People have been making—and eating—yoghurt for at least 4,500 years. Today it is a common food item throughout the world. It is a nutritional food with unique health benefits. It is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.
There is evidence of cultured milk products being produced as food for at least 4,500 years. The earliest yoghurts were probably spontaneously fermented by wild bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus.[citation needed]
The use of yoghurt by mediaeval Turks is recorded in the books Diwan Lughat al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari and Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Has Hajib written in the eleventh century. In both texts the word "yoghurt" is mentioned in different sections and its use by nomadic Turks is described. The first account of a European encounter with yoghurt occurs in French clinical history: Francis I suffered from a severe diarrhea which no French doctor could cure. His ally Suleiman the Magnificent sent a doctor, who allegedly cured the patient with yoghurt. Being grateful, the French king spread around the information about the food which had cured him.
Until the 1900s, yoghurt was a staple in diets of the South Asian, Central Asian, Western Asian, South Eastern European and Central European regions. The Russian biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, had an unproven hypothesis that regular consumption of yoghurt was responsible for the unusually long lifespans of Bulgarian peasants. Believing Lactobacillus to be essential for good health, Mechnikov worked to popularise yoghurt as a foodstuff throughout Europe.
Bulgarian student of medicine in Geneva Stamen Grigorov (1878–1945) first examined the microflora of the Bulgarian yoghurt. In 1905 he described it as consisting of a spherical and a rod- like lactic acid bacteria. In 1907 the rod-like bacteria was called Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. In 1917 Orla Jensen proved that the production of yoghurt except Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus participate coccus (globe organisms) called Streptococcus thermophilus.
A Sephardic Jewish entrepreneur named Isaac Carasso industrialized the production of yoghurt. In 1919, Carasso, who was from Salonika, started a small yoghurt business in Barcelona and named the business Danone ("little Daniel") after his son. The brand later expanded to the United States under an Americanised version of the name: Dannon.
Yoghurt with added fruit jam was patented in 1933 by the Radlická Mlékárna dairy in Prague.[7] It was introduced to the United States in 1947, by Dannon.
Yoghurt was first introduced to the United States by Armenian immigrants Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who started "Colombo and Sons Creamery" in Andover, Massachusetts in 1929[8][9][10]. Colombo Yogurt was originally delivered around New England in a horse-drawn wagon inscribed with the Armenian word "madzoon" which was later changed to "yogurt", the Turkish name of the product, as Turkish was the lingua franca between immigrants of the various Near Eastern ethnicities[citation needed] who were the main consumers at that time. Yoghurt's popularity in the United States was enhanced in the 1950s and 1960s when it was presented as a health food. By the late 20th century yoghurt had become a common American food item and Colombo Yoghurt was sold to General Mills in 1993.
In India, yoghurt is commercially sold under the name "curd", or more commonly under the local name of "dahi"(Hindi), Perugu(Telugu),Tyre(Tamil). The word "Yoghurt" is unheard of in India, except for the people with exposure to western countries. Dahi is one of the five elixirs (Panchamrita) often used in Hindu rituals. Throughout India, typical meal will conclude with Dahi. Since ancient times, it is believed to aid in Digestion and helps relieve Acid reflux. Almost all households make their own "Curd" at home. only relying on the commercial variety when they are out of it at home. See below for more varieties of yoghurt that are popular in India and elsewhere.
Benefits
Yoghurt has nutritional benefits beyond those of milk: people who are moderately lactose-intolerant can enjoy yoghurt without ill effects, because the lactose in the milk precursor is converted to lactic acid by the bacterial culture. The reduction of lactose bypasses the affected individuals' need to process the milk sugar themselves.[11]
Yoghurt also has medical uses, in particular for a variety of gastrointestinal conditions,[12] and in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea.[13] One study suggests that eating yoghurt containing L. acidophilus helps prevent vulvovaginal candidiasis, though the evidence is not conclusive.[14]
Yoghurt is believed to promote good gum health, possibly because of the probiotic effect of lactic acids present in yoghurt.[15]
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity (11 January 2005) also found that the consumption of low fat yoghurt can promote weight loss. In the trial, obese individuals who ate 3 servings of low fat yogurt a day as part of a low calorie diet lost 22% more weight than the control group who only cut back on calories and did not have extra calcium. They also lost 81% more abdominal fat.[16