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27 May 2019
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2 min read
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by YINI Editorial team
Infographics What is Yogurt?

What is Greek Yogurt?

YINI Editorial team
The YINI team includes nutritionists, food engineers, registered dietitians and scientific writers.
Fermented milk greek Greek yogurt lactic fermentation tatziki whey
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For centuries, fermented milks have provided essential nutrients and health benefits in human diets. Milk fermentation is as simple as adding live ferments to milk, leading to dozens of popular recipes around the world. How different are they?

Get the science facts about  kefir, skyr, lassi, laban and, of course, Greek yogurt …

What is a Greek Yogurt?

Greek yogurt is a higher protein yogurt (≥5.6%) with a smooth creamy mouthfeel.

It is fermented by Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus: bacteria feed on the lactose, releases lactic acid which coagulates milk proteins and produces typical aromatic compounds.

The lactoserum (or whey) is strained out after fermentation, which differenciates it from regular yogurt and provides its consistent, velvety texture.

A greek origin and a worlwide success

« Yiaourti » is the recipe originated in Greece. Many call it also the Mediterranean-style yogurt. It is traditionally eaten as a soft savory cheese + olives, olive oil, fresh vegetables, herbs, bread… (ex. tzatziki).

Today, it is very trendy worldwide and “Greek yogurt” may have several names, around the World :

  • Straggisto (Greece)
  • Labneh (Middle-East)
  • Ymer or Ylette (both from Denmark)

Those products are using the same process with eventually different bacteria.

Nutrition and health benefits of Greek Yogurt

Hunger-squasher

  • Twice the satiating protein and half the sugars found in flavored yogurt
  • Thicker, more filling texture
  • Just 100 calories for a container of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

Nutrient-packed

  • Concentrated dairy product, thus a higher nutrient-dense food
  • Including vitamin B12, only found in animal products

Muscle friendly

  • Satisfying food after workout
  • Dairy protein help regenerate muscle and repair fiber damage after workout

Health-carrier

  • One of the front-line foods in the Mediterranean diet

All the information about Greek Yogurt in one infography

Download here the infographic in pdf 

YINI - What is Greek Yogurt ?Factsheet about Greek Yogurt - part 2 - YINIYINI What is Greek Yogurt ways to enjoy it

Download here the infographic in pdf 
YINI Editorial team
The YINI team includes nutritionists, food engineers, registered dietitians and scientific writers.
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27 May 2019
•
5 min read
Benefits for planet health

Choose your low-emission diet with care

food choices GES greenhouse gas emission sustainable diet
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Diets that have the least impact on the environment also tend to be those that are the healthiest, this latest study from the USA shows. But as you take the leap to switch to a diet with the smallest possible carbon footprint, pause for a moment to make sure you’re not missing out on some vital nutrients. You may decide to add a few extra items, such as dairy products, to your shopping basket.

The authors of this study examined the food choices made by thousands of Americans and found that those diets with the lowest carbon footprint generally have the best diet quality. In many ways such diets are more nutritious than those that place a heavier burden on the environment. But some notable nutrients were in short supply and these will need to be taken into account in future guidance on how we can eat to boost both our own health and that of our planet, say the authors.

Our food contributes to climate change

Our food production is one of the largest contributors to climate change, say the authors. But previous research has estimated that if we all change our diets we could cut greenhouse gas emissions from food by as much as 50%.

Expert organisations advise that we shift towards more plant-based diets as these are good both for our health and for the environmental sustainability of our food provision. However, say the authors, most studies have been carried out on certain types of diets such as vegetarianism or on sustainable diets devised by researchers. We know little about how individual dietary choices are linked to environmental impact and nutrition quality.

Comparing greenhouse gas emissions with diet quality

The authors therefore looked at the link between greenhouse gas emissions and diet quality using data from 16,800 adults taking part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The participants were asked to recall everything they’d eaten and drunk over a 24-hour period.

The authors ranked the diets into five groups according to their greenhouse gas emissions. The diet groups with the highest and lowest emission were then compared for diet quality using the US Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and for the amounts of specific nutrients that are known to be eaten too much or too little in the USA and so are of public health concern.

