When Yogurt Is A No-Go

Posted by Kate W on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

My husband has a problem. An addiction, really. It’s not to alcohol or drugs, though; it’s something much stranger. My husband has a yogurt problem.

I should start by saying I don’t like yogurt at all. I’ve tried it several times. Every time I try it, I am expecting something sweet and silken like custard or flan or an exceptionally smooth ice cream. Instead I just get a sour, curdled taste in my mouth. No matter how much I try to prepare myself, I instinctively recoil; no matter how fresh it is my mouth just thinks I’m eating something that has gone off. The worst thing is when I try one of those yogurts that purport to taste like key lime pie or Boston cream pie. My mouth wants dessert and it gets something awful instead.

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So I really don’t understand why my husband is so obsessed with yogurt. I’ve seen him sit on the couch and devour a pint of yogurt in one sitting. When his preferred brand is on sale at the grocery store, I’ll stock up on what I think is a two week supply, and it will be gone in five days. On a particularly memorable occasion, he took an Ambien and failed to get into bed right away. I found him an hour later on the couch, fast asleep with yogurt smeared all over his face, shirt and hands.

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There are worse foods for him to get hooked on, though. He’s a sugar addict, so this is a much better snack than a candy bar. Plus yogurt has many excellent qualities, mainly because it is chock full of acidophilus, a type of probiotic. Probiotics are live microbial organisms that are naturally present in the digestive tract. That may sound scary, but they are actually incredibly beneficial, and are often referred to as friendly bacteria. They improve health by suppressing the growth of potentially harmful bacteria, improving immune function, and helping produce Vitamin K (which I believe my husband may be deficient in). Acidophilus can help the digestive system function better and may help lactose-sensitive people digest lactose better. It has even been suggested as a treatment to lower cholesterol.

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If you want to explore the many benefits of yogurt be sure to check the labels before you buy. Many yogurts have very low levels of the active cultures that give you all these great health benefits due to the pasteurization process. Some brands, like Dannon, will pasteurize the milk in the yogurt before adding the cultures to retain the benefits so do your research. Even knowing all I know about what yogurt can do for me, I still can’t bring myself to eat it; luckily for me acidophilus supplements exist, so I can get the benefits without the sour taste.

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