Good nutrition is filling. Good nutrition will provide your body with what it needs to fight disease without the use of side-effect-inducing medication. Good nutrition will help you to feel better and your body to work at its peak performance. It isn’t surprising that supplements and medications seek to add what has been lost to our foods by over-processing and poor farming methods. Making our own yogurt is one of the simplest, most effective ways of adding nutrition to our diets. It forms the basis of many homemade recipes and is available all the time. You can make as much or as little as you want. Homemade yogurt is very versatile and easy to make!
The Benefits
Casein (milk protein) is difficult to digest. People who cannot digest casein properly can develop an “overload” of casein in their bloodstream that crosses into the brain and induces an opiate effect, creating dependency and neurological impairment. Culturing (fermenting) milk breaks down casein so the body can absorb it properly, making it much safer for most people to consume and avoid developing a milk sensitivity.
Lactose (milk sugar) is also difficult to digest. Culturing milk creates enzymes like Lactase which help to break down the sugar, preventing bloating and sickness in the lactose-intolerant. The other enzymes in the yogurt help the body to absorb calcium better. The vitamin content of milk increases when it is fermented, increasing energy, improving mood, and helping the body to fight off disease.
Perhaps the most useful aspect of cultured milk (yogurt) are the probiotics it provides: these protect the digestive tract, preventing infection and maximizing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. More nutrients = more full. More full = less eating. Less eating (for many of us) = healthy weight. If you’re trying to add weight, proper nutrition will help you to do that naturally without eating excessively.
It’s easy to make large batches of homemade yogurt if you have several recipes coming up. Just mix some heirloom yogurt started and milk/cream in a jar and leave alone for 24 hours!
Making your own homemade yogurt will help you to make cultured recipes; your Ranch dressing and Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting can be PROBIOTIC, maximizing the nutrition of whatever foods you are eating them with. You’ll especially appreciate it in Cold-and-Flu Season as a natural remedy that’s more effective than flu-shots and OTC cold medications (and much, much cheaper). You will become less dependent on the grocery store and spend less on drugs; a time and cost savings you’re sure to recognize this Winter if you start now!
How to Get Started
To make yogurt “A Helping of Hope”-style, you’ll need to order an heirloom yogurt culture from Cultures for Health (I recommend the Buttermilk heirloom yogurt culture; Villi works too, but it is more tangy). Then follow the simple, step-by-step instructions how to make homemade yogurt. Other methods are included on the page, just in case you don’t feel comfortable ordering a culture (even though it is really easy and Cultures for Health has wonderful service)
How are you doing so far?
Have you started reading labels on your canned goods (see last week’s Transformation Tuesdays post). Have you made an “On Notice” list yet? It doesn’t have to be fancy! If you haven’t done so yet, check the labels of the canned goods in your cupboard and put the cans “On Notice” if they contain artificial sweeteners or corn syrup products. Take the list with you to the grocery store and see if you can find alternatives that are sweetened naturally. Or, check the web (or my Food menu tab as I continually post new recipes) for ONE recipe to replace ONE “On Notice” canned-good FOR good!
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