Linda Runk HNC, HHP

11/09/2022

11/09/2022

08/26/2019

Gluten Containing Products
If experiencing gluten intolerance symptoms, the products on this page should be avoided. Instead, concentrate on gluten free, brain healthy foods. This is sure to help maintain or improve brain health and function.

The following grains and starches contain gluten:
• Wheat
• Wheat germ
• Rye
• Barley
• Bulgur
• Couscous
• Farina
• Graham flour
• Kamut Matzo
• Semolina
• Spelt
• Triticale

The following foods often contain gluten:
• malt/malt flavoring
• soups
• commercial boullion and broths
• cold cuts
• French fries (often dusted with flour before freezing)
• processed cheese (e.g., Velveeta)
• mayonnaise
• ketchup
• malt vinegar
• soy sauce and teriyaki sauces
• salad dressings
• imitation crab meat, bacon, etc
• egg substitute
• tabbouleh
• sausage
• non-dairy creamer
• fried vegetables/tempura
• gravy
• marinades
• canned baked beans
• cereals
• commercially prepared chocolate milk
• breaded foods
• fruit fillings and puddings
• hot dogs
• ice cream
• root beer
• energy bars
• trail mix
• syrups
• seitan
• wheatgrass
• instant hot drinks
• flavored coffees and teas blue cheeses
• vodka
• wine coolers
• meatballs, meatloaf communion wafers
• veggie burgers
• roasted nuts
• beer
• oats and oat bran (unless certified GF)

The following are miscellaneous sources of gluten:
• shampoos
• cosmetics
• lipsticks, lip balm
• Play-Doh
• medications
• non self-adhesive stamps and envelopes
• vitamins and supplements (check label)
•
The following ingredients are often code for gluten:
• Avena sativa Cyclodextrin
• Dextrin
• Fermented grain extract
• Hordeum distichon
• Hordeum vulgare
• Hydrolysate
• Hydrolyzed malt extract
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
• Maltodextrin
• Phytosphingosine extract
• Samino peptide complex
• Secale cereale
• Triticum aestivum
• Triticum vulgare
• Tocopherol/vitamin E
• Yeast extract
• Natural flavoring
• Brown rice syrup
• Modified food starch
• Hydrolyzed soy protein
• Caramel color (frequently made from barley)

07/27/2019

07/26/2019

Kombucha: Benefits Including Gut Health, Immunity, Cancer-Fighter, and even helps with Weight loss

By: Catherine Ebeling

I actually fell in love with the tangy, sweet/sour, bubbly awesomeness about ten years ago, and have been addicted ever since. Barely a day goes by when I don’t pick up a bottle or pour myself a glass from my home brew. It has an amazing taste, and really does make you feel happier and energetic—almost immediately!

Kombucha has had quite a surge in popularity lately, and there are now several brands (depending on where you shop) to choose from. Depending on what you read or who you talk to, kombucha has been attributed with health benefits that range from clearing up acne to curing cancer, but many of these are unsubstantiated thus far.

Kombucha has been around for a least a couple thousand years in Asia and other countries. The Chinese called it an “immortal health elixir”. Because it’s fermented, you get billions of powerful probiotics in your system when you drink it. Kombucha comes from black and/or green tea, water, and sugar. During fermentation, the bacteria and yeast in the SCOBY actually ‘eat’ up most (not all) of the sugar and part of the caffeine, creating vinegar and other acidic compounds, with trace amounts of alcohol, and gases that make it carbonated.

The colony of friendly bacteria that ferments the tea—looking like a giant mushroom is called a “SCOBY” which stands for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast”. While the tea ferments, the SCOBY helps create b-vitamins, enzymes, acetic acid, (found in apple cider vinegar), gluconic and lactic acid, and a ton of great probiotics!

This blob is a biochemical powerhouse that produces amino acids, enzymes, polyphenols (antioxidants), antibiotic type substances, and a whole array of phytochemicals that are beneficial to your health. Kombucha has been scientifically studied for its ability to:

Detox the liver
Increase energy (I always feel great after having it!)
Improve digestion
Boost immune system
Help prevent or fight cancer
Aid in weight loss
Improve mood—decrease anxiety and depression
Kombucha has also been touted as being beneficial for acne, anxiety, arthritis, eczema, hangovers, hair growth, and more, but many of these claims have not yet been backed up with conclusive scientific evidence on humans.

