Yogurt Diet

According to a study that was published in International Journal of Obesity, 2005, obese adults who consumed three servings of yogurt in a day, lost about 500 calories per day. Some other findings of the report were that this group of obese adults lost around twenty two percent more weight and eighty one percent more fat around the stomach, when compared with the group which just ate one serving of yogurt per day. Thus, including lots of calcium rich foods in the diet aids in maintaining the bone density as well as muscle mass contributing to fat loss.

Besides weight loss, including yogurt in one's diet has many other health benefits as well. Below is a list of all the health benefits, followed by some useful information on yogurt diet plan.

Health Benefits of Yogurt

• Yogurt helps in boosting one's immune system.
• It helps in fighting Candida yeast infections.
• It is rich in calcium and thus, keeps the bones strong and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
• Eating yogurt aids in improving the colon health.
• It is well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties.
• Heals skin disorders faster.
• Aids in keeping eating disorders in check.
• Supplies the body with various essential nutrients.
• Reverses the lactose as well as gluten intolerance which a person might have.
• When yogurt with live cultures is eaten, they add good bacteria to the intestinal tract which help in fighting off the "bad" bacteria.
• People who are on antibiotics, often have their friendly bacteria destroyed by these drugs. Eating yogurt can help in replacing these friendly bacteria again in the body.

Yogurt Diet Plan

Following a yogurt diet for weight loss does not mean that a person should only eat yogurt throughout the day. Rather for a healthy body, yogurt should be taken in combination with other foods. For example, in the breakfast, one serving of yogurt can be taken along with some low calorie fruits, such as apples. For lunch, a serving of yogurt can be taken along with salad. For dinner, steamed or baked chicken or even fish can be taken along with salad, followed by a serving of yogurt after some time. While on this diet, care should be taken that no more than four servings of the yogurt are taken in a single day.

For natural weight loss, it is not necessary that a person has to rely on this diet only. In fact, yogurt can be added to the normal diet to induce weight loss. A person who takes cereals with milk for breakfast, can replace the milk with yogurt. Fiber rich cereals along with high protein and low fat yogurt make for an excellent, low calorie breakfast. To make it more nutritious, slices of apples and nuts such as pistachios can be added to the cereal and the yogurt. Similarly, to include yogurt in lunch or dinner, meat can be rolled in it prior to cooking. Another way to add yogurt to hot dishes is to mix a small amount of cornstarch to the yogurt and then add this mixture to the dish when it is just about to get cooked.

Controlling one's diet or following a particular diet plan is not enough to lose weight. It has to be combined with a full-fledged exercise program to achieve success. So along with taking a yogurt diet, a person has to include activities such as walking, jogging, aerobics, weightlifting and swimming to shed extra weight.