Health Fact: Yogurt is More Healthful than Milk

As nutritious as milk and possibly even more healthful, yogurt is what you get when "good" bacteria feast on fresh milk. These "live active cultures" digest some of the milk's sugar (lactose), converting into lactic acid, which gives this "spoonable" dairy food a refreshing tang.

Yogurt is not only tasty; it's easily digested and calcium-rich (1 cup supplies a third or more of daily needs). It's a good source of protein, zinc, riboflavin, and vitamin B12, and, if made with fortified milk, vitamins A and D. It's available in low-fat or fat-free varieties. What's more, there's evidence that yogurt with live active cultures may prevent intestinal ills and possibly even colon cancer.

Yogurt's reputation as a health food is centuries old. In the 1500s, the French king Francis I was relieved of intestinal ills when the sultan of Turkey's doctor arrived with a herd of milk-producing sheep - and a recipe for yogurt. [Read Full Article]