The Sensible Foodie
For More Information:
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Events
  • Contact Us

Dressing it up doesn't make it true part 2: Probiotics

4/14/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
See the picture above? THAT is probiotic. Doesn't it look yummy?!

Another beloved health fad that has taken off, especially in the yogurt industry. To think it all started with that simple Activia commercial which would replace the actor's stomach with a fit lean belly dancing body once they ate their oh so magical yogurt.

Let's start with what probiotics are:

Probiotics are bacteria. We all have bacteria in our gut and some of them are good and some of them are bad. The goal of a probiotic is to add a whole bunch of the happy bacteria to hopefully over power the bad ones and improve your digestion.

Do they really do this though? The answer is sort-of. The research is very mixed on the effectiveness of probiotics. They seem to provide some mild benefits in those that have recently had surgery, chemo therapy or powerful antibiotics which have eliminated the bacteria in their gut, but there is little to no proof that probiotics help out the general population, or those with irritable stomachs.

But companies always have to take the health claims to crazy levels or how else are they going to convince you to buy their product?

Take Danon for instance. This company has been through the ringer more than once with class action law suits for posting ridiculous claims on their products that were not even remotely true! The most recent example was the super boost their yogurt would give your immune system. Turns out the research they used was funded by their own company and inconclusive, yet they managed to find a few obscure lines in the conclusions that they could twist around to prove their point.

So probioitic yogurts are not the magical super dairy we thought. But what could be so terrible about eating them? 

Think about it....how do you keep an excessive amount of bacteria alive in a container that is already harbouring a large amount of bacteria to begin with? That's right folks; yogurt is already a probiotic because they use bacteria to make it!

The answer is: Load it up with sugar! Bacteria love sugar after all! Next time you are in the store, compare your favourite probiotic yogurt to the regular yogurt and just see how much sugar is in them. Most of the probiotics out there are like desserts in a cup.

So to summarize:
1) The benefits of probiotics on the general population and those with mild stomach issues is somewhere between inconclusive and nonexistent.
2) Claims on probiotics are often blown out of proportion and likely cannot be applied to you.
3) Probiotics cost more money, generally are higher in calories and higher in sugar.

It's your money, you certainly can spend it as you please, just be aware that you may be wasting it on a product you don't really need.

Below I have posted a video from comedian Sarah Haskins. She does a series of webisodes called "Target Women" all about the ridiculous marketing directed at women. This is the episode on yogurt and it makes me laugh every time I watch it. WARNING- some swearing in the clip.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Kate Park
    RD, CDE, PTS, MAN, BASc

    Kate is a Registered Dietitian and self proclaimed foodie who studied her Master of Applied Nutrition at the University of Guelph. Currently she practices at a Family Health Team in Southern Ontario. Her greatest passion in life is food, so she spends her spare time teaching cooking classes and nutrition courses all over Ontario.

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Allergy
    Badvertising
    Breakfast
    Call To Readers
    CHCH
    Children
    Cooking
    Ctv
    Diabetes
    Dietitian
    Digestion
    Dr Oz
    Event
    Exercise
    Food
    Foodie
    Frankenfood
    Franken Food
    Fun
    Funny
    Gardening
    Gluten
    Gluten Free
    Halloween
    Health
    Health Supplements
    Heart
    Ingredients
    Marketing
    Media
    Mental Health
    Misleading Information
    Myth
    Nutrition
    Nutrition Month
    Obesity
    Picky Eaters
    Policy
    Recipes
    Request To Readers
    Research
    Restaurants
    Salt
    Sleep
    Snacking
    Society
    Stomach
    Supplements
    Television
    Vegetarian
    Weight Loss