Diets vary widely in their carbon footprint

Their results revealed a huge variation in the size of carbon footprint in these one-day diet samples. The group with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions was responsible for only 8% of the total emissions from diet – five times less than the 41% contributed by the highest emission group.

Women tend to have a lower dietary carbon footprint than men

As women generally consume less energy than men, they can be expected to have a lower carbon footprint, and indeed the study found that the low-emission diets were more likely to be eaten by women than men. Low-emission diets were also more popular among young people aged under 30 years, and African-Americans.

Vegetarians had a smaller carbon footprint from their diet than did non-vegetarians, on average – as did people who read food labels or had tried dietary guidance.

Low-emission diets have pros and cons

When the researchers looked at the nutrient content of the diet groups, they found the low-emission diets contained more fibre and vitamin E and less sodium and saturated fats than the high-emission group.

But the low-emission diets were far from perfect: not only were they higher in sugars than the high-emission diets, but they were also lower in several nutrients of public health concern, such as iron and calcium. They also contained less vitamin A and D, and less potassium than the high emission group. These nutrients are found in animal-source foods – meat and dairy products – which were eaten much less in the low emission diets than the high emission group.

Low emission diets are healthier overall – but lack some key components

Overall, the diets with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions had a better diet quality as shown by their average total HEI scores. But when the researchers assessed the separate components of the HEI scores, they found some important drawbacks.

Low-emission diets scored significantly higher on the whole fruit component of the HEI, as well as the whole grains, seafood and plant proteins, fatty acids, and sodium components. However, high-emission diets scored higher on protein foods, dairy, vegetables, and refined grains.

 ‘Low-GHGE [greenhouse gas emissions] diets in our sample were not only higher in sugars, but also lower in several nutrients of public health concern, such as iron and calcium.’ – Rose D et al, 2019.

Tailor diets to balance nutritional quality with greenhouse gas emissions

Our diets are a cocktail of many different ingredients, each of which can influence the nutritional quality and environmental impact. This implies that we can tailor what we eat to improve the diet quality and shrink our environmental footprint, say the authors.

Further studies should include the impact of diet on other environmental factors, such as water and land use, the authors suggest. In the meantime, they conclude, this research adds to a growing body of evidence on which to base new dietary guidelines that incorporates sustainability as a key factor in choosing what we eat.

‘It is clear from our work that acceptable diets can be crafted that both reduce GHGE [greenhouse gas emissions] and improve overall nutritional quality.’ – – Rose D et al, 2019.

Find out more: read the original paper
Source: Rose D, Heller MC, Willits-Smith AM, Meyer RJ. Carbon footprint of self-selected US diets: nutritional, demographic, and behavioral correlates. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Mar 1;109(3):526-534.
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20 May 2019
•
8 min read
Benefits for human health

How can parents help their children to eat well?

breakfast children children's diet feeding healthy eating nurturing
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Childhood is the prime time for laying the foundations of positive and life-long healthy eating habits. A report from a group of experts, Nurturing Children’s Healthy Eating, shows the key role of families in building good eating habits in children.
Every month, we will bring you a summary post, highlighting some of the key messages taken from this report, in order to help families nurture healthier eating habits.

Children depend on their parents and caregivers for their food choices and behaviours; the way parents feed their children therefore has a direct impact on the development of children’s eating habits.

About how to feed your children…

Feeding practices can be categorized according to the ways in which parents encourage their children’s eating habits and routines. Experts divide the overall parental approach to feeding into two parts:

  • Feeding style: the attitude and emotional context parents can create during mealtime.
  • Feeding practices: the specific behaviours that parents use to get their children to eat.

Both feeding style and practices have been associated with factors relating to children’s nutrition such as children’s eating habits and BMI. Experts advise parents to try and adopt a positive parenting approach: a set of specific feeding styles and behaviours allowing parents to get their children to eat healthily in a calm and relaxed environment for good child development and to put them on the road to healthy eating habits right from the start…

“Through support and encouragement, positive parental feeding can set children on the road to healthy eating right from the start.”

