Chronicles of Healthy Drinks: Yakult Love

This is my typical grocery basket:

Yogurt, Yakult, wheat bread, vegetables, lean meat, baby potatoes are some of my favorites <3 

You see, I've always, always been a fan of Yakult, as I am sure you are, too. When I was young, I really didn't understand why they were small, I just kind of assumed that since I was a tiny kid, my mom put small Yakult bottles in my bag. I have a friend who lives in Australia, and whenever in the Philippines, will be toting Yakult everywhere because it's much cheaper here. Until now, I equate the taste of Yakult with being healthy and memories of childhood. Have always wondered, too, why they were so small when there could be Yakult Litro, or something :D

Apparently, this was not the case. 

Some Saturdays ago, a friend invited me to come with to the Yakult plant tour in Laguna. The tour was happening quite early in the morning but it was Yakult, only my favorite milk drink, so I didn't stay up late that Friday night and woke up real early on Saturday. After a breakfast at Starbucks, together with some blogger friends, we drove down to Laguna to see where the magic happens :D

Kumi, Marj, Soph, Myself, Gem and Ingrid

The Yakult machineries are very Japanese -- organized, clean and efficient.

According to the tour guide, the plant produces 2,500,000 80 mL bottles a day. That's a lot of lactobacilli shirota strain!

And as I discovered, the Yakult bottle was patterned after the Japanese kokeshi doll.

What I found most interesting is some of the information shared to us by the guide. The founder of Yakult, Mr. Shirota, has always believed that healthy intestines meant healthy lives. Yakult, after all, contains 8 billion lactobacilli to help produce gastric juice in the tummy to aid in digestion. Having watched a lot of Grey's Anatomy, I would think this is true! The intestines process the food we eat, and if one doesn't digest well, the bad stuff will be in there inside for a long, long time and will cause illnesses. This is why I've long shifted to non-processed foods and try to eat as much vegetables and fibrous foods as I can. On top of that, I chug my daily Yakult {hehe!} and eat as much yogurt as I can.

A 5'4" Yakult would be THE dream!

However, due to getting older, and hearing about some friends' concerns on getting high sugar levels, I began to reconsider my Yakult habit. As if the heavens looked down on me, Yakult launches their newest variant: Yakult Light.

Unlike the original Yakult, this one contains just 45 calories {myfitnesspalwould be so happy!}, 0% fat and lower sugar. Yakult Light is specially made for those who are on a low carbohydrate diet to make them fit inside-out, as well as those who are conscious of their sugar level but want more supply of probiotics in their digestive system.

For those of you, health buffs like me, here's a rundown of the ingredients:

• Skim Milk Powder
• Glucose 
• Fructose
• Polydextrose
• Sucralose
• Lactobacillus Casei Shirota strain

Does it taste differently? I was surprised to find out that they tasted the same, and still reminded me of my happy childhood. It is a bit more expensive though {at PHP 50 per pack vs. the red one at PHP 40 per pack} but I don't mind paying more for a healthier option.

Yakult Light is available in Metro Manila supermarkets and groceries in limited numbers at PHP 50 per pack of 5 :)

Happy Tuesday!
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xx