So I’ve mentioned in the past that I like yogurt…scratch that love yogurt. Sure it’s loaded with calcium, contains a notable amount of protein, and is a great way of adding probiotics to our diet but I’ll be honest: its health benefits are hardly the reason why I eat yogurt. I just really like the taste, texture & versatility. Unfortunately over the past few weeks, I started to notice myself feeling uncomfortably bloated and the only culprit that came to mind was my excessive yogurt consumption. When I say “excessive”, I’m talking up to 450g spread throughout the day.
Although in the past I tolerated yogurt fine, I want to see if cutting back makes any noticeable difference. For the next few weeks I am staying off yogurt completely. Once I do reintroduce it in small amounts, I’ll assess whether the symptoms return. As much as I hate cutting out certain foods/food groups from my diet, it’ll help me monitor my yogurt intake to an amount that suits my body & errr…digestive system ;)!
Symptoms aside I am using this yogurt-free period as an opportunity to branch out and add more variety to my diet. Before last week (i.e. when I last had yogurt), I almost always started my day with a bowl of plain yogurt, raw oats, nuts & fruit- simple yet perfection! Fortunately I’ve found an alternative which steps up to the mark: Vegan Overnight Oats.
This is actually the first recipe I ever used for eating oats cold. It’s been like 2 years since I last made ’em but I’m glad they’re back:
Vegan Overnight Oats
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
Method
- Mix together the above ingredients and refrigerate
- In the morning, stir in your desired toppings. I like to add applesauce, peanut butter, almonds & honey
**Note: If it’s too thick in the morning, you might want to add more milk to loosen it up.
It may not look pretty but it tastes damn delicious! Now that I’ve found a non-yogurt breakfast solution, I need to work on getting rid of these:
Any takers? Let’s just say that being prepared & stocking up has only come to bite me in the ass.
What’s been your go-to breakfast lately?
And for fellow yogurt-fans..
What’s your favorite way to eat it?
I’m sorry to hear yogurt as one of your favourite food might be the culprit for your stomach woes. Hope it turns out to have been something else or that you can at least still have it in lower amounts.
Actually, I’ve been experiencing the same with soy yogurt. I assume it can happen every time we start relying on a certain food too much. Sigh, I don’t want to give up on my yogurt because – just like you – I really enjoy its taste and texture. As for my current go-to breakfast: Blueberry baked oats! My preferred way to have yogurt is with coconut flour stirred in :).
I completely forgot about baked oatmeal- thanks for the reminder :)! Love baked banana oatmeal but I’m sure it’s even better with blueberries!
hmm, will be interesting to see the effects next few weeks. I hope it’s not because of the yogurt though! i’m a huge lover too. I have it eeeeveryday. And most of the time, it’s a right before bedtime kinda snack!
It was my favorite bedtime snack too- hit the spot every time :)!
I like yogurt but have never been an eat everyday kind of person. Skim milk, on the other hand, was something I was obessed with! It was sad to give it up and make the switch over to almond milk, but at least my skin is clearer!
Please share any new recipes you try out over the next couple of weeks!
I’m glad that you saw a positive change after switching to almond milk. Ideally that’s what I’d be drinking but as it’s not available here, soy milk has been my go-to. Given the whole soy controversy, I am being cautious of my intake- don’t want one problem to turn into another if you know what I mean!
That’s too bad you have to cut out yogurt for now – but it’ll be interesting to see if it helps! And overnight oats are a pretty good alternative. I like making mine the vegan way too. Except I always add in some banana and cinnamon to the overnight mixture.
My go-to breakfast lately has been flavoured Chobani, bran cereal, Kashi cereal, a banana, blueberries and almond butter. I’m making the most of the last of my Chobani before it leaves Canada!
PS. I love the title of this post. 😀
Haha I’m glad you appreciated it! Love the sound of your current breakfast- I’ve never tried Chobani but I’ve only heard amazing things about it!
Ugh, definitely feeling you on having to make dietary changes due to stomach issues…not fun.
Hopefully this works for you (and you don’t have any issues reintroducing it). I don’t think I’ve ever tried to make overnight oats the vegan way…I’ll have to try it!
Breakfasts lately have usually been oatmeal or cereal with eggs. Once in a while, a protein pancake or something to mix it up a bit.
Ohh please do try this way of making overnight oats…and if it’s not your thing, just throw it in the microwave for a few seconds and eat it as regular oatmeal :)!
Hopefully the yogurt issue will be resolved in no time, and you can have some wonderful yogurt bowls with your Nestle stock :P! But those vegan overnight oats sound good for the mean time.
Haha I’m keeping my fingers crossed! 🙂
le sigh. i am the same way, I should avoid dairy but boy do I love it too much. I can’t get enough of my cottage cheese and greek yogurt. however, cutting back has helped a bit.
I don’t think I could ever go completely without yogurt…even if that means small doses every so often, I’ll take what I can get :)!
I love love love Greek yogurt for dessert, topped with berries, nut butter, and TONS of cinnamon. That’s pretty much the only yogurt/dairy I eat, but I don’t know what I’d do without it! Hope your hiatus straightens out the tummy issues–and you’re right, just means you get to have fun and experiment in the kitchen in the meantime!
Consider that the optimist in me speaking and trying to see the silver lining of this whole “experiment”…even if it’s barely visible ;)!