    Archives

    March 2017
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011

    RSS Feed

Site Navigation

Home
About
Blog
Events
Contact Us








Sensible Foodie Since 2011
Photos used under Creative Commons from Jim Larrison, OctopusHat, trekkyandy, torbakhopper, DaveOnFlickr, cyclonebill, tedeytan, usagede, Jixar, DaveBleasdale, Antonio Marano, mallydally, sleepyneko, avlxyz, CleanseAndBlend, nutrilover, takebackyourhealthconference, John Donges, Lisa Padilla, Logan Brumm Photography and Design, jon smith., roblawton, DavidDennisPhotos.com, freeloosedirt, star5112, zzellers, Rochelle, just rochelle, SammyJayJay, ewan traveler, opensourceway, tristanf, Christian Cable, stevendepolo, Laurel Fan, thebittenword.com, 305 Seahill, bark, davidmulder61, Rob.Bertholf, alh1, Yachichurova, Angelbattle bros, Marcel_Ekkel, waitscm, mahr, aminaelahi, Kamal H., Vegan Feast Catering, ssoosay, Vegan Feast Catering, SURF&ROCK (Miguel Navaza), abbybatchelder, Aoife city womanchile, whiper, ckuijjer, roland, Lee Coursey, Alexandre Hamada Possi, Elaine with Grey Cats, Sharon & Nikki McCutcheon, krossbow, michaelnpatterson, roseannadana, dnwallace, grongar, wwarby, marimbajlamesa, Parker Knight, AJC1, david.dames, mahalie, orinoko42, RLHyde, David Reber's Hammer Photography, with wind, Tambako the Jaguar, maessive, jessie essex, stuartpilbrow, cdedbdme, Anurag SM, ohmeaghan, Alan Cleaver, Ian's, FranUlloa, stoermchen, außerirdische sind gesund, Polybert49, cottonseedoil, Sweet One, Hanna_Elise, Ed Yourdon, Hey Paul Studios, land_camera_land_camera, Randy Heinitz, greggavedon.com, Tomi Tapio, Lars Plougmann, waferboard, Michael Bentley, kaelin.fe, mallydally, mararie, _M-j-H_, Project Dinner Table, Fareham Wine, jwalsh, Hey Paul Studios, beve4, JustABoy, keepingtime_ca, tuchodi, l'interdit, frotzed2, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, Tom Purves, 松林L, shibuya246, CarbonNYC [in SF!], A m o r e C a t e r i n a, Yuya Tamai, kiwinz, Dinner Series, jamieanne, ginnerobot, nayrb7, hansdorsch, Fast Forward Event Productions, quinn.anya, Robert S. Donovan, 1010uk, mtthompson, mallydally, HarmonyRae, Photogdan.com. Faving? Read the profile please., HikingArtist.com, AskJoanne, Jeremy Jenum, Alan Cleaver, eefeewahfah, Japanexperterna.se, _Mike_, HK.Colin, osseous, lightwrite, SF à gogo, TheCulinaryGeek, Matthew Oliphant, roseannadana, weegeebored, Daddy-David, Claricethebakergardener, Army Medicine, Dominique Levesque, {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}, swanksalot, Wonderlane, OliBac, DeaPeaJay, BRAYDAWG, William Brawley, Parker Michael Knight, ** RCB **, goblinbox_(queen_of_ad_hoc_bento), Pierre LaScott, Executives International, wlayton, Stacy Spensley, seligmanwaite, angelocesare, theogeo, Whatsername?, Goedeker's, lululemon athletica, CarbonNYC, Neeta Lind, Horia Varlan, Dylan Luder, bandarji, thepinkpeppercorn, freeloosedirt, Muffet, PinkMoose, khawkins04, franksteiner, Brandon Blahnik, Peter Rosbjerg, 柏翰 / ポーハン / POHAN, thebittenword.com, danielfoster437, jspatchwork, cogito ergo imago, PersonalCreations.com, Sean Davis, ^@^ina (Irina Patrascu), Growing a Green Family, ahisgett, Barney A Bishop, B*2, stu_spivack, Vegan Feast Catering, Jeff Kubina, DOH4, d_vdm, CityofStPete, tr0tt3r, The Travelling Bum, Leedman, naotakem, Carl Black, Vegan Feast Catering, Greencolander, Jim Makos, Todd Huffman, KJGarbutt, Collin Anderson, Neeta Lind, Colby Stopa, HowardLake, gnuckx, Simon le nippon, South African Tourism, alexlomas, theglobalpanorama, HealthGauge, zigazou76, nerissa's ring, Francis Storr, tetue, Dougtone, mhowry, balise42, PracticalCures, Gilles Gonthier, klynslis, Tobyotter, clayirving, Antanith, Karish Kobal, kencf0618, Tony.L.Wong, Rmonty119, joebeone, Tambako the Jaguar, krossbow, Lars Plougmann, Dylan Luder, felicidade, amayzun, USDAgov, freshtopia.net, Juanedc, lisaclarke, alancleaver_2000, Simon Goldenberg, {katelyn}, tsaarni, thebittenword.com, Meanest Indian, david.nikonvscanon, Hryck., Rachel Zack, allison.hare, jspatchwork, jeffreyw, lu_lu, leosaumurejr, drewsaunders, Roby Ferrari, xxxology, Kristal Kraft ~ DenverDwellings, piagphotography, jonycunha, theogeo, gruntzooki, barmala, L. Bernhardt, Resident Loon, Sam Howzit, serenejournal, wuestenigel
✕