In research published in the Journal of Medicinal Food 2014, researchers from the University of Latvia did say the following about the genuine health benefits of kombucha:

“It is shown that [kombucha] can efficiently act in health preservation and recovery due to four main properties: detoxification, anti-oxidation, energizing potencies, and promotion of boosting immunity.”

Detoxification
Kombucha is known for its detoxing capabilities, especially in the liver. One study reported that kombucha could actually decrease levels of toxins known to cause liver damage. Another study of kombucha on animals showed similarly decreased levels of certain toxins that are known to cause liver damage. And one other study evaluated toxicity, anti-stress capability, and liver-protective properties on rats with very favorable results.

Kombucha can overcome ‘Bad’ bacteria and yeasts—Since kombucha contains acetic acid, similar to vinegar, it appears to have strong anti-fungal and antibacterial properties, particularly against infection-causing bacteria, and harmful yeasts, like Candida. Some people may avoid kombucha because it contains yeast, but the important thing to know is that kombucha contains beneficial yeasts and bacteria, which help to crowd out and cut off the harmful pathogens, like candida, in the body.

Increase Energy
Kombucha has the ability to invigorate and energize people. This is one of the reasons I have always loved drinking kombucha. It’s very energizing! It is thought that this energizing effect is from the formation of iron and B vitamins that are created from the black tea during fermentation. The iron from the tea helps to boost hemoglobin in the blood, which improves oxygen in the body’s tissues, which in turn, is very energizing. There is a small amount of caffeine left in the tea, depending upon fermentation time, but generally most of this caffeine is ‘eaten’ up in the fermentation process. I personally think the energizing feeling that comes from kombucha, is from ingesting the raw cultures and live enzymes as well.

Digestion
Kombucha’s high levels of acid, probiotics and live enzymes aid in digestion and are especially helpful if you have any type of digestive disorder like leaky gut, irritable bowel disease, celiac disease, food allergies, and imbalances due to things like a poor diet or previous antibiotics. Kombucha is also naturally high in live enzymes that help the digestive process. Kombucha helps to repopulate the digestive system with beneficial bacteria and yeasts protecting it from the more harmful types that may exist in the gut. One thing to note about kombucha—depending on your current health and the health of your gut, you may actually feel worse the first few times you ingest kombucha. This is because of a ‘die-off’ reaction from the harmful pathogens that may live there. This is a good thing!

Immune Boosting
Because kombucha is naturally high in antioxidants and probiotics, it helps to support and strengthen the immune system. Scientific studies show probiotics’ power in fortifying the immune function, and since a large portion of immune function is a result of gut health, it only makes sense to be sure to keep the digestive tract supplemented with a wide variety of beneficial bacteria. Kombucha also contains massive antioxidants like D-saccharic acid lactone (DSL) which results from the fermentation of the tea. DSL is known for its ability to detoxify cells.

Cancer Prevention
Much has been written and studied about cancer prevention and kombucha. A study published in Cancer Letters found that consuming glucaric acid found in kombucha reduced the risk of cancer in humans, as well as the antioxidant, DSL. In test-tube studies, kombucha helped prevent the growth and spread of cancerous cells, due to its high concentration of tea polyphenols and antioxidants. Scientists theorize that the DSL and the vitamin C often found in kombucha are its primary oxidation weapons, protecting against inflammation, tumors, and overall depression of the immune system. As you may know, immune function is one of the body’s main protection systems against most cancers.

Weight Loss
Evidence shows that kombucha can improve and speed up metabolism (partially due to the small amount of caffeine it contains). Since kombucha is high in acetic acid (similar to apple cider vinegar), probiotics, and polyphenols, it can help with weight loss through various mechanisms, including through improved digestion and nutrient absorption. Some research also shows that acetic acid can help with weight loss by lowering blood sugar, decreasing insulin levels (which favors fat burning—instead of fat storing), and helps to suppress appetite.

In one specific human study on acetic acid and weight loss over 12 weeks, it was found that the subjects averaged 3.7 lbs weight loss, 0.9% decreased body fat, 0.75 inch waist circumference reduction, and a whopping 26% decrease in dangerous triglycerides!

Important to note however: sugar content in kombucha can vary widely, so be sure to check label for lowest sugar content. Home brewed versions have less sugar the longer time they ferment, and more acetic acid, making them ideal for weight loss and other health benefits. With that said, most brands of kombucha only range from 2 grams of sugar to 7 grams of sugar per 8 oz. This is very small compared to 30-40 grams of sugar in most soft drinks. Therefore, there is very little blood sugar impact from kombucha, which is great.

