Short Essay 5

Health Implications of Yogurt

            Reviewing my food consumption from this past weekend I noticed diversity in my food choices. Yogurt was a recurring theme and was quite prevalent over my weekend. This may have been due to the fact that yogurt was the last food source in my dorm fridge, however, I had chosen the yogurt while I was grocery shopping. This theme in my food choices made me question, “why do we make the choices we do when we are at the store?” To me it seems to be a combination of health choices and taste choices. For me the choice to buy yogurt is both of these, the taste of yogurt is great especially when you get a bite of fruit along with the tangy yogurt. Also, it has been my impression, since I was a kid, that yogurt is a healthful choice spurring my desire to buy this dairy product. Doing a bit of research in an online medical database I found that yogurt has many health benefits, especially cardiac health benefits (Ramchandran). These health benefits are important especially coming from a family that has a history of high blood pressure.

            Taste is a crucial aspect of food and should be considered when one is grocery shopping. If one is spending the money to purchase food the two aspects that should be considered are taste and healthful qualities of the food product. The stipulation is, of course, if one can afford the food products. However, for each socioeconomic level, people examine taste and health reward of the particular foods that are affordable to the certain class. To me this is the benefit of yogurt; it is relatively cheap, depending on the brand you buy, and has the cardiac health benefits discussed below. Therefore, when I am grocery shopping I head for the produce section and the dairy section. These two food groups are both healthful and cost efficient. With the Safeway gift cards I receive from my grandmother and my family medical history of high blood pressure it seems natural for me to purchase the yogurt.

            Growing up in Evergreen I was always outdoors playing and being active, however, so were my older relatives and many of them suffer from high blood pressure and other cardiac diseases. This shows me that my heart health is very important and a health risk I need to take seriously. The active lifestyle I live is important to my health, however, diet and exercise, not diet or exercise, are both incredibly important to a healthy body and necessary to combat diseases. Before this research I was unaware of the cardiac benefit of yogurt (Ramchandran). As stated in the findings of the study done by Ramchandran and Shah, “It was concluded that feeding diets supplemented with yogurts exhibited antihypertensive and hypocholesterolemic effects in spontaneously hypertensive rats” (Ramchandran). The study conducted used many medical terms, so in laymen’s terms the rats that had high blood pressure and were fed a diet containing yogurt showed reduced levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, therefore better cardiac health. This is an important finding, especially in a society where cholesterol and high blood pressure are a prevalent health consequence of our unhealthy diets and lifestyles. The importance is due to the possibility to reduce these levels. The lazy and busy suffers of heart disease can continue their lifestyles and chose this healthful snack over the typically unhealthy snacks that plagues our society. Combining the taste of yogurt with the health benefits that will likely aid my future health, it seems to be the right decision to continue stocking my fridge and my stomach with yogurt.

 

Works Cited

Ramchandran, L., NP. Shah. “Yogurt can beneficially affect blood contributors of cardiovascular

health status in hypertensive rats.” Journal of Food Science. 76.4 (2011): 131-136. Online.