Yes, a new research conducted by the University of Tennessee suggests that yogurt can contribute in effective weight loss. In fact, those dieters who think that giving up on dairy foods can prove to be a boon can actually land up either gaining weight or remaining at the same, if sticking to a diet and exercise plan is really not working.
Does yogurt help you lose weight?
Experts are of the opinion that yogurt helps in speeding the process of “fat-burning“ ,thereby, helping you to lose weight even quicker than expected. This in turn also helps in maintaining a toned body with lean muscles with the capacity to reduce body fat all at the same time.
Michael Zemel, professor at the University of Tennessee discovered that when “Yoplait Light“ was included in the weight loss diet of people — more weight was lost than those who simply lost out on calories (muscle mass).
Statistics revealed that yogurt-friendly dieters lost more weight by about 22 percent, more of body fat by 61 percent and more of abdomen and stomach fat by about 81 percent. These results were arrived at after an overall 12 weeks’ research.
Low fat yogurt role in weight loss: Zemel and his team introduced yogurt into a calorie-reduced diet of about 34 obese adults who were healthy. These obese adults were randomly divided into two groups. The Yogurt Light group were administered with 3 servings of Yogurt Light and consumed as many as 1100mg of calcium everyday. The other group consumed a bare amount of just 500mg of calcium which is the average intake of calcium for an American.
Every obese adult had a specific diet plan that contained fewer calories. Both blood pressure levels and body weight were examined on a weekly basis. The body composition of every obese adult was also evaluated on the basis of the DEXA which is the “dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry”.
Results of the study showed that yogurt was more effective in losing weight than in losing calories alone. Michael Zemel, professor of nutrition claims that when one wants to lose weight both effectively and quickly, yogurt could be the best way to burn fat and maintain strong and/or lean muscles unlike what rigorous workouts and dieting do by burning calories, thereby, causing you to lose weight and muscles.
How to Use Low Fat Yogurt in Cooking?
- It can used to marinate chicken along with lemon juice, minced garlic and curry powder.
- It can be a tasty dip with garlic, cucumber and herbs.
- A delicious smoothie can be prepared using it with ice and fruits.
- It can used for dressing of potatoes, tuna and chicken salads.
- A creamy texture in chilled soups can be obtained from it.
- Yogurt cheese can replace cream cheese completely. In a refrigerator the yogurt is to be drained for two hours. Drain the yogurt bowl placed in a refrigerator over two hours using paper towels. We obtain a thick spread that goes well on bagels and whole-wheat toast.
- It can be used as a replacement for oil or butter in place quick breads and muffins. But we need to ensure that 1/2 tsp of baking soda is added along with every cup of yogurt.