Mood boosting
Kombucha has been known as a mood booster, helping to alleviate both anxiety and depression. Although the exact mechanism of this is not known, it is most likely due to a combination of the antioxidants in the tea, the polyphenols (green tea is known to be high in these as well), and the beneficial bacteria.

Medical research is discovering a direct link between gut health and mental health—primarily anxiety and depression. When healthy bacteria, in the form of fermented foods, are introduced into the digestive system on a regular basis, they help to restore the delicate balance of the gut microbiome. Serotonin is a natural brain chemical that controls and stabilizes your mood and functions in your brain. Since your gut produces about 95% of your serotonin, keeping your gut healthy and ‘well fed’ with beneficial bacteria and yeasts should help boost your moods.

What about the Probiotics?
What exactly are the beneficial bacteria found in kombucha? In an article published from the Journal of Food Microbiology, it was found that the following probiotics are generally found in kombucha—although the actual amounts and types of organisms in the culture can vary widely, based on geography, preparation, temperature, climate, local bacteria in the environment, and yeasts present.

Gluconacetobacter- An anaerobic bacteria unique to kombucha. It feeds on nitrogen that from the tea and produces acetic acid and gluconic acid, as well as building the SCOBY.
Acetobacter-Bacteria that produce acetic acid and gluconic acid, along with the actual SCOBY mushroom. Acetobacter xylinoides and acetobacter ketogenum are two of the usual strains you find in kombucha.
Lactobacillus-A type of bacteria sometimes in kombucha that produces lactic acid.
Saccharomyces–includes a number of yeast strains that produce alcohol and are the most common types of yeast found in kombucha.
Zygosaccharomyces-A yeast strain unique to kombucha. It produces alcohol and carbonation as well as contributing to the mushroom body.
The different types of bacteria and yeast in kombucha are what make it behave and appear the way it does, including the fizz and its somewhat unique flavor. (And if you see funky looking things floating around in your kombucha, don’t worry about it—just drink up—it’s little colonies of healthy yeast and bacteria.)

Other, not so beneficial organisms have been found in some cultures as well, and if you are making your own brew, you need to be very careful to keep everything touching the kombucha and the SCOBY very clean. Penicillin, Asperigillus, and Candida are common invaders, and rarely, even more harmful bacteria can take up residence, but those cases are few and far between. However, if you are pregnant or have a compromised immune system, it is probably best to avoid kombucha, since some of the yeasts and bacteria may be more harmful to a weakened immune system than good.

How do you know if your home brewed kombucha has unhealthy molds? It’s pretty easy to spot. It usually looks very similar to the mold that you would see growing on bread, fruit or cheese. Green, black, or gray—and fuzzy. Just be sure to dump everything if you see mold on it, and start over with a new SCOBY.

At over $3 a bottle, buying a kombucha from the store every day can get expensive, so like me, you may want to make your own. Making it at home, as long as you adhere to very clean standards and avoid contaminating it, creates the freshest kombucha with the most active enzymes and ingredients. Commercially prepared kombuchas lose many of their antioxidants when stored for long periods of time, and some varieties have far less beneficial bacteria in them.

Here is my own recipe for basic kombucha:
Ingredients

4-6 black tea bags

1 cup organic granulated cane sugar

1-2 liters filtered or spring water (don’t use tap water as it often contains chlorine and other chemicals which will kill or prevent the growth of the beneficial bacteria and yeasts)

Large glass container with wide mouth (I used a large glass ice tea container)

SCOBY (you can use a starter from someone else who makes kombucha or obtain a starter from a health food store or online)

Clean dish cloth and rubber band

Directions

Be sure your kitchen and utensils are all very clean. Just to be sure, I rinse all of mine under very hot water.

Bring water to boil in a large pot. Once boiling, remove from heat and add teabags and sugar and let it steep, stirring occasionally with clean spoon to dissolve sugar.

Remove and discard tea bags after about a half hour or so. Let mixture cool to room temp—do not pour boiling hot tea over SCOBY or you may kill the live bacteria and yeasts.

When cool, add to jar with an equal amount of filtered water. Add SCOBY and cover with clean cloth and rubber band to secure it. Do not add a lid as the fermentation will build up and could explode it!