How to adopt a positive feeding style

Parental feeding styles can be categorized according to the levels of control a parent places on their child’s eating and of responsiveness with which the parent expresses their demands.  According to experts, four feeding styles can be mainly defined:

  • Authoritative style, represented mostly by parents who have reasonable nutritional expectations and sensitivity towards the child’s needs
  • Authoritarian style, represented mostly by parents who can be highly controlling with little sensitivity towards the child
  • Indulgent, represented mostly by highly responsive parents who provide little structure
  • Uninvolved, represented mostly by parents who have a tendency to not care what their children eat and/or those who cannot provide structure

Studies suggest that a supportive and informative approach to feeding through an authoritative style is associated with healthier eating behaviours such as good energy intake regulation and less tendency to under- or over-eating than with other feeding styles.

With this positive feeding style, parents guide children with warmth and explanations, setting reasonable demands and clear limits while remaining sensitive to children’s needs. In this way, parents help to build children’s knowledge about food and healthy eating habits for the future.

“Children develop healthier eating habits if parents set limits with warmth and guidance”

Some useful everyday tips for a positive feeding style

  • Communicate: Set limits with warmth and guidance, providing explanations and information.
  • Identify the child’s needs: Be sensitive to children’s needs, pay attention to their hunger and satiety signals in order not to impair their ability to self-regulate.
  • Make healthy foods attractive: Emphasize the pleasure of eating healthy food and don’t just tell children that it is good for them, because children could associate healthy foods with not tasting nice. Make sure healthy foods you serve to children are tasty and enjoyable for them

How to adopt positive feeding practices

Along with adopting a positive parental feeding style, the impact of feeding behaviours is important too and can encourage healthy eating habits and routines in children. Studies suggests that positive practices (environment encouraging child competence, regular mealtimes, parental modelling of healthy eating, access to healthy food, etc.) are associated with healthy eating in children from pre-school to adolescence.

In practice, being a parent is an everyday challenge and knowing what feeding practices and behaviours to adopt is neither easy nor intuitive. So we have put together some feeding practices to favour and to avoid, in order to give children a better chance of adopting heathy eating habits.

Some positive feeding practices to adopt:

  • Be a role model: Children will be more likely to eat healthy foods if they see their parents eating them and liking them, so set a good example!
  • Be adventurous: Give them as much of a variety of healthy foods as possible – the more foods they try, the more foods they will like. Try to offer a variety of foods, flavours and textures.
  • Don’t give up! Repeated exposure is a powerful tool for encouraging children to eat healthy foods. The more they try it, the more they are likely to like it. However, if a child hates a particular food, it is important to respect that: we all have some foods we just can’t face!

Some feeding behaviours such as restrictions, rewards with food or pressurizing to eat can impair children’s abilities to regulate the food they eat in terms of the right amount and type and make them more vulnerable to over-eating.

Some feeding practices to avoid: 

  • Avoid food restriction. Restricting some foods could seem a good way to limit the consumption of unhealthy foods. However, it can have some counterproductive effects such as fuelling the desire to eat the forbidden food, over-eating and adiposity.
  • Food is not a reward. Using food as a reward could seem an effective way to make children do some things they don’t like, but it makes them more likely to eat even when they are not hungry.
  • Keep calm! Don’t put pressure on children, if they don’t want to eat their vegetables, don’t force them to. Maybe it is just not the right day and you will be more successful tomorrow. Pressuring children can lead to complete rejection of the food and has been associated with fussy eating behaviours such as eating fewer fruits and vegetables.

Appropriate food “moments”?

Breakfast time can be a useful time to try out the feeding styles and practices mentioned before, through a tasty, shared and nutrient-dense meal combining whole grains, fruits and yogurt. By offering nutrient-dense and healthy foods through a shared mealtime, parents can allow their children to create their own breakfast bowl and therefore encourage autonomy and the pleasure of eating by making them associate healthy foods with pleasure.