Say it ain’t so! My fellow yogurt addict taking a break from the good stuff? Sad face! I do hope you feel better though, especially since I know how big of a pain in the butt stomach woes can be… But at the same time, I’m kind of hoping that yogurt isn’t the culprit for you because I know how much you love it. I’m right up with you there on consumption, though – I go through a 500g container pretty much on a daily basis, and my favorite way to eat it? With cereal, fruit, and AB of course… whiiiiiich just so happens to be what I’m eating for breakfast as we speak 😀
I know I probably sound so dramatic to most people but if anyone can understand the willpower it takes to go without yogurt, it’s you! Fortunately it’s been easier than expected…but that doesn’t mean I’m not vicariously enjoying yogurt bowls through you :)!
I hear ya on switching things up to see what the bloating culprit is! I hope it IS the yogurt so you know and can monitor the intake. I don’t eat a lot of yogurt, but when I do I usually buy the soy yogurt from TJ’s. It’s delicious and a special treat! Those overnight oats sounds GREAT!
Do you get Alpro in the US? If so their vanilla soy yogurt is too yummy!
I love yogurt but sometimes it doesn’t agree with me. Great post!
Thank you.
I love yogurt too but I can’t eat much of it because I think I’m getting more sensitive to dairy now too and it makes me really bloated and uncomfortable. 🙁
As much as I love dairy, cutting back to small doses will be worth it if it means not feeling bloated :)!
Oh man, you’re going to hate me in a minute…. don’t have soy milk. Soy is probably even worse for you than dairy is, hormone-wise! Can you get almond milk over there? Otherwise coconut milk is the way to go!
Hahahha I could never hate you- always appreciate your advice :)! Unfortunately almond milk isn’t available here but I’m thinking of going back to the basics and making up some from raw almonds!
I can’t eat yogurt without a stomach ache and terrible skin…so I’m not surprised that others have this problem as well.
I miss my mom’s cucumber raita. 🙁
Fortunately it doesn’t have an issue on my skin but I feel like my face is a lot less puffier- could be a placebo effect but I’ll take it :)!
I’m a yogurt lover too, but I’ve noticed it makes me breakout. So I’ve been avoiding it! I miss it though! Hope that is not the cause.
Eating bigger meals could also be impacting possibly. Might take a bit of time for your digestive system to adjust to the changes? Just a thought, hoping it is not yogurt!
Keeping my fingers crossed but so far I’ve been feeling better since I stopped eating yogurt so it could be a sign. I’m going to wait a bit longer before reintroducing it in small doses! 🙂
I enjoy yogurt, and I’ve added it a few times to oatmeal, I love it with nuts and honey. My goto breakfast most days is peanut butter and banana on toast, but today I had pb & jelly after sooooooooooooo long. Must be the blizzard effect. So cute, the Nestle Dahi packets. 🙂
PB & Jelly (or banana) is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods- both combinations never get old :)!
Oh noooo so sorry to hear that your very favorite food might the the main issue for your stomach woes 🙁 I have been there before actually, with excessive FRUIT and that was before the ED stuff started. When I was younger I had wayyy too much on a regular basis and of course had stomach issues up the wazoo. I think it’s a good idea to cut it out completely and see what happens and if you feel better, great! Then if that really is the culprit, I bet having a bit everyday rather than a large amount, might be fine on your stomach. You shall see of course 🙂
Thanks for your support, Tess! Excessive fruit/veggies don’t do my stomach any favors either- must be all that fiber ;)!
I love dairy! The amount of milk, cheese, and yogurt I go through in a day is… well, a lot to say the least – so I totally understand how you feel now that you’re cutting on your consumption of yogurt! I hope it comes back into your life without any problems soon though 😉
Haha if these damn digestive issues weren’t an “issue”, I could live solely on dairy ;)!
This is PERFECT! I am avoiding having too much dairy as well, and I wanted to find a way to do overnight oats without using yogurt…so this is great!! Good luck on your dairy-less adventures. 🙂
Ah I’m so glad this post could be of help to you, Alison…best of luck to you too :)!
I’m wishing you the best of luck with this experiment, Khushboo! I have a love-hate relationship with dairy: my tastebuds adore it; my stomach not so much. ;-p I’ve tried eliminating yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese and ice cream from my diet several times, only to cave in two or three days later because I couldn’t bare the thought of going any longer without it! I finally decided that the best way to manage my *issues* is by being selective about when I consume it. If I’m planning on spending time with friends (or a date!) I cut way back, so I don’t have to worry about bloat and (let’s be real) gas. The remainder of the time, I eat it when the craving strikes, but try not to go overboard.
I’m still going strong with my banana bread pudding breakfast obsession, however I’ll be straying tomorrow morning, when I dig into a big bowl of overnight oats. I’m looking forward to the change-up!
Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend, darlin! <3 xoxo
It’s funny because the more people I speak to, the more common dairy-induced stomach issues seem to be! Like you, I think I will just have to be selective with my consumption and stick to small doses! Enjoy your overnight oats tomorrow, Sara..I will be making a batch tonight too :)!
Haha I went through a yogurt addict phase too! I still really enjoy it, and half the time I eat plain chobani, blueberries and a little granola as dinner. It’s just so easy and tasty! Now I have smoothies for breakfast though!
Despite my yogurt hiatus, I am always down for Brinner ;)!
Aaww, shame! When I feel like switching up from yogurt- kefir, and blended tofu concoctions are my go-to’s( I actually prefer my tofu puddings to yog!)- maybe you could try out something different like that , till you & your beloved are re-united.
Can I ask what your favourite yogurt is? I’m normally a Fage girl :).
Xxx
Thanks for sharing about your tofu pudding :)! Total 0% Greek yogurt is my favorite although I also love Alpro Soy vanilla yogurt!
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