I apologize for this rant in advance but I have to get this one off my chest.

I spoke with a friend of mine yesterday who said he was eating a highly marketed brand of yogurt because it contained probiotics which were good for him. Let's shed just a touch of light on this nonsense. The idea of ADDING active cultures or probiotics to yogurt is a marketing ploy. Yogurt has always had active cultures or probiotics since the dawn of time. It was the food industry and the major manufactures of yogurt (you know who they are) that OVER-processed the yogurt, added too much sugar and killed the good bacteria in genuine yogurt in the first place.

Now they want to fool you into believing that just because they pick a popular buzz word like "probiotics" and SELL you on the idea that their product is good for you. WHY? Probiotics are good bacteria that promote good bowel function in part by combating the overgrowth of bad yeast and fungi in the bowel. But if you look at the label on these "healthy yogurts" you will see between 17 to 25 grams of SUGAR in this product. That is 17 grams of sugar in a tiny serving. That is over 4 teaspoons of sugar, now does that sound healthy to you? Sugar feeds the very fungi and yeast growth that their supposed probiotics (tiny dose) is supposed to be killing. The sugar outweighs any benefit of the probiotic. Why not save your hard earned dollars and buy a real probiotic in a helpful dose and avoid all the sugar.

Is the yogurt organic? The answer is no, so this means you also get hormones and antibiotics in your "healthy yogurt. Wait a minute, don't antibiotics kill good bacteria? Yes they do. Want to be healthy? Avoid those highly-marketed brands and avoid the sugar and the hormones.

Just because a yogurt company puts a cute name on their active cultures doesn't make it magical. It's simply the active cultures they stole from you ten years ago and now have decided to give back to you as a marketing ploy. So if you see big letters boasting a special ingredient with some made up word like Actibia or Rip-off-ia then steer clear. Why don't they put big shiny letters on the Sugeria they have?

Contact Dr. Gary Huber: drhuber@healthyalterego.org