YINI - how to prepare a healthy tasty breakfast bowl

Studies have shown that yogurt consumption is associated with a higher intake of healthy foods such as fruit and whole grains. It is a logical vehicle for improving both breakfast and the overall nutrient quality of children’s diets. Yogurt consumption is also associated with healthy eating habits, showing that yogurt is a valuable tool for introducing healthy habits in children.

Children’s food choices and behaviours are influenced by parents’ own feeding practices and styles. By being positive and informative in their parenting style and by repeatedly exposing children to a wide variety of healthy foods, parents provide their children with precious support in building healthy eating habits. In practice, yogurt can be a valuable tool in helping parents to introduce healthy foods into their children’s diet.

Sources:
References:
  • De Wit JB, Stok FM, Smolenski DJ, et al. Food culture in the home environment: family meal practices and values can support healthy eating and self-regulation in young people in four European countries. Appl Psychol Health Well Being 2015;7(1):22–40.
  • El-Behadli AF, Sharp C, Hughes SO, et al. Maternal depression, stress and feeding styles: towards a framework for theory and research in child obesity. Br J Nutr 2015;113:S55–S71.
  • Farrow C, Haycraft E, Blissett J. Teaching our children when to eat: how parental feeding practices inform the development of emotional eating. A longitudinal experimental design. Am J Clin Nutr 2015;101(5):908–913.
  • Gregory JE, Paxton SJ, Brozovic AM. Pressure to eat and restriction are associated with child eating behaviours and maternal concern about child weight, but not child body mass index, in 2- to 4-year-old children. Appetite 2010;54:550–556.
  • Hughes SO, Power TG, O’Connor TM, et al. Maternal feeding styles and food parenting practices as predictors of longitudinal changes in weight status in hispanic preschoolers from low-income families. J Obesity 2016;2016:7201082.
  • Shloim N, Edelson LR, Martin N, Hetherington MM. Parenting styles, feeding styles, feeding practices, and weight status in 4–12 year-old children: a systematic review of the literature. Front Psychol 2015;6:1849.
  • Vaughn AE, Ward DS, Fisher JO, et al. Fundamental constructs in food parenting practices: a content map to guide future research. Nutr rev 2016;74(2):98–117.
  • Yee AZ, Lwin MO, Ho SS. The influence of parental practices on child promotive and preventive food consumption behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2017;14(1):47.
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20 May 2019
•
2 min read
Benefits for planet health

Yogurt is a low-cost source of nutrients, culturally acceptable

culture economy low cost Nutrient density sustainability sustainable diet
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“Yogurt is part of a sustainable diet”  is one of the 10 evidence-based conclusions made by the YINI board about the health effects of yogurt… learn more below

Yogurt is a low-cost source of nutrients

Nutritious foods such as meat, fish, poultry, fresh fruit and vegetables generally cost more than high energydense
foods – grain snacks, sweets, chocolate and fatty, sugary foods. This remains true across different countries, age groups and indicators of diet quality.

Achieving greater equality between people on high and low incomes requires foods to be high in nutrient quality, yet affordable for all.

  • Yogurt is the lowest-cost source of dietary calcium as well as a highly affordable source of high-quality protein
  • Food profiling has suggested that low-fat yogurt and milk are roughly equivalent to sweets in terms of per-calorie cost, yet much higher in overall nutritional quality.
  • In terms of calories or nutrients per Euro, yogurt is less expensive than animal-derived foods, such as meat, poultry and fish, and is more comparable with beans and eggs.

“Dairy foods, including yogurt, are an affordable source of high-quality protein, calcium and other essential nutrients.”– Dr Chris Cifelli

Yogurt is culturally acceptable

Not all nutrient-rich foods are socially acceptable.
People in low- and middle-income countries, for example, often prefer traditional plant-based diets, with milk and dairy foods such as yogurt as their major source of animal protein on grounds of custom, religion or culture.

