- Yogurt is linked to an impressive list of health benefits, especially better gut health.
- RDs say when you eat yogurt isn’t nearly as important for gut health as how often you eat it.
- Look for the “Live & Active Cultures” seal and pair it with prebiotic-rich berries or oats.
Every spoonful of yogurt delivers more than just a boost of protein and calcium. It’s packed with millions of gut-friendly bacteria that can help maintain a healthy body weight, lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and support digestion and gut health.
Yet, unlike probiotic supplements that provide instructions for the proper timing and dosage, your container of yogurt doesn’t come with a user’s manual. So, we asked dietitians if there is a best time to eat yogurt for gut health, and what else you can do to maximize its digestive benefits. Here’s what they told us.
Is There a Best Time?
The short answer is no. “Yogurt is a flexible and nourishing food you can enjoy any time of day,” says Raksha Shah, M.A., RDN.
Its gut-health benefits are driven by its multiple strains of probiotics. “These live cultures help support gut health by competing with less-beneficial microbes and by contributing to a balanced microbial environment,” explains Val Warner, M.S., RD, CSSD. But for yogurt’s probiotics to do their job, they have to be able to withstand the harsh acidic conditions of your stomach. Fortunately, the milk in yogurt helps shield those delicate probiotics from that acid storm.
So, whether you prefer yogurt for breakfast, as an afternoon snack or for dessert after dinner, its probiotics are protected by its matrix of nutrients. That makes the timing less critical for supporting your gut than the other factors you’re about to learn about.
Factors Impacting the Gut-Health Benefits of Yogurt
Live and Active Cultures
“Yogurts with live and active cultures deliver probiotics that can support a healthier microbiome and beneficial shifts in gut bacteria,” says Katie Schimmelpfenning, RD. Yogurt gets its probiotics—and its characteristic tangy flavor—from the fermentation process. It is made by adding a lactic acid bacteria starter culture to milk. It is then fermented to create the creamy dairy product you know and love.
Yogurt’s starter culture typically includes bacteria, such as Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Lactococcus and Leuconostoc. Many manufacturers also add extra probiotic strains, such as Bifidobacterium and additional Lactobacillus, after fermentation to boost the beneficial bacteria count.
However, the amount and type of live bacteria can vary substantially from brand to brand. To make sure your favorite yogurt is giving you a healthy dose of probiotics, look for the “Live & Active Cultures” seal on the label. This voluntary certification by the International Dairy Foods Association confirms it contained at least 100 million cultures per gram at the time it was manufactured.
Its Specific Bacterial Strains
The “Live & Active Cultures” seal is a good start. However, for the best digestive health benefits, you’ll want to make sure your yogurt contains strains that have actually been shown to improve gut health. That’s because probiotics are strain-specific, meaning their effects can vary dramatically from one strain to another.
“Some [types of yogurt] are made with standard starter cultures, while others are boosted with specific strains that have proven benefits for supporting gut balance and easing digestive symptoms,” says Shah. For instance, L. acidophilus and Bifidobacterium species are linked to improved lactose digestion, which explains why some people with lactose intolerance can handle yogurt better than dairy milk. Alternatively, certain strains of Bifidobacterium, such as Bifidobacterium lactis and Bifidobacterium longum, have been shown to help alleviate constipation.
How Often You Eat It
If you’re not eating yogurt frequently, it might not be as helpful as you think. “Gut-health benefits from yogurt don’t come from a one-off serving alone, but from regular consumption as part of a balanced diet that supports a healthy microbiome,” says Karolin Saweres, M.S., RDN, LD.
While research has found that some favorable strains of bacteria, including S. thermophilus and B. lactis, are present in the gut after eating yogurt, they don’t stick around for long. Just like food, they move through your gut and, eventually, you poop them out. During their brief stay, they can do good things for your gut. But those probiotic benefits won’t last unless you eat yogurt every day or so to replace them.
What You Eat with Your Yogurt
A daily yogurt habit gets you just part of the way to a healthier gut, explains Warner. While yogurt provides friendly microbes, adding other gut-healthy foods can help feed and nourish those microbes, she says. For instance, berries, nuts, tomatoes, bananas and onions contain gut-supporting prebiotic fibers. When you eat these foods, their prebiotic fibers travel undigested to the colon. When they get there, they are fermented by your existing good gut bacteria (and any probiotics that happen to be hanging around from yogurt you recently ate). This produces helpful compounds, called short-chain fatty acids, which help nourish your gut lining to keep it healthy and functioning well.
Strategies to Eat Yogurt for Gut Health
Now that you know about all the great things yogurt can do for your gut health, these dietitian-approved tips can help you get the most out of it.
- Look for specific strains of bacteria: “Check the label for ‘live and active cultures’ and, if you can, pick yogurts that list specific strains like Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis or Lactobacillus casei,” says Shah.
- Choose varieties with minimal added sugar: Yogurt can be a healthy way to satisfy a sweet tooth, but it can also be loaded with added sugars. Plain, unsweetened yogurt with a little fruit is ideal. But if you need something sweeter, Shah recommends looking for brands with no more than 5 to 10 grams of added sugar per serving.
- Add prebiotics: “Some yogurts now include prebiotic fibers like inulin or FOS, which feed those good bacteria and help them thrive,” says Shah. Or, add your own prebiotics by topping your yogurt with sliced bananas, a handful of berries, or a few tablespoons of oats, flaxseed or wheat germ.
- Opt for strained (Greek-style) yogurt: Since strained (Greek-style) yogurt is made by straining out its whey protein, it’s concentrated, often providing more probiotics per serving than traditional yogurt. Plus, you’ll get a bigger protein boost, too.
Our Expert Take
Yogurt has more than earned its reputation as a top food for digestive health. But does when you eat your yogurt make a difference for your gut health? You’ll be happy to learn that the answer is no! Since the milk in yogurt protects its probiotics from your digestive system’s harsh acidic environment, you can enjoy the flavor and gut-health benefits of yogurt whenever it fits your schedule. What matters more than the timing is choosing a yogurt that contains live and active cultures, limiting added sugars and eating it regularly. However, if you’d like even more gut-healthy benefits, enjoy your yogurt with some prebiotic-rich berries, bananas, oats, flaxseed or wheat germ to give those beneficial bacteria the fuel they need to thrive.
