Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagel and you're listening to the

nutrition diva quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous this week

I received not two not, but four emails from listeners with questions about frozen yogurt and ice cream.

Obviously, it's a topic I've been neglecting.

Today I'll try to tackle all your questions, including whether or not frozen yogurt contains beneficial bacteria,

what all those chemicals are doing in low-fat frozen desserts,

and which ones might be the healthiest.

Grammar Girl has been using her ice cream maker to make frozen yogurt this summer, but she's wondering if freezing the yogurt might affect

the things that make yogurt so good for you. Kelly had the same question about

making smoothies with yogurt and frozen fruit. Well as you might remember for my

episode on fermented and cultured foods, that was number four,urt contains friendly bacteria that help keep your digestive system healthy.

But these friendly flora are only helpful if they're alive when you eat them.

And that's why you should look for the words

contains live and active cultures on any yogurt package

just to be sure you're getting the good stuff.

Now the good news is that freezing does not kill beneficial bacteria.

In fact, it preserves them in a state of

suspended animation until you eat them, at which point they start warming up and

then they resume their regular helpful activities like fending off harmful bacteria, aiding with

digestion, and producing certain vitamins. So, Kelly, you'll get all the benefits of

the yogurt in your frozen fruit smoothies. But I couldn't answer Grammar Girls question about frozen yogurt for sure without seeing her recipe.

Although it might seem like an odd way to make a frozen dessert,

...