Allow the tea to sit for 7-14 days. Less time produces a tea with more sugar and caffeine. More time creates a more sour, fizzy brew, but it will be full of antioxidants, enzymes and probiotics. Much depends on the temperature and storage of the tea. Enjoy!

07/26/2019

Drinking These Fruit Juices is Just as Bad, or Even Worse than Drinking Soda


By: Cat Ebeling, co-author of the best-sellers: The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Conventional mindset has always been that drinking pure fruit juice is healthy. We purchase fruit juice smoothies in the store, thinking that will help our health and weight loss, and start our days with a large glass of OJ—for the vitamin C. We ‘juice’ vegetables and fruit for the perfect healthy drink. We think we are giving our kids a healthy alternative by letting them drink box after box of “pure fruit juice”. It’s pure fruit juice, so it’s good for us, right?

Juice, whether it is store bought (the worst), or freshly made at home seems to be a healthy choice. But, contrary to popular thinking, juice, purchased from the store, is not far from a drink made of pure liquid sugar. And in truth, it’s not much better than drinking a soda. So, in spite of the fact that you or your children may be drinking a drink that says “100% pure fruit juice”, it may as well say “pure sugar”. So though you may have thought you were making a healthier choice over sodas or other processed drinks with added sugar, you may be drinking something equally as bad.

The sugar that comes from fruit is fructose. Same as the sugar in high fructose corn syrup. Fructose is not a healthy sweetener, in spite of its natural source. Fructose, unless it is wrapped up in a whole fruit, is bad news for your body and your waistline. Fructose is a non-essential dietary sugar. Fructose is actually known to be a strong contributor to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. Additionally, it is thought that fructose has some very definite and sinister ties to cancer. And while it’s okay in fruit, because you are not get large, concentrated quantities of it, drinking in tons of fructose in the form of fruit juice will lead you down a path of poor health.

When you drink a glass of juice, let’s say, for example, a 12 oz glass of orange juice, you hit your system with a whopping 37 grams of sugar in the form of mostly fructose. And when you have a 12oz glass of apple juice, you are gulping down an astronomical 40g of sugar! That’s as much as a can of soda! But wait, that’s not the worst of it—a similar sized glass of grape juice–white or red–contains almost 60g of sugar! That’s like having a can and a half of soda!

Drinking a mixed juice ‘cocktail’ is no better, even if it only contains pure fruit juice. Most often concentrated white grape juice, or apple juice is added for sweetness. That adds even more sugar to the mix! Check out the sugar grams in Tropicana Berry Punch, or Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry Juice. It’s a massive amount of sugar! And don’t be mistaken into thinking the calories and the sugar grams, are worth the vitamins, they are not. There is little vitamin C, antioxidants of anything else of benefit in bottle fruit juice.

One of the biggest problems here is that fruit juice contains NO fiber and is a very concentrated source of liquid sugar—the worst kind. It is extremely easy to consume massive amounts of sugar from juice in a very short time. Fructose gets sent straightaway to the liver for processing and some of it is quickly turned into fat cells. Some of the sugar just goes right into your bloodstream and causes insulin to be released—which stores fat cells. The perfect recipe for quick weight gain.

A lot of those new fat cells are stored in the liver, creating a fast track to fatty liver disease. The rest of those fat cells turn into triglycerides, one of the precursors for heart disease, and due to the release of insulin, many of these fat cells are quickly stored in various parts of the body—i.e., bellyfat, hips, thighs, etc. This particular study shows that just one glass of grape juice a day caused insulin resistance and increased waist size in just three months. Not only that, but 2 servings of juice a day also doubles your chance for developing painful gout.

And the biggest problem with liquid calories is that you still continue to eat as much or more. They just don’t make you feel full—on the contrary, juice just makes you want to eat more, making sugary drinks like juice is one of the most fattening things you can put in your body. Drink juice, eat more.

This study in children showed that the risk of obesity was increased by 60% for each daily serving of sugar-sweetened beverages. And you are not doing your kids any favors by allowing them to drink juice to their heart’s content. It does the same thing as a sugar-sweetened beverage. If you want to reduce the chances that your child will be obese or develop type 2 diabetes, eliminate the juice drinks, according to this study, and this study. One of the growing problems in the U.S. and other countries is the high rate of childhood obesity, and one of the biggest contributors to this is sweet drinks such as juice and soda. Kids don’t need to be sucking down a box of juice every time they are thirsty, water works fine!

