THE WONDERFUL YOGURT, KEFÍR AND AYRAN 

I love yogurt, and fortunately there is a wide selection from it, in here. 

People mainly buy the plain yogurt and I do too. I like the fruit kefÍr the most. Both are affordable and of very good quality (except when it has gone bad 😊) Why are they affordable and of good quality? I think it is because they are produced locally and made from local milk. Everything is domestic. There is a lot of cattle farming, in short, there is a lot of milk. Thanks to this, there are all kinds of delicacies made from milk. Yes. Cheese too. 😊 I will write about this another time.

Back to yogurt. Many people don't buy it in the store but make it at home. For this you need to buy fresh milk and not store-bought, but that's not a problem because many small stores sell fresh milk. I don't like it and I don't know exactly how to make yogurt at home, but I looked it up 😊 you need a little fresh milk and yeast. Then just let it stand and your homemade yogurt is ready. Fresh milk (but I'm watching a video now that says any milk is good for this) needs to be boiled before using. If anyone wants to, you can watch it here, I'll add that I've never made yogurt before.

But this has a different smell than the store-bought and the dairy products made from it have a different smell and taste. In my opinion, Turkish dairy products are very high quality and delicious.

Then there is ‘ayran’. 

It is especially good in the summer, because due to the high heat, people lose a lot of salt through sweating, and this drink is made from yogurt and is salty. It is actually water and salt added to yogurt. It can be found in many different packages in stores, buffets, restaurants, etc. There is a very interesting little video here about the history of yogurt:

The most surprising thing for me is that the large yogurts in the stores are the most popular and the smaller ones, e.g. the 2dl yogurt, are less often bought here. At home, in Hungary, the 2dl version is much more common and generally bought. I would not have thought that so much yogurt would be consumed in a household, but it is. People eat a lot of yogurt here, and so do I. Not just on its own, but also used to make soups, dishes, cakes, dressings, toppings... in short, everything. There is rarely a day that doesn't have yogurt on the table in some form. Here for example in a soup and ayram form. 

Yogurt has many health benefits. Regular consumption improves digestion, strengthens the immune system and intestinal flora, and supports the health of bones, muscles and the nervous system thanks to its high calcium, phosphorus and protein content. It has an anti-inflammatory effect, helps regulate blood pressure and may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

I am a little confused about this anti-inflammatory effect, because I have read elsewhere that we should not consume dairy products in case of inflammation, especially in case of inflammation in the mouth and throat. Hm! Well, let's definitely follow the doctor's instructions... I say. 😊

However, it is a proven practice that if a person takes antibiotics and as a result has eliminated certain beneficial bacteria from their body, and since yogurt, as a natural probiotic, is able to rebuild them in the body, many people consume yogurt after taking antibiotics... and it is effective.