Healthy Habits
Penn Maid® Dairy products are wholesome and loaded with essential nutrients, yet many Americans are not meeting the daily calcium recommendations of three to four servings of dairy per day. Check out all of these reasons why you should be including dairy foods into your everyday eating plan to benefit your health.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
It seems like maintaining or achieving a healthy weight is at the top of almost everyone's "to do" list! The good news is that there is a growing amount of scientific research to prove that having three servings of lowfat dairy foods per day, like Penn Maid Nonfat Yogurt, in conjunction with a balanced eating plan can help promote a healthy weight. For more information, visit www.3aday.org.
Even more interesting, the research shows that dairy consumption helps promote a healthy weight and has been shown to improve body composition, including reducing total body fat and increasing lean body mass. Scientists are still trying to determine the exact link between the nutrients in dairy foods and their role in weight loss; the preliminary reason that dairy foods help promote weight loss seems to be due to dietary calcium's effect on the body’s ability to use energy.
Keep Your Blood Pressure in Control
Increasing your intake of lowfat dairy foods has been shown to help control blood pressure. In fact, it is one of the key components of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan, which is a low fat diet that incorporates fruit and vegetable intake along with increasing consumption of low fat dairy products. The DASH eating plan is recommended by the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health and many others.
For Bone Health
From young to old, the nutrients found in dairy foods play a key role in bone health— specifically the nutrients, calcium and vitamin D! In fact, about 99% of the calcium in the body is stored in bones and vitamin D is a key ingredient in the absorption of calcium into the bones. For more information on bone health, click here for an article on Bone Health Connection.
Protect Your Teeth
Cheese has been found to be a food that reduces the risk of cavities! In fact, many professional organizations like the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry encourage parents to serve nutritious snacks including cheese, lowfat milk, yogurt and vegetables to protect children's teeth! Click here for more on kid friendly snack ideas!
Better Than Supplements
Research has found that the calcium from foods may help to benefit your bones better than calcium supplements!
The recent study of postmenopausal women* found that those who had a higher intake of dietary calcium had higher bone mineral density scores. Additionally, they had a shift in their estrogen metabolism and compared to the women who got their calcium from supplemental sources.
* American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, May 2007.