Let’s chat a bit about how most juice is made. It doesn’t get squeezed or pressed straight from the farm into a carton, let me tell you. Most processed juice—even 100% juice–that you buy in a store, undergoes a very UNnatural process to get from the fruit to your glass, and it’s not really even 100% pure juice. As an example, orange juice is picked from the orchards, the juice extracted out, heated and pasteurized, and then stored in gigantic vats, where the oxygen is removed so it can be stored for up to a year or more.

Removing the oxygen removes a lot of the flavor, so big juice companies hire flavor and fragrance people to formulate “flavor packs” that make the orange juice taste like oranges again. That is why big juice companies like Tropicana and Minute Maid, always taste exactly the same. It is because of a flavor pack added to some virtually tasteless liquid that has been sitting in a huge tank somewhere. Yummy. These flavor packs are made from orange byproducts, although they are chemically altered and those in the juice industry will even tell you the flavor packs don’t resemble anything in nature.

Other juices are no healthier. If they are bottled and sold in a store, they are all heated and pasteurized to kill off bacteria, yeasts, and other pathogens, thus reducing the beneficial antioxidants, enzymes, and other healthy compounds. Then the fiber is removed as well, which further degrades the juice. Fiber slows the absorption of the sugar in the fruit, as well as containing healthy fiber to feed your gut bacteria.

Even if you think you can buy ‘healthy’ fruit juice smoothies, they are still very high in sugar, and heated and pasteurized so they can be bottled. They lose most all their antioxidants and vitamins from the pasteurization process, along with just the amount of time they sit on a store shelf. They usually add ‘filler’ high sugar juices like apple juice and grape juice to make them taste better. Most often, even if it is labeled as a smoothie, it may be more fruit juice (read “high sugar”) than actual whole fruit and fiber. So basically, you get a lot of sugar and a little flavor and not much more in a so-called ‘healthy’ smoothie you buy from the store.

All in all, if you are thirsty, or your kids are thirsty, drink water. You can make your own flavored waters by using spring water, chopping up an orange or dropping in a few raspberries, or even slicing up a cucumber to give the water some added flavor. Try adding a squeeze of a real orange slice to your sparkling water or even a lemon or lime wedge.

And if you just can’t do without lots of flavor, try drinking kombucha tea. This fermented tea is reasonably low in sugar (about 1/8th the amount of sugar of juice), but full of gut-healing probiotics, cancer-fighting compounds, and a good dose of healthy phytochemicals.

Kombucha is gaining in popularity, so most stores sell lots of different flavors to suit every taste. Just watch the sugar content, because while most of the sugar in these drinks has been gobbled up by the fermentation process, some could still have some added sugar. However, most brands seem to have anywhere from 2 grams to 8 grams of sugar in 1 cup of kombucha, which makes it very low in sugar compared to a glass of juice or soda.

In the long run, you may be shocked at how many sugar calories you and your kids may have been drinking. You and your kids will be far better off if you steer clear of the juices and sugary drinks.

The popularity of kombucha is growing very fast, and it’s not uncommon to find kombucha even at many corner stores and gas stations these days.

07/04/2019

The source of protein you choose, the cut of meat you buy, and even the way you prepare your meal can all impact your health.

Cutting back on red meat and replacing red and processed meat with healthy protein sources such as fish, chicken, beans, or nuts seems to reduce health risks.
There’s a lot of focus these days on how much protein one should eat, and while some people respond by eating more than they need, thinking that if enough is good, more is better, many others aren’t getting enough. When eating with health in mind, it’s important to aim for the recommended amount, but it’s also important to look at what else your body is getting when you eat those protein-rich foods. The source of protein you choose (such as beef, poultry, seafood, or plants—processed or unprocessed), the cut of meat you buy, and even the way you prepare your meal can all impact your health.

Source Matters
Animal-based protein sources contribute important nutrients such as zinc, vitamin B12, and iron to our diets, but they may also contain unwanted nutrients such as excess saturated fat and sodium. For example, while a ham steak has less saturated fat than the same serving size of a beef steak, it has 20 times more sodium. Wild salmon, on the other hand, has as much protein as the steak and as little saturated fat as the ham, and it’s naturally low in sodium. Plus, salmon is an excellent source of heart-healthy omega-3 fats. In fact, all types of seafood are healthful protein sources. The FDA recommends eating 2 to 3 servings, for a total of 8 to 12 ounces, of lower-mercury fish each week.

