How2Day: What are the Reasons to Eat Yogurt?

Eating a cup of yogurt every day can reduce plaque and gingivitis. James And James/Photodisc/Getty Images
Yogurt -- a fermented milk product high in calcium, riboflavin and phosphorous -- is a healthy addition to your diet. It's produced by combining milk and bacterial cultures, which changes lactose into lactic acid and creates the tart flavor and thick texture common in yogurt.

Yogurt is a good source of many vitamins including potassium, iodine, zinc and vitamins B5. These vitamins serve various body functions, like maintaining electrolyte balance, lowering bad cholesterol, balancing blood sugar levels and stabilizing metabolism. Yogurt also contains B12, normally found in animal products, which helps regulate red blood cells and maintain the nervous system. As a milk product, yogurt contains a high amount of calcium, the nutrient required for healthy bones and teeth.

The active cultures in yogurt may help maintain gastrointestinal health by relieving conditions such as diarrhea, lactose intolerance and constipation. Yogurt helps these conditions by influencing changes in stomach bacteria and the amount of time required food moves through the bowel system, according to MedicineNet.

Eating a cup of yogurt on a daily basis, such as the commercially available products at grocery stores, aids the immune system. Yogurt contains lactobacillus casei, a strain of bacteria that helps boost immune system responsiveness. This boost reduces the amount of time a person's immune system requires to fight a virus, infection or illness. Additionally, the cellular immunity benefits of yogurt may help prevent certain types of cancer.

Yogurt can reduce halitosis -- noticeably bad breath a person emits while performing actions like speaking or exhaling -- by up to 80 percent, based on information from Organic Facts. Other dental benefits of yogurt include a reduction in plaque and gingivitis for people who eat it on a daily basis.

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