Medicine Cabinet: Low-fat yogurt is a superfood

Some health-food trends come and go as fast as color fads in kids' sneaks. Just as last year's retro reds are this year's high-top metallics, last year's gluten-free oats are this year's pea flour. Acacia seeds are out; chia seeds are in. But really great foods have staying power.

Take yogurt, especially Greek yogurt - not the tricked-out "yogurt" that dominates grocery shelves and is so crammed with candy, syrups, calories, sugar and goopy jam that we hate to call it yogurt. No, we're talking about healthful, low-fat real yogurt with no added sugar. It makes fresh fruit sing, gives herb dips zing, and does all kinds of good things for your body. For example:

Yogurt makes your blood vessels happy. A diet rich in low-fat dairy curbs your risk of high blood pressure by up to 31 percent.

Yogurt with probiotics kills bad bugs. Probiotics are good-guy bacteria that search out and destroy the nasty microbes that cause periodontal disease and intestinal trouble. Look for "contains probiotics" or "live active cultures" on yogurt labels.

Yogurt helps you remember. Researchers have linked better memory recall to eating low-fat yogurt rather than full-fat dairy foods.

Yogurt satisfies hunger better than a candy bar. Leave it to the French: They just reported that an afternoon yogurt snack makes 20-year-olds feel fuller than a chocolate bar does. Stir a few dark-chocolate bits and some juicy fruit into a thick, creamy, low-fat Greek yogurt and you won't need any convincing.