Probiotics

All the fermented foods are a great source of probiotics in general. There is a long list of healthy fermented probiotic foods that belong to the traditional cuisines of different countries all over the world. What makes probiotics a healthy choice of food is the age-old fermentation process and the stains of active gut-friendly bacteria in the culture.

In India, people consume sweetened curd as a part of their tradition before starting any new job. I being an Indian blogger want to give a native Indian touch to the very first post so chose to write about Probiotics. I hope all the eight interesting and indulging sections in the blog will be informative and helpful to all my readers.

people tend to think that curd and yogurt are different names given to the same milk-based fermented product that is consumed all over the world. However, they are significantly different owing to the bacterial culture used to initiate the fermentation process. Let us understand the difference before going into detail.

“In yogurt preparation, only two specific strains of bacteria namely lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus are used. Whereas, the curd is found to contain a broad range of Lactobacillus bacteria.”

1. Child health: A scoop of curd or yogurt is recommended daily to help replenish the good gut-friendly bacteria in your child’s gut. Probiotics are useful in preventing gastric trouble in children and improve digestion also helps strengthen the immune system and promotes healthy bones and teeth. It helps treat diarrhoea due to use of antibiotics in children to treat diseases like common cold and fever.

• Avoid excess sugar and artificial flavours while you go for processed yogurt /curd for children when you want to make it a part of their daily diet.

you can add natural fruits like mango, strawberries, cherries, dates to the yogurt that you add to smoothies and shakes. Natural sugar from these fruits is always a wiser choice .

2. Physical fitness and weight management

• Cinnamon a common spice is known for its health benefits. Half teaspoon of cinnamon powder, when added to a glass of buttermilk along with a small piece of  grated ginger and few curry leaves, will aid in weight management

Make health  your priority

• Cinnamon tea helps improve the body’s immunity, it is also effective in maintaining the right sugar level in the case of type 2 diabetes, help treat menstrual cramps in women, it acts as a digestive aid and helps weight management.- Srishti (A health and fitness blogger)  want to know more about Cinnamon tea follow the link https://trendtofit.com/proven-benefits-of-cinnamon-tea/
• Further if you want to know more about health and fitness go to https://trendtofit.com/

3. Mental health chamber

Mental health is as important as physical health, make it practice to exercise, sleep and eat well to balance both.

“It would be magical just to change your diet and find a good change in your mood.”

Curd or yogurt reverses depressive behaviour. Recent researches suggest that regular consumption of probiotics help improve mental health by effectively reducing the effect of anxiety and depression.

Some practical mental health tips to remember:

• The first tip is for the teenagers who try to hide their feelings from their parents. Always remember your parents can be your good friends too so it is completely okay to share it with them when something is making you feel stressed or depressed.
• See that you talk it out and feel better.-Priyanka Nair (mental health awareness blogger). Want to know more about mental health follow the link https://priyankaspen.com/

4.Women health

• Curd or yogurt is  rich in calcium and therefore  helps prevent osteoporosis in women above  30 years. The probiotics, when consumed daily, prevents vaginal infections.
• Helps prevents ulcer and helps maintain a healthy digestive system.

5.Food technology for a healthy life

Probiotics are a group of live beneficial microorganism that are naturally present in our digestive system. Bacteria aren’t all bad. Our body needs the right balance of good gut-friendly bacteria. The human gut contains a trillion microorganisms like bacteria virus and fungi. It has an array of approximately 1000 species. When bad bacteria outnumber good bacteria illness occurs.

Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium are the most useful bacteria used for fermentation of different traditional probiotic foods.

Marketing niche and Parameters that help make better choices when it comes to processed food :

A whole lot of health-conscious people become target customers for this kind of processed probiotics. Even market research and test marketing of such products primarily have these target customers in mind and then they  eventually  extend the market.

Some tips to choose wiser :

• As far as possible try to avoid probiotic supplements.
• Check for strains of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in the nutrition label of probiotic food.
• In case of lactose intolerance avoid curd and yogurt and go for other fermented food like sauerkraut and tempeh.
• Check for food allergens, check for expiry date, shelf life, proper packaging, and sealing.

6. Processed  food tour:

Ruby pink Chocolate by Nestle

Ruby pink chocolate introduced by Nestle is one of the hot topics in the world of food technology and is a delightful chocolate experience. It has a natural pink colour. It is the fourth kind of chocolate after dark, milk, and white.  Characterized by natural sweetness and acidity achieved by cocoa beans and cocoa pulp at the periphery. Ruby Chocolate has an intense berry fruitiness and this gives it a natural flavour and this natural flavour is unlocked by an innovative process. Without the addition of refined sugar and artificial flavours, the ruby pink chocolate found by Yasumasa Takagi has got all  the  attention from new health-conscious chocolate lovers and food technologists around the world.

Cake mix by  Pillsbury

Cinnamon flavoured bread and muffin mix is great with a cup of yogurt, vanilla essence and 1/3 cup of oats. It is a great option for diabetic and calorie-conscious people and there is a great variety of this sugar-free cake mix range from Pillsbury. This product contains riboflavin, niacin and folic acid.

Probiotic sugar-free ice-creams

probiotic sugar-free ice-creams by Amul makes it possible to have probiotics in the most favourite frozen dessert. It becomes a rarely excellent combination of health and taste. When a diabetic can have guilt-free sugar-free probiotic ice-cream and feel happy. I think this is largely possible because of the innovative food technologist community.

7. Recipe Corner

This mango parfait is a healthy guilt-free dessert. With such desserts, you don’t have to think even once before having it. In fact, you can have it at breakfast also.

Let Us See How To Make Mango Parfait in detail.

•  Preparation Time: 10 minutes

•  Cooking Time: Nil

•  Serves: 2

Ingredients

•  3 Pc Mangoes

• 1/2 Cup Hung Curd

•   1 Teaspoon Honey

•  1/4 Cup Mixed Fruits, chopped finely (kiwi, plums, grapes, apple etc.)

•   4 Tablespoon, Chocolate Cake, crumbled

•   1 teaspoon Strawberry Coulis/ Crush

Method

•Chop mangoes finely. Reserve some, around 2 tablespoons for topping and use the remaining for making mango yogurt.

•In a blender put chopped mangoes and hung curd and puree it fine.

Your mango yogurt is ready. Sweeten it with honey. The quantity of honey will depend upon the sweetness of your mangoes. You can have it as it is also.

• Now take any beautiful looking glass. Put little strawberry coulis in it.

•Add some crumbled chocolate cake. I used my zebra cake here.

•Put mango yogurt.

• Arrange Fruits

•Again add mango yogurt. Top with some mango pieces.

•Serve with love…

I know  it is a tempting and healthy recipe if  you  want to know more about it  follow this food blogger by  clicking the following link. https://www.samirasrecipe.com/2018/05/16/healthy-mango-parfait/ If you want the zebra chocolate cake recipe you can find it at the link below.https://www.samirasrecipe.com/

8. Beauty tips right from your kitchen.

3 Tea spoons of curd

1 Spoon of honey

1/2 Spoon of turmeric powder

Mix well and apply the pack on your face.

Wash it after 20 minutes and pat dry.

This pack  cleanses, moisturises and adds glow to skin when used 2-3 times a week.