References:
“Yogurt for health: 10 evidence-based conclusion”
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13 May 2019
•
2 min read
Benefits for planet health

Yogurt is a nutrient-dense food with low environmental footprint

environment greenhouse gas emission Nutrient density sustainability sustainable diet
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“Yogurt is part of a sustainable diet”  is one of the 10 evidence-based conclusions made by the YINI board about the health effects of yogurt… learn more below

Yogurt is a nutrient-dense food

Yogurt is well-positioned to be an integral part of a sustainable diets because of its high nutrient value.

  • In nutrient profiling models, some of the highest nutrient density scores are awarded to unsweetened and low-saturated fat yogurts.
  • Yogurt provides more nutrients than calories relative
    to the body’s needs.

Yogurt has a low environmental footprint

Typically, nutrient-rich foods have a higher environmental impact than those with a poor nutrient content. However, the environmental cost must be weighed against nutrient needs for health.

  • Greenhouse gases – gaseous compounds in the atmosphere that trap and hold heat – are a major factor in global warming and climate change.
  • Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) occur at every stage of the food production and consumption cycle – from farming and agricultural practices to packaging, transport and storage in the supermarket and the home.
  • Milk and yogurt are higher in carbon cost than nutrient-poor foods such as sweetened drinks, sugar and sweets.
  • However, yogurt compares favourably with other healthy foods in terms of GHGE. Yogurt’s GHGE is lower than the level predicted by its nutrient density.
  • In a UK diet-modelling study linking nutrient composition with GHGEs, the inclusion of yogurt was associated with a 36% reduction in GHGEs (based on emissions per person).
  • Similarly, yogurt and other dairy products had a relatively low carbon cost in a food labelling initiative from the French retailer, Casino, which combined GHGEs and nutrient data
  • Modern farming practices are reducing the impact of dairy foods on natural resources and the environment.
Carbon cost by food category: mean greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) per 100 g
References:
  • Drewnowski A. Measures and metrics of sustainable diets with a focus on milk, yogurt, and dairy products. Nutr Rev 2018;76:21–8.
  • Drewnowski A, Rehm CD, Martin A, et al. Energy and nutrient density of foods in relation to their carbon footprint. Am J Clin Nutr 2015;101:184–91.
  • Macdiarmid JI, Kyle J, Horgan GW, et al. Sustainable diets for the future: can we contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by eating a healthy diet? Am J Clin Nutr 2012;96:632–9.
“Yogurt for health: 10 evidence-based conclusion”
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13 May 2019
•
3 min read
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by YINI Editorial team
Cardiovascular health

People who eat yogurt and cheese have a reduced risk of heart disease

YINI Editorial team
The YINI team includes nutritionists, food engineers, registered dietitians and scientific writers.
cardiovascular diseases cheese fermentation fermented dairy
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A heart-friendly diet can make all the difference to our prospects for a healthy older age and now it seems a special group of foods may give us a helping hand in protecting against heart disease and stroke. These foods – fermented dairy products such as yogurt and cheese – are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), this research roundup shows.

It’s long been established that our diet plays a crucial role in our risk of CVD. Fermented dairy foods are made using microorganisms and may contain live microbes that are probiotic – these can survive in the gut and may have the potential to confer health benefits to the person consuming them. Researchers believe they achieve their beneficial effects through improving the community of microbes that normally reside in our digestive systems.

Research has suggested that probiotics in fermented dairy foods produce chemicals that may stop cholesterol building up in the walls of our arteries and forming dangerous atherosclerotic plaques, say the authors of this article. As a result, fermented dairy foods may prove to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Until now, studies have failed to lead to clear conclusions

Diets including fermented foods such as yogurt and cheese have been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of CVD, or to have a neutral effect, say the authors. However, the many studies that have looked at the association of fermented dairy foods with the risks of CVD have given inconsistent results.

To gain a clearer overall picture, the authors reviewed relevant studies published in English between 1980 and 2018 that used food frequency questionnaires to examine the association between yogurt or cheese consumption and the risk of CVD.

Fermented dairy foods are associated with reduced risk of heart disease and stroke

They identified ten relevant studies, altogether including 385,122 participants and reporting 64,667 cases of heart disease or stroke. Assessing the data, the authors compared the risk of CVD in people who consumed yogurt or cheese with the risk in people who never ate these foods.

