Yogurt
Where yogurt sits on the inflammation scale
Yogurt is anti-inflammatory when you buy it plain. Plain yogurt is milk that bacteria have already worked on: they eat most of the lactose and break down part of the protein. This is why yogurt sits lower on the inflammation scale than the milk it came from.
Yogurt seems to act on the gut wall. The live bacteria arrive in a gut that already has its own, and they tilt the balance there for as long as you keep eating them. A gut wall that holds together well lets fewer irritants slip into the blood, and fewer irritants means less for the immune system to answer. In one trial, women who ate a plain pot a day for nine weeks ended with lower inflammatory markers and signs of the gut leaking.
Yogurt scores 4 out of 10 on the inflammation scale because the rating covers sweetened products as well as plain yogurt. Many flavoured varieties contain added sugar. Organic and Greek-style labels do not tell you how much, so check the ingredients and sugar content. Low-fat is the other trap, because taking the fat out usually lets sugar walk in to replace it.
Choose plain yogurt made with milk and cultures, and add fruit at home if you like. Look for live cultures: heating yogurt after fermentation kills these bacteria. If you have a milk allergy, ordinary dairy yogurt is still unsuitable.
Yogurt on the AIP diet
Yogurt is out during the elimination phase of the Autoimmune Protocol, along with every other dairy product. The rule is about the category rather than the pot: AIP pulls all dairy for a few weeks so you can see what your symptoms do without it, and cow's milk protein comes through fermentation untouched. Coconut yogurt is the usual stand-in and keeps the breakfast habit alive.
Benefits
- Fermentation eats most of the lactose, so a pot goes down easier than a glass of milk
- Eaten daily, plain yogurt nudges the inflammation signals in a blood test down
- Live bacteria reach the gut alive and tilt the balance while you keep eating them
- The signs of the gut leaking irritants into the blood come down alongside
Watch out for
- Most tubs on the shelf are sweetened, with about half their calories as sugar
- Organic pots are often the sweetest, and low-fat versions tend to swap the fat for sugar
- Milk protein survives fermentation, and it is a common trigger in autoimmune conditions
- Heat-treated yogurts have no live bacteria left, so look for live and active cultures
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Frequently asked
Is yogurt inflammatory?
Plain yogurt is not. Eaten every day it tends to move the inflammation signals in a blood test down rather than up. Sugar is what turns it around: a fruit or flavoured tub can carry as much as a dessert, and at that point it behaves like one.
Which yogurt should I buy?
Plain, with milk and live cultures on the ingredient list and nothing after them. Sweeten it yourself with fruit if you want to. Skip the fruit, flavoured and children's tubs, and do not read organic as less sugar, because it often means more.
Can you eat yogurt if milk upsets you?
Often, yes. The bacteria eat most of the lactose while the yogurt is being made, so a pot tends to sit better than a glass of milk. That only helps with lactose. If you react to the milk protein itself, the reaction is still there.
Is yogurt allowed on the AIP diet?
No. The Autoimmune Protocol removes every dairy product during the elimination phase, yogurt included. Coconut yogurt is the usual stand-in, and dairy is reintroduced later, one product at a time.
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