Plant-based sources of protein, such as nuts and legumes, contribute much-needed nutrients such as fiber, magnesium, vitamin E, and phytochemicals to your diet and are naturally very low in sodium and saturated fat. Quinoa is particularly good sources of healthful plant protein.

Discover the secrets to health eating!

Plant-based sources of protein, such as nuts and legumes, contribute much-needed nutrients such as fiber, magnesium, vitamin E, and phytochemicals to your diet and are naturally very low in sodium and saturated fat. Soybeans, soy products, and quinoa are particularly good sources of healthful plant protein.

Research backs up the fact that the source of your protein can have a big impact on your health. There has been a particularly strong spotlight on the negative health effects of red and processed meats. They have been implicated in increased risk for cardiovascular disease incidence and death, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, and even weight gain, and a growing number of studies suggest dietary patterns high in red meat may promote cognitive decline.

Other research generated from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, cohorts that followed 120,000 men and women for more than 20 years, have reported:
For every 3-ounce serving of unprocessed red meat participants reported eating, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease increased by 13 percent, and every 1.5 ounces of processed red meat (like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage) increased their risk by 20 percent.
People who ate the most red and processed meat over the course of the study gained about one extra pound every four years.
Every additional serving per day of red meat was associated with a 10 percent higher risk of cancer death, and every serving of processed red meat was associated with a 16 percent higher risk.
A separate study found that every additional serving of red meat increased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 12 percent, and processed red meat raised the risk by 32 percent.
In late 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an independent agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), released a report recommending that people reduce their intake of processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs, jerky, and luncheon meats, because cutting back on them could help reduce the risk of colon cancer. This increased cancer risk may be due to the chemicals added during processing and/or changes in the meat itself due to processing. The report recommended limiting intake of unprocessed red meat, as it is linked with increased cancer risk, as well.

The good news is that cutting back on red meat and replacing red and processed meat with healthy protein sources such as fish, chicken, beans, or nuts seems to reduce health risks. Finally, research has shown that legumes are a healthy alternative to red meat. While eating red meat is associated with weight gain, research found that eating approximately one daily serving of beans, chickpeas, lentils, or peas can help you feel satisfied, which may lead to better weight management.

A Word About Eggs and Dairy
Eggs and dairy products are excellent protein sources. Eggs were off the menu for many years for people with elevated cholesterol levels because of their high cholesterol content. However, the latest research determined that dietary cholesterol (cholesterol from food) doesn’t raise blood cholesterol levels for most people, although the saturated fat found in most high-cholesterol foods might. Other research has shown that egg consumption is not significantly associated with a higher risk of coronary artery disease or type 2 diabetes.

Eggs (and shellfish, such as shrimp) are in the minority of foods high in cholesterol but relatively low in saturated fat, so they are now back on the menu in limited amounts. Most people can safely eat up to five to seven eggs per week as part of an overall healthy diet.

Dairy foods provide protein, and they contain other key nutrients that may protect against disease risk. A cup of milk provides eight grams of protein. Greek yogurt has about twice the protein of regular yogurt (around 16 grams per single-serving container). Fermented dairy products, such as yogurt and kefir, a yogurt drink fermented with yeast in addition to beneficial bacteria, are probiotics that offer many health benefits, not the least of which include supporting gut and immune health. Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.

The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend fat-free or low-fat (1 percent) milk, which is lower in calories and saturated fat, as well as plain, low-fat yogurt to avoid refined sugars. The Dietary Guidelines also state that, although it’s okay to eat cheese in moderation, cheese contains more sodium and saturated fat and less potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin D, than milk or yogurt. More than 80 percent of people in the United States fall short of their daily dairy recommendation, which is 3 cups for adults.

With about 300 milligrams of calcium per 8 ounces of milk or plain, low-fat yogurt, meeting your daily dairy quota goes a long way toward fulfilling your daily calcium goal. It is recommended that women ages 51 and older consume 1,200 milligrams (mg) of calcium per day, men ages 51 to 70 get 1,000 mg per day, and men ages 71 and older get 1,200 mg per day. Growing evidence suggests it may be best to get most of your calcium from foods, rather than supplements, to help guard against excessive intake of calcium and imbalances in bone nutrients.

To get more dairy in your diet, try using milk in food preparation (to cook oatmeal or to make broth-based soups creamier, for example). If digesting milk is a problem, look for lactose-free options. If a milk substitute is more appealing, make sure it is fortified with calcium and vitamin D, and watch out for added sugars.

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