Buttermilk is common accompaniment in most of the Indian diets. Let us read on to find out more of its benefits.
Buttermilk is a Probiotic food. These contain living microorganisms, that can survive the passage through the stomach and become active in the intestines.
Healthy bacteria reside in everybody’s colon, and in return for food and a warm place to live these resident bacteria contribute to your health. One of the most intestinal-friendly resident bacteria is the family of lactobacteria, so-called because they thrive on lactose sugars. The commonest form is L.acidophilus.
Here are some healthy things these bacteria do to your body:
- Manufacture vitamins
- Improve digestion
- Boost Immunity
- Manufacture nutrients
- Protect against cardiovascular diseases
- Protect against carcinogens
Buttermilk is lower in fat than regular milk, because the fat has been removed to make butter. It is also high in potassium, vitamin B12, calcium, and riboflavin as well as a good source of phosphorus.
Those with digestive problems are often advised to drink buttermilk rather than milk, as it is more quickly digested. Buttermilk has more lactic acid than skim milk.
Now buttermilk is made by adding cultured bacteria to low-fat or fat-free milk, just like yogurt. The live cultures provide its distinctive rich, creamy texture–and a host of health benefits.
Hence drink buttermilk for better health!!!
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Aren’t the probiotic bacteria dead in pasteurized buttermilk that is commonly available?
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Sanjana - Dietitian Reply:
March 13th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Pasteurized buttermilk is made from pasteurized milk products. It is not possible to heat buttermilk. Hence probiotics added will be retained and will multiply well.
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I’ve resently been told, just by adding buttermilk to my diet can help me lose weight. I could really stand to lose 10 to 15 lbs. Will this really work?
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Sanjana - Dietitian Reply:
May 19th, 2009 at 9:15 am
You can lose weight with buttermilk if you drink it as a snack or replace some junk with buttermilk. It will work very well if it is a part of a low calorie diet.
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Sanjana,
I have high cholesterol. I have drastically changed my lifestyle and I eat healthy food and do lot of exercise.
I also meet a nutricist in US. He tells me that rice/chappati will increase my cholesterol although they dont contain any of it. Also he adviced me to use Coconut oil (natural and organic). I am not sure if he is correct. Would you please comment on it?
Thanks
Vik
[Reply]
Sanjana - Dietitian Reply:
May 29th, 2009 at 10:12 am
It is nice to hear that you have changed your life style. So be patient for the results. There are a few things which not all nutritionists/ dietitians explain. Your nutritionist was meaning to tell you that you may be eating more of white rice and chapatti made of refined wheat flour. These can increase your triglycerides and LDL( bad cholesterol). You should eat what you are genetically inclined to eat. If you are an Indian, you need to eat complex carbohydrates such as brown rice and whole wheat flour products. Just make the switch to whole grain products.
Coconut oil can be safe in limited quantities. Do not cook non-vegetarian food with coconut oil as it contains saturated fats. Coconut oil is rich in MCTs which is very good for health. Do not use more than 2 tsps per day per person.
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Dear Madam,
I am Diabetic, and have been advised to reduce the Milk consumption
to keep my Blood Sugar level in control, as the Sugar contained in milk remains unaffected by Diabetic medicines. Kindly suggest that use of Buttermilk in place of Milk will suit me.
Thanks,
K.B.Asthana
[Reply]
Sanjana - Dietitian Reply:
July 27th, 2009 at 9:20 am
It is quite safe to drink milk in Diabetes. Any kind of sugar you consume becomes glucose in the body when broken down. The kind of sugar present in milk is lactose which splits into glucose in the blood.
You have to include milk in your diet as buttermilk does not contain protein, calcium etc as much as milk. Hence Atleast you should drink 300 ml of milk products daily to keep up your calcium requirements.
But yes, you can use buttermilk but it can never give the goodness of milk.
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Dear Madam,
I am an Indian residing overseas. I am diabetic. Is there any information I can get on the type of foods that I can eat and should avoid.
Thanks a lot.
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Sanjana - Dietitian Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Diabetes relies on carbohydrates. Keep a check on the amount and the type of carbs you eat. If you mention where you are settled I can help you out.
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Nice & informative blog…really liked the layout.
Anyway just wanted to know whether these probiotic drinks/tablets helps ( as it has more number of good bacteria than butter milk)?
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Sanjana - Dietitian Reply:
May 6th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Hi Dhruv,
It is not necessary to buy any probiotic drinks as fermented milk products naturally contain the bacteria….So stick to curds and butter milk for he right dosage…
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Can you please advise me how much good bacteria is in buttermilk and Yakult? Yakult is heavily advertised hence expensive. I was wondering if I can just drink buttermilk instead of buying Yakult to get the same benefits?
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Sanjana - Dietitian Reply:
May 6th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Hi Mariann,
You can get the same benefits from regular products.You need not buy these expensive products.Too much of probiotics may cause diarrhoea.
Take atleast 200g of yogurt per day to get the benefits of probiotics.
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