Overall, eating yogurt or cheese was associated with a 17% reduced risk of heart disease or stroke. When the authors looked at new cases of heart disease or stroke only, the effects were even more marked – consumers of yogurt or cheese had a 20% lower risk than non-consumers.

Looking at the individual food types, yogurt-eaters were 22% less likely to develop CVD than people who didn’t eat yogurt. The effects were less pronounced for cheese-eaters, who showed a 13% reduction in CVD risk compared with those who didn’t eat cheese.

How might fermented dairy foods achieve such benefits?

Research has suggested that the protein content of yogurt may help people maintain a healthy weight and reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke by controlling appetite and reducing the amount of food they eat. Probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium may strengthen the immune system. Beneficial effects of probiotics on the gut microbiota may reduce levels of harmful chemicals entering the bloodstream where they can damage blood vessels and lead to CVD.

‘Our meta-analysis indicated that fermented dairy foods intake was associated with decreased CVD [cardiovascular disease] risk.’ – Zhang K et al, 2019.

Find out more: read the original article

Source: Zhang K, Chen X, Zhang L et al. Fermented dairy foods intake and risk of cardiovascular diseases: A meta-analysis of cohort studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2019; Jan 17:1-6.

YINI Editorial team
The YINI team includes nutritionists, food engineers, registered dietitians and scientific writers.
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07 May 2019
•
1 min read
ASN Nutrition 2019

Sustainable diets – Save the date for our coming symposium

ASN Drewnowski kok roos sustainable diet YINI summit
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Our next YINI symposium will be organized during Nutrition 2019, in Baltimore USA, on Monday, June 10th 2019.

This scientific event will gather experts on the topic of “Sustainable diets” with the following program:

  • What does it mean ? (by Elin Röös, Sweden)
  • How their environmental footprints is measured? (by Adam Drewnowski, USA)
  • What are the impacts on the main food categories? (by Frans Kok, The Netherlands)

YINI Save the date - Sustainable diets - vlong

Download the save the date (pdf)

Stay tuned for further information regarding the symposium. 

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06 May 2019
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1 min read
Benefits for planet health

Yogurt is part of sustainable diet

economy sustainability sustainable diet
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“Yogurt is part of a sustainable diet”  is one of the 10 evidence-based conclusions made by the YINI board about the health effects of yogurt… learn more below

To be sustainable, foods must be environmentally friendly, high in nutrient value, affordable and culturally acceptable.

Yogurt meets the four criteria for a sustainable food

Sustainability is more than just having a low carbon footprint. The environmental costs of food production and consumption must be balanced against nutrient value affecting health, affordability and cultural and social acceptability.

Characteristics required for a sustainable food

Yogurt’s high nutrient density balances its environmental cost, while its affordability brings it into the reach of the general population:

  1. Yogurt is a nutrient-dense food
  2. Yogurt has a low environmental footprint
  3. Yogurt is a low-cost source of nutrients
  4. Yogurt is culturally acceptable
References: Drewnowski A. Measures and metrics of sustainable diets with a focus on milk, yogurt, and dairy products. Nutr Rev 2018;76:21–8.

“Yogurt for health: 10 evidence-based conclusion”

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06 May 2019
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5 min read
•
by YINI Editorial team
What is Yogurt?

Traditional African fermented dairy foods could hold the key to better health

YINI Editorial team
The YINI team includes nutritionists, food engineers, registered dietitians and scientific writers.
Africa fermentation fermented dairy nutrient-dense food
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A camel roams the Sudanese desert. On its back it carries a leather bag made of goat’s skin nestling in wet grass. The bag contains a liquid that’s continuously slopped around by the camel’s jerky movement. The liquid contains a secret ingredient with a mysterious power…

It’s no magic potion. Known as gariss, it’s made from camel’s milk and it’s slowly fermenting, a process aided by being shaken as the camel walks. It is just one of a wealth of fermented dairy products traditionally made in Africa. Their secret ingredient believed to have health-giving powers? Microbes – millions of them.

