Petaling Jaya, 22nd May (Thursday) –Yakult (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has started its own fight against flab by looking inwards – they got help from celebrity fitness coach Kevin Zahri to organized a “Jom Kurus” (Let’s get thin) workshop for their staff and independent distributors, the Yakult Ladies. The workshop was held on 20th and 22nd May at their factory in Oakland Industrial Park, Seremban.

These events mark the first time for Yakult to organize a weight loss and fitness initiative for its staff and Yakult Ladies. The program was started 2 months ago with a screening phase whereby staff and Yakult Ladies height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were measured. Eighty of its staff and Yakult Ladies with the highest BMI from its head office in Shah Alam, factory in Seremban, and its branches and centres throughout the country were invited to join the workshops.
The program included ‘JomFit’ jogathon and circuit training sessions as well as a talk session by Kevin Zahri himself about healthy eating.

According to the Senior Manager of Public Relations and Science of Yakult (M) Sdn. Bhd., Mazlyn Mena Mustapha, “Our staff and Yakult Ladies are the heart of the Yakult family. We want them to be healthy and life long, productive lives. Our staff and Yakult Ladies are also the ‘face’ of the company. As a company that promotes good health, we need to project the right image. So ideally our staff and Yakult Ladies should not only be knowledgeable about health related matters, but must also apply that knowledge in their own lives. We hope those participating today will take this opportunity to get on the right track in terms of their own health and fitness so we can all work together to achieve our goals, both personally and as a company.”

This initiative does not end after the workshop, as staff and Yakult Ladies will be encouraged to apply their newly-gained knowledge on diet and physical activity in their daily lives and a follow up assessment would be conducted internally after 3 months. Ten staff and Yakult Ladies with the biggest improvements in terms of BMI would be rewarded by the company with attractive prizes.

Also present at the event were staff from Columbia Asia Hospital Seremban who provided free health checks to the participants.

Yakult cultured milk drinks contain the scientifically proven probiotic bacteria, the Shirota Strain. When consumed regularly, the 30 billion Shirota Strain in each bottle of Yakult help boost the immune system to reduce the risk of infections and cancers such as colorectal cancer, breast cancer and bladder cancer in the long term. In addition, regular intake of the Shirota strain improves the balance of good and bad bacteria in our intestines to promote good digestive health by regulating bowel movement, reducing toxins and the risk of food poisoning. Maintaining a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in our intestines has also been shown by research to be associated with reduced risk of lifestyle diseases such as obesity and metabolic syndrome.

In recent years, lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes have become a serious problem within the societies in many countries. Excessive intake of energy due to overeating and lack of physical activity has been named as one of the causes of obesity which is a major risk factor for lifestyle diseases.

According to Mazlyn, Yakult has been enjoyed by over 30 million of people 33 countries and region worldwide with more than 79 years of research history to support its safety and health benefits.

Just the same as with intake of carbohydrates, fat and protein, the intake of sugar is linked to increase in the amount of energy intake and so caution is necessary in that sense. However, within the context of a healthy diet, sugar is not a cause of obesity nor lifestyle diseases. Thus, drinking a bottle or two of Yakult a day does not promote obesity. One 80ml bottle of Yakult Ace contains 14.6g of sugar while one 80ml bottle of Yakult Ace Light contains 7.6g of sugar; and the sugar is needed in order to balance the sourness of the lactic acid produced by the Shirota strain. Yakult is made by fermenting milk with the Shirota strain, and during this process, the Shirota strain produces a lot of lactic acid. Lactic acid has a strong sour taste, and because of this, it is not suitable for drinking just like that. So, sugar is used to add some sweetness and make it more pleasant to drink.

This Jom Kurus Yakult event is in line with the Yakult Company’s mission, which is to build a healthy society and its corporate philosophy of prevention is better than cure, a healthy gut leads to long life and to deliver good health to as many people as possible as advocated by its founder, the late Dr Minoru Shirota.