YOGHURT could be used as a weapon in the nation's battle against a growing obesity epidemic, a major review of evidence claims.
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| Yoghurt could help you to lose weight |
Eating the dairy dessert each day can lead to "significant loss of body fat", according to a York University study.
Such is the evidence, that experts now believe it could soon be prescribed by GPs to help the overweight people shed pounds.
Previous searches for a link between yoghurt and losing weight have produced mixed results.
This latest research pooled the conclusions of more than 20 papers, before confirming the strong correlation between eating yoghurt and losing weight.
The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, said that while not solving obesity on its own, it could nevertheless be used as tool to help.
The report, authored by Dr Richard Atkinson, explained: "Consumption of yoghurt will not be a panacea for [being] overweight / obesity, but the simple addition of yoghurt to the daily diet may facilitate significant loss of body fat.
"This relatively achievable and low-cost dietary change could thereby help in minimising the impact of obesity and improve public health.
"The ready availability of yoghurt, a nutrient-dense food, and its ease of introduction to most diets suggests that educating the public to eat yoghurt as part of a balanced and healthy diet may potentially contribute to improved public health."
In the UK, 67 per cent of men and 57 per cent of women are now either overweight or obese. Every year 50,000 men and 32,000 women in England suffer a heart attack and heart disease is the UK's biggest killer.
Obesity lobby groups welcomed the findings.
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| Yoghurt has been around for thousands of years |
Don't imagine that it will shed your unwanted pounds on kits own
Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Alliance, said: "This is a robust study and should ally the suspicion of anyone who has questioned the value of yoghurt as a weight-loss aid.
"But don't imagine that it will shed your unwanted pounds on kits own: as the study rightly suggests it should be consumed as part of a healthy lifestyle and, then, only in moderation. Reading the ingredients list is essential to avoid products whose packaging looks tantalising but are loaded with sugar."
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| Yoghurt on its own won't help you lose weight however |
The new findings on yoghurt came after examining 22 different studies carried out between 1979 and 2010 in various countries including the US, Korea, France and Australia.
Together, they tracked the dietary habits and weight of more than 181,000 adults for anything up to 15 years, making it the largest survey of evidence of its kind.
One of the papers found that dieters lost 22 per cent more weight and nearly twice as much stomach fat when including low-fat yoghurt as part of their regime while another found that a daily serving was linked to significantly lower body mass index (BMI) readings among women.
Dietitian Dr Sarah Schenker said: "We are finally changing the way we think about food and the role of nutrition in preventing illness.
"The Government is talking about taxing sugar and subsidising fruit and vegetables so prescribing food for things like obesity is the next logical step. There is research which claims that yoghurt's calcium content can regulate the body's metabolism, preventing excess storage of fat.
"But it can work wonders for people in other ways too. It's high in water and protein so makes you feel fuller for longer, defeating the urge to snack; it can act as a gateway food to a healthier lifestyle, encouraging people to take up other behaviours that are good for them like walking and exercising.
"But it can also displace harmful foods. People like something sweet after their evening meal. If they have yoghurt and fruit, not only is it good for them but it will replace things like cakes or chocolate."
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| Obesity is a growing healthcare burden in Britain |
Yoghurt is warmed-up milk that has been allowed to ferment and its thick texture is produced by the process of bacteria turning sugar into acid.
It has been in existence for thousands of years and was recently detected on ancient pottery found at Stonehenge.
Last year, Britons spent around £1.5 billion on nearly 600 million litres of yoghurt - up around eight per cent over the last decade.
And the frozen version is starting to take sales from ice cream too.
The latest study's research team also included academics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the universities of Utrecht and Wageningen in Holland and Tel-Aviv in Israel.
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