Fermented dairy foods, typically yogurts and yogurt-like products, are a treasure-trove of probiotic microorganisms, nutrients and biologically active ingredients that could play an increasingly important role in the health of people across Africa, say the authors of this review. Harnessing the health potential of these products could help tackle several of the challenges facing Africa today, from poor nutrition to chronic and infectious diseases, the authors believe.

Fermentation has been used for centuries in Africa as a way of preserving milk and other foods in a climate where it can be difficult to keep them fresh. Milk is the most widely consumed animal protein in Africa, and fermentation provides a long-lasting alternative while improving the nutritional quality, digestibility and safety of milk. It also provides tasty foods during dry seasons when fresh milk may bot be available, say the authors.

‘In Africa, fermentation of food is one of the oldest methods of food processing and preservation and many traditional food processing techniques have been handed down from generation to generation for centuries.’ – Agyei D et al, 2019.

How fermented dairy products are made in Africa

Fermented dairy foods in Africa tend to be home-made using age-old recipes handed down from generation to generation. The milk comes from cows, goats, sheep, buffalo or camels and often the process starts with sifting out the animal fur and other debris that have fallen in during milking. Fermentation tends to be spontaneous because of the microorganisms that are in the raw milk, rather than using of specific starter cultures as elsewhere in the world.

So it comes as no surprise that the African fermented dairy products harbour a rich and diverse supply of microbes, especially lactic acid bacteria. Often they also contain yeasts, which may contribute to fermentation.

Fermented dairy products are rich in nutrients

Milk and the fermented dairy products made from it are rich in macro- and micronutrients and so play an important role in nutrition in people living in Africa where diets may not otherwise contain enough animal-based foods. High quality proteins, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamins A, D, E, K, and B are among the nutrients present in milk, and the fermentation process enhances the variety and concentration of many of these key nutrients, the authors explain.

Fermented dairy products can be suitable in lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance is common among adults around the world, causing symptoms such as abdominal cramps, bloating, flatulence, constipation, and diarrhoea after the consumption of lactose. But fermented dairy products tend to be well tolerated by people with lactose intolerance because some of the lactose originally in the milk is converted into lactic acid during fermentation, the authors say.

More health benefits may come from probiotics and bioactive compounds

Research suggests that health benefits from both commercially made and home-made African fermented milk products relate to the probiotic bacteria used in the fermentation process.

These probiotics may help stimulate the growth of ‘good’ microorganisms in the gut, and may be associated with improved gut health and healthier natural defence mechanisms. They may also prove to help reduce blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels, the authors say.

‘With proper research and development, probiotics from indigenous fermented dairy products could be used in dietary interventions to help mitigate some of the diseases encountered in … [the] public health challenge.’ – Agyei D et al, 2019.

Additional health benefits may prove to come from biologically active components in fermented dairy foods, including bioactive peptides made by the lactic acid bacteria, the authors believe. These peptides may be associated with several health-promoting effects including antimicrobial, cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant properties. They may be found to play a role in preventing diet-related chronic diseases, say the authors.

How can Africa harness the potential of its fermented dairy foods?

People in Africa are drinking more milk and milk products than in the past and this is good news for the continent, heralding better public health, nutrition, food security, and economic growth, say the authors. But in Africa, fermented dairy produces vary widely in their raw milk quality and starter microbe cultures – so harnessing the full potential of fermented dairy products would require ways of ensuring their quality and safety, the authors point out.

Studies are also needed in people across Africa to establish the health benefits of consuming these traditional fermented dairy products, the authors conclude.

Find out more: read the original article.
Source: Agyei D, Owusu-Kwarteng J, Akabanda F, Akomea-Frempong S. Indigenous African fermented dairy products: Processing technology, microbiology and health benefits. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2019 Jan 22:1-16.
YINI Editorial team
The YINI team includes nutritionists, food engineers, registered dietitians and scientific writers.
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29 Apr 2019
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Expert interviews Gut Health

From the last GMFH Summit: Fiber’s role and heart health

diet fibers GFMH gut health Lori Shemek microbiota
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For the last Gut Microbiota World Health Summit, held in March 2019 in Miami, top gut health researchers from around the globe convened to present their research, furthering our knowledge base in this area. Lori Shemek, PhD, was invited to attend the Summit and we have the pleasure to share her report and key messages of the Summit.

