Fro – Yo. A new age fad or health conscious craze?

I remember the days of walking over to the local Milpitas town center and indulging in my weekly soft serve at Yogurt Street (I think that was the name). It was a simple soft serve with some toppings and cost about 50 cents, probably why it went out of business and more recently have been replaced by the hottest trend… fro-yo. Over the last few years yogurt shops have been popping up all over the bay area with Red Mango and Pink-berry being pioneers in the industry. It took me a while to get into the tart flavor of the yogurt and fork out 5 bucks for it too. More recently places like Yogurt land are revamping how it is done by adding more flavors, lots of toppings, and YOU decide how much you want to pay by filling up your own cup with all the goodies. I find it to be a twist on super size style, since some kids have a mound of yogurt drizzled with all the chocolate chips, reses cups, and hopefully some fruit, that can fit in the cup. More importantly though, does the yogurt live up to the healthy hype? The hot trend is piggy backing on a new wave of health conscious consumers by promoting benefits beyond that of milk… it's the new yogurt buzz work- Probiotics. Probiotics are live microorganisms, or good bacteria that, when ingested in adequate amounts, can provide health benefits ranging from digestive health and regularity to strengthening the immune system. Scientists are still studying this is more detail. The catch is that not ALL yogurts contain these healthy helpers so it's important to read the labels and ask questions. The designer yogurts label the probiotics as Lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidus however some only contain prebiotics and some yogurts contain neither. If you are living a Paleo lifestyle then you probably want to avoid all this dairy and if you are balancing meals then keep in mind that the yogurt contains carbs and many are sweetened artificially which result in major insulin spikes. I am not entirely convinced that the fro- yo craze is healthy but it certainly is yummy. My personal favorite is the pistachio yogurt with some almonds and berries.

 

What's your favorite Yogurtland flavor? Post to comments…

Nutritionize

Ritu

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REMINDER:

Nutrition Basics Seminar Sunday July 18^th @ 10am

If you are not going to the Crossfit games this weekend then make sure you come out to the seminar and jumpstart your nutritious lifestyle!

P.S. Good luck to everyone at the games especially to our very own CFU competitor Chyna… you rock girl!!!