Is yogurt naturally lactose free? I have noticed that I can eat yogurt without any problems, and I am lactose intolerant.
Carl E.
Hi Carl E.
People who are lactose intolerant do not produce the enzyme lactase that breaks down milk sugar and therefore experience discomfort at different levels of lactose intake. Yogurt contains the enzyme lactase and therefore can be tolerated by many who are lactose intolerant. Yogurt is not really lactose free but has very low lactose content. Unfortunately many new commercial brands have higher lactose content, as they are often added milk solids. Which ones are tolerated and how much, is highly individual, so what works for somebody else might not work as well for you. Test for yourself, and write down the amount and brand. Make sure you only test one product at the time.
With kind regards Iris Daniela Classon
Where can I find a whole weeks’s meal program that is ok to start with (the goal is a healthier life 
)? Thanks in advance
Cora
Hello again Cora,
I am glad you asked. Every country has its own national guidelines for healthy eating, but overall they are all very similar in their recommendations. It is important to note that these are general recommendations, and that individual variations exist. The best diet is the one that works for you, and for your lifestyle, and therefore I cannot recommend a week meal-plan without a proper consultation. What I can do is offer you some great tools that will allow you to interpret the guidelines, so you can make a healthy eating plan for yourself.
If you wish to plan ahead you can use the planner found on the USDA website.
If you want keep track of your eating meal by meal then the worksheet (also by USDA) is a great tool.
If you simply want to know the amount of each food group you need daily then the MyPyramid Plan will do.
Don’t be fooled by all the fad diets and provoking articles about ‘superfoods’, healthy eating is not difficult or mysterious. Most people who look for special diets or quick fixes have never tried to follow the recommendations; if they did I am most certain that they would be pleasantly surprised!
With kind regards Iris Daniela Classon
Ref. to the article about raw onions – one loses the advantage by cooking the onions?!
Cora
Hi Cora!
I assume that you are referring to the news article Onion based preservatives from 17th April this year
In general antioxidants are not heat-resistant but will break down at different levels of heat, something observed in a study found in the Journal of Science in Food and Agriculture, November 2003. Broccoli cooked at max heat for 5 minutes had a great loss of antioxidants, at the same time heat will actually increase antioxidant content of some foods such as tomatoes and carrots. Both the food, temperature, cooking method and cooking time affects the antioxidant level of the food.
To answer your question, whether onions display the same antioxidant activity level after cooking, it depends on cooking time and method. According to the study Cooking Loss of Major Onion Antioxidants and the Comparison of Onion Soups Prepared in Different Ways simple boiling and oven baking at 100C resulted in little loss of antioxidant activity, but antioxidant activity was considerably degraded at 200C (oven baking).
With kind regards Iris Daniela Classon
Is yogurt naturally lactose free? I have noticed that I can eat yogurt without any problems, and I am lactose intolerant.
