I am scared of the newer commercial yogurt products whose manufactures' claim have 5 + different microorganisms in them.
I know it can be hard to keep pure microbial strains under strict sterile university lab conditions, and even in factories (for ag).
How they manage to produce 5+ in a factory for one product is beyond me.
Probably more like 20 strains per product--I don't want to incubate them all in my gut.
I used to make my own yogurt, even that was terrifying!
You have way more species in and on you right now. In fact, about 10 times more microbial cells than human cells, on skin, in your gut, etc. And you need them as helpers and protectors.
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In my youth, I spent a lot of time in a basement later found to contain radon. Will yoghurt and fiber protect against radon induced lung cancer as well as it protects against tobacco induced lung cancer?
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@John Mardinly --My childhood basement had both radon and asbestos--and likely lead paint--certainly straight malathion pesticide.
Maybe if I had completely coated myself in yogurt then rolled in fiber it mighta helped, but my parents were not crunchy enough to provide those options!
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@John Mardinly
The radon connection to lung cancer isn't very strong. For example, the counties with highest lung cancer rates are not the counties with highest radon rates. I wouldn't worry.
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@pazza4sno
My non-smoking father-in-law died of lung cancer in his early 70s after spending years working working on stuff in his Westchester County basement, which, as it turns out, was full of radon.
I love these offbeat studies, even if no one is sure why it's so. Anything that works in our favor is good news. I'm already a big fiber eater so I don't need to change that. I do eat yogurt but I alternate it with cottage cheese and whey protein drinks. It's all the same cow protein but the other things don't have the probiotics of yogurt. I find yogurt to taste so sweet it's more like a dessert and, then, the plain is too sour, even with fruit. So, I don't like it everyday.
The encouraging news of this study is the scope of the review (it included over a million people on three continents) and the fact that lung cancer incidence was reduced across the board- for current smokers, ex-smokers, and never smokers.
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@Ron A Just add a smidgeon of maple syrup to your plain yogurt. Not too sweet,not too sour. Or fresh fruit.
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Have you tried yogurt as a savory dish? Add diced cucumbers, salt, and maybe garlic/garlic powder. It’s delicious as a side dish or a light lunch.
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@Ron A I eat yogurt mixed with plain uncooked whole oatmeal. You get the benefits of both that way...
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Its the microbes in yogurt that matter.
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Diet and nutrition matter even if most doctors today can't tell you anything about either since Big Medicine is based on pushing drugs to treat problems not prevention. Pre and Probiotics are lacking in most American diets.
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In general eating lots of fiber and yogurt MAY indicate a person otherwise eats a diet that is “healthier” than other people’s diets. It also MAY indicate that in general those people may exercise regularly, don’t smoke or drink much alcohol, take recreational drugs, etc; in other words are healthier in their life-style choices. To link lower cancer risk directly & specifically to yogurt & fiber is ridiculous.
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There’s been a lot of research on fiber.
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@Soos Obviously the devil is in the details, but I am confident that my high fiber diet not only tastes delicious but reduces the changes of colo-rectal cancers
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@Soos True these epidemiological studies are weak. However, the links are becoming known - read The Good Gut by a couple of Stanford University microbiome researchers. Plus, near zero rates of cancer (and heart disease, arthritis, diabetes etc) were found over and over by doctors who worked in undeveloped countries in the early 20th century, They all remarked on the near absence of these diseases, and some attributed it to high fiber consumption.
Is this true for all yogurts or just cow milk yogurt? As we try to move toward a more plant-based diet and away from industrial farming and maltreatment of animals, how can we still get the benefits of yogurt? I am limiting dairy products in my diet as I try to become more vegan - for the benefit of the planet, our children's future and me. But non-dairy yogurt is too expensive (and not nearly as tasty) and I doubt it has the same benefits.
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@Pam Franklin
My guess would be, yes, if those other yogurts have probiotics similar to regular yogurt. Not likely to get studies on plant-based yogurts as the consumption base is so small.
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@Pam Franklin,
I make my own soy yogurt from commercial soy milks, containing only water and soybeans, no additives. I add vegan culture and incubate at 110 F for 12 hours. The result is a soy yogurt without additives, yet thick and creamy, and I find it very tasty! I often add a bit of maple syrup with the culture, to add some flavor. I can image adding other flavorings as well.
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@Dr. J --There are also cultured tofu products--sofu is one--that I included in my talks about soybeans and soy products to grade school kids.
Given that it was Hawaii, the kids happily munched of all kine tofu and beans etc, but the sofu slide pic grossed them out!
Think tofu cubes on long splits rotating in a heated enclosed cabinet sprouting green mold.
Bet that had some probiotics!
It is not easy to summarize medical articles in a manner comprehensible for the layperson. However one does it, there are always things missing in the explanation.
That was my "gut" reaction to this.
However, I read the abstract and then the article in Jama. While I am not a physician, the article was generally not that difficult to understand, it did make a lot of sense and the authors were quite careful in how they drew conclusions. I cite though one point in the early part of the article:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/article-abstract/2753175
"Men with high fiber or yogurt intake had higher educational attainment, that is, university degree or above (lowest vs highest, 34.4% vs 45.5% for fiber; 40.0% vs 47.9% for yogurt), and healthy lifestyles, including less current smoking (39.1% vs 13.2% for fiber; 18.7% vs 16.0% for yogurt), less alcohol consumption (27.1 vs 10.3 g/d for fiber; 19.0 vs 14.9 g/d for yogurt), and more physical activity than those with low intakes"
Men who ate yogurt or had a high fiber diet would be generally more healthy and not just re lung cancer or other lung issues described there.
Be all that as it may, if you read this NYT article, take a few minutes to read the study (or at least the abstract).
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Ahhh, another instance of that tricky sticky question of correlation vs causation...
Those of us that grind their own wheat berries to get flour and then bake bread have all the benefits of fiber along with many other benefits which include probiotics, vitamins vitamins from real wheat germ and much more.
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"The reason for the association is not clear, said the senior author, Dr. Xiao-Ou Shu of Vanderbilt University"
maybe its because if you mine the data enough you'll always find some "statistically valid" link?
Look, fiber is probably a good thing to eat more of, same with foods containing live cultures. But think who is the population that actively seeks out these. What picture comes to your mind? Is it the lower-income person exposed to potentially dangerous fumes and chemicals at work, living by the exhaust of the freeway? Or the spandex-clad suburbanite having a cup of yogurt on the way home from yoga? Of course these are ridiculous stereotypes, but the point is the populations that eat less or more fiber and yogurt are not about the same except for their dietary habits.
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