Can yogurt be consumed on an empty stomach?

　　Netizens’ confusion: Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, my children are clamoring for yogurt. He goes to kindergarten for breakfast every day, but always wants something to eat before leaving home. I remember saying that drinking yogurt on an empty stomach was not good, so I refused to let him drink it. In fact, I also love drinking yogurt. However, considering the taboo of drinking yogurt on an empty stomach, I never dare to drink it at breakfast. I only drink it in the evening. In fact, I don’t understand, what are the harms of drinking yogurt on an empty stomach?

　　This question has been asked by more than one person, just like whether milk can be drunk on an empty stomach, it has confused many people. However, if the reason is unclear, you must use your brain to analyze everything and look for evidence from theory and research.

　　After searching online, I found that there are three reasons why you can’t drink yogurt:

　　1. Yogurt contains a large amount of lactic acid bacteria. If you drink it on an empty stomach, the lactic acid bacteria will easily die in large numbers in the stomach with high acidity, losing part of its health care effects. After eating a large amount of food, the acidity of the stomach decreases, allowing lactobacilli to work better.

　　2. The acidity of yogurt is too high, which will irritate the stomach, cause discomfort and hurt the stomach.

　　3. Just like the reason why you cannot drink milk on an empty stomach, yogurt is rich in protein, so drinking protein on an empty stomach will turn into energy and be wasted.

　　Are these reasons correct?

　　1. Isn’t yogurt a very sour thing?

　　After reading these reasons on the Internet, let me tell you: If the yogurt is not very sour, you might as well drink it for breakfast. Unless you have gastric ulcers or hyperacidity, you should avoid eating sour foods on an empty stomach. If you have indigestion and low gastric acid, drinking yogurt with meals can actually promote digestion.

　　Isn’t yogurt a very sour thing?

　　No. The principle of making yogurt is to take advantage of the characteristic of "casein" in milk that precipitates when it encounters acid. The behavior of casein is that once the pH drops to 4.6, it becomes clump-like. The pH value of the vinegar we use for cooking is usually around 3, while stomach acid can be as low as below 1.5. Therefore, the acidity of yogurt can only be said to pale in comparison to the acidity of stomach acid.

　　Chinese consumers generally like sweetness and hate sourness, so the acidity of fresh yogurt on the market is not too high. Only after being stored for a long time and the acidity continues to rise, will there be a very sour feeling. And many people know that people who drink can drink some yogurt first to use it to protect the gastric mucosa and reduce the harm of alcohol to the stomach. It can be seen that yogurt itself is a food that protects the stomach.

　　It can be seen that if there are no problems of hyperacidity and gastric ulcers, the idea that drinking yogurt on an empty stomach is harmful to the stomach is basically untenable.

　　2. Does drinking yogurt on an empty stomach reduce the health value?

　　So what about the death of lactic acid bacteria? she asked.

　　Indeed, the concentration of gastric acid is high on an empty stomach, and lactobacilli are prone to die in a strong acid environment, affecting their health care value. However, even if the health care value is gone, the nutritional value is still there! It’s not in vain! Even without the lactic acid bacteria, the overall nutritional effect of yogurt is still better than that of milk.

　　Moreover, except when hunger is very strong, the stomach is not necessarily completely empty before meals, and the gastric acid content is not necessarily high. Therefore, not all lactic acid bacteria may be killed. Even after the lactic acid bacteria die in large numbers, some of the health effects may be affected, but the nutritional value is still not affected. Studies have proven that lactic acid bacteria cell fragments and extracts still have certain health-care effects, and drinking them is better than not drinking them at all.

　　In fact, the lactic acid bacteria in the ordinary yogurt we buy (fermented by Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) itself cannot colonize in the intestines. It is a transient health-care bacteria. Only certain specific health-care strains such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium can hope to colonize.

　　Therefore, when eating ordinary yogurt, as long as your stomach is comfortable, you don't have to worry too much about time.

　　3. Will drinking yogurt on an empty stomach waste protein?

　　In fact, the nutritional content of yogurt is very suitable for meal replacement. To say that protein will be wasted is just a speculation without knowing the ingredients of yogurt, and it is not scientifically tenable. Why? Just look at my calculations.

　　In 100 grams of flavored yogurt, the standard values ​​are 2.3% protein, 2.5% fat, 7% sugar, and nearly 3% lactose. That is, its total energy is approximately 72 kcal. How much of the energy comes from protein? Only 12.7%. The energy from carbohydrates is as high as 55.6%. In other words, the ratio of the three major nutrient sources of yogurt is very reasonable, just within the ideal range recommended by the Nutrition Society. Since carbohydrates are so abundant and easy to digest, why waste protein?

　　In other words, if you can’t eat a meal because you are busy at work, you might as well buy a bottle of yogurt in advance and drink it while you work. It is much more reasonable than eating a meal with cookies and chocolate!