By Lori Shemek, PhD

In attending the last Gut Microbiota for Health Summit, there were a few pieces of research presented that had an effect upon my view, like probiotic effects on gut health.

Fiber’s Role in Gut Health

In light of the ketogenic diet, the newly discovered carnivore diet and even the Western diet, whichever type you choose, it was clear, with research presented, that a fiber rich diet is highly beneficial to the gut vs. no fiber.

Eric Martens, PhD., showed how a fiber-deprived gut leads to increased pathogen susceptibility.  While a low-fiber diet may not drive inflammation in the short term, it may increase disease risk in the long term, due to changes in microbiota & mucus degrading bacteria. In fact, he asserts that low dietary fiber intake worsens colitis and inflammation.

It may be time to reevaluate our fiber recommendations.

“The more plants you consume, the more gut microbiota you have” ~Eric Martens, GMFH Summit 2019

Why is fiber so beneficial to our gut health?   Our ancestor’s diets included twenty times the fiber we eat today. What you eat selects for the trillions of microorganisms that inhabit our gut and we are what they eat.

YINI - GMFH report by lori shemek

Fiber produces short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and are a powerful key to optimal health. SCFAs are produced when the friendly gut bacteria ferment fiber in your colon, and are the main source of energy for the cells lining your colon.  These fatty acids may reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases, metabolic disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease and other conditions.

Alternatively, reduced fiber intake causes gut bacteria to forage on the protective mucous lining for nutrients, leading to erosion of the gut barrier, leaving one susceptable to pathogens and promoting inflammation for those predisposed. Having said this, very low carbohydrate diets such as the ketogenic diet produce SCFAs helping to optimize health.

Also very compelling was Marten’s research showing that a healthy, high fiber diet, two to three days pre-surgery, reduces the risk of surgical complications and infection (in rats).

Dr. Martens also agrees that it is challenging or impossible to replace or change gut health with probiotics.

“Diet is the major force in shaping the gut microbiota – Dr. Liping Zhao, professor of microbiology, GMFH Summit 2019”

The Gut as a Participant in Heart Disease

Dr. Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD presented interesting research showing that our gut microbes can have an active role in human health and in promoting atherosclerosis or the collection of plaque inside the arteries leading to heart disease.

Dr. Hazen’s research showed that an inflammatory marker trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is a gut microbe generated metabolite that is responsible for increased heart disease and plays an active part.

TMAO is generated by the action of gut microbiota from our food choices. Red meat, eggs, dairy products are rich in choline, lecithin, and carnitine and markedly increases this inflammatory marker. The surprising twist is that fish is very high in TMAO and yet does not have this profound negative health effect, just the opposite.

However, not all studies have demonstrated an association between TMAO and atherosclerotic heart disease. The overall point with Dr. Hazen’s research that this gut conversion, with red meat and eggs, he reasons, leaves one vulnerable to heart disease, I find this challenging as most fish contain the highest amounts of TMAO.  Fish is notorious in its ability to reduce cardiovascular disease. This is an interesting study and should be investigated further.

Finally…

Attending the GMFH World Summit was a great experience with the vast amount of research presented. Thank you to the GMFH World Summit organizers and to Yogurt In Nutrition Initiative, it was an excellent summit, quality data and presentations leading us all to better health.

Lori Shemek, @LoriShemek 

Thank you to Lori Shemek, PhD for her work and feedback.

Related Posts
Milk matrix matters: why dairy deserves a place in plant-based diets From plate to planet: the challenge of building sustainable diets Gut health: the prebiotic power of lactose Focus on the bioactive peptides in dairy and yogurt
See More
Our Resources
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Experts Interviews
Key Publications
International conferences