US scientists discover what we already knew: Yogurt is good

Indians have always trusted their gut feeling that yogurt is good for both body and mind. Hitherto, scientific corroboration of the latter part of this truism has come from prevalence of curd-rice-addicted south Indian techies in Silicon Valley.

Therefore, UCLA scientists deducing that "good" bacteria in the stomach impacts the brain - by studying the effect of yogurt on test groups - comes as no surprise.

However, while the rest of the world will look at the discovery of this gut-brain interaction in terms of future dietary intervention to treat neurological disorders, Indians will wait for the next inevitable but still astounding discovery: that probiotic yogurt has a definite correlation to academic prowess - particularly in mathematics and science.

Of course, that ubiquitous south Indian brainfood, thayir saadam, is a mix of curd and rice with a light tempering of lentils, ginger, spices, chillies and curry leaves; so, establishing a direct curd-IQ link would be difficult.

After all, other concoctions of probiotic yogurts consumed elsewhere in India and the world do not appear to produce such a high incidence of this type of genius as the curd-rice axis does.

Given that the gut environment for microbiota is also relevant, the effect of freshly-brewed south Indian coffee on thayir saadam must be factored in too.