treating diarrhea in malnourished infants and children.

There is not enough scientific data to make a statement regarding the effectiveness of yogurt in the following areas of application:

  • Bacterial vaginosis: New research suggests that daily consumption of yogurt enriched with Lactobacillus acidophilus may slightly reduce the risk of recurrent bacterial vaginal infections. There is also preliminary evidence that pregnant women suffering from bacterial vaginal infections may benefit from applying yogurt containing Lactobacillus inside the vagina
  • Prevention of urinary tract infections: To date, scientific research does not provide much support for the use of yogurt for urinary tract infections. Scientists have found that consumption of a yogurt drink containing Lactobacillus, when used for up to 6 months, does not appear to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections in women with a history of urinary tract infections.

There is also insufficient scientific information on the effectiveness of yogurt when used to prevent colorectal cancer, to treat stomach ulcers and to prevent sunburn.

Further scientific research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of yogurt in these applications.

Safety and side effects

Yogurt is safe and harmless for most people when taken orally. Yogurt may be safe and harmless when used inside the vagina. There are not many reports of side effects, but there have been cases of people becoming ill from yogurt contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.

Precautions and warnings

Pregnancy and lactation: Yogurt appears to be safe and harmless during pregnancy in food-grade amounts and may also be safe and harmless when used inside the vagina during pregnancy. Women involved in a small study reported no side effects.

Yogurt also appears to be safe and safe for breastfeeding women in normal dietary amounts, but scientists have not yet adequately studied the safety of intravaginal use of yogurt while breastfeeding, so it is best to avoid intravaginal use of yogurt while breastfeeding.

Weakened immune system: There are concerns that live bacteria contained in yogurt could multiply uncontrollably and cause illness in people with a weakened immune system, such as AIDS / HIV patients and donor organ recipients. Lactobacillus bacteria contained in yogurt have in rare cases caused illness in people with weakened immune systems. To be on the safe side, people with weakened immune systems should not consume large amounts of yogurt containing live bacteria over a long period of time without first consulting their doctor.

Yogurt contains live bacteria and yeast. The immune system controls bacteria and yeast in the body to prevent infections. Medications that reduce the function of the immune system can increase the risk of getting sick from bacteria and yeast. Eating yogurt in combination with taking medications that reduce the function of the immune system could increase the risk of getting sick.

Dosage

When used for medicinal purposes,yogurt should contain live and active bacterial cultures.

The following dosages have been investigated in scientific studies:

Oral:

  • To prevent diarrhea due to antibiotic treatment: 125 ml of yogurt containing Lactobacillus GG twice daily throughout antibiotic treatment. Some scientists recommend taking 250 ml of other yogurt preparations twice a day. The yogurt should be consumed at least 2 hours before or 2 hours after taking the antibiotics.
  • For diarrhea: 125 grams of yogurt containing Lactobacillus casei twice a day.
  • To reduce cholesterol levels: Different dosages have been tried depending on the preparation. A typical dosage of 200 ml of yogurt per day containing Lactobacillus acidophilus was used. A combination product of 125 ml Lactobacillus acidophilus yoghurt containing 2.5% fructo-oligisaccharides was also used three times a day. In addition, a 450 ml dose of yogurt containing the Causido culture (which contains Enterococcus faecium and two strains of Streptococcus bacteria) was used.
  • To prevent vaginal yeast or bacterial infections: A typical dose is 150 ml of Lactobacillus acidophilus yogurt per day.

References

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