Yogurt for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet Good Gut Bacteria

 

This was my first attempt at making homemade yogurt, more specifically yogurt that is allowed on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) yogurt. When I first decided to transition from the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) to the SCD, the biggest difference I saw was SCD uses yogurt for good bacteria and AIP doesn't.  My tummy has always been fine with plain, organic Greek Yogurt.  So I am hoping this homemade yogurt works for me.  I also hope my explanation of how to make it will help blog readers have the courage to make it also!  I am pretty convinced that this yogurt is healthier than store bought processed yogurt.  Although it is more tart than even Greek yogurt, it tastes good.  Add some fruit or honey, once it is cooked, and you have a delicious, healthy yogurt.  I can't wait to make cream cheese with it and start using yogurt in my recipes again.

In the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle, Elaine Gottschall suggests yogurt is a way to add good bacteria into the gut. I have tried several OTC pro-biotics over the last few years that didn't help me and they are pretty expensive.  And store bought yogurt has too many unknown additives, especially all the different kinds of sugar which I know from experience hurt my gut. 

I was terrified to make yogurt.  It was so confusing to me.  I have seen so many different ways to make yogurt but I wanted to try and stick with what was in the book.  I tried to find commercial yogurt for the starter that was described in the book but couldn't.  Then I read about Yogourmet freeze dried starter and decided to use it.  I didn't want to spend a fortune on a yogurt maker either so the one I purchased was only thirty dollars.  Only time will tell how much it is helping me.

I am using this yogurt maker, made by Euro-Cuisine.  This model yogurt maker doesn't have a timer on it so I can leave it on to ferment 24 hours per the instructions in the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle.  Most yogurt makers have timers that shut off at 4-15 hours, but then I would have to remember to turn it back on, so this one without a timer will be easier for me.  I also like the seven individual glass jars, not plastic jars.  And the yogurt maker was not very expensive, just in case I can't add dairy back and won't be making more yogurt.  The yogurt ends up being much less expensive than organic store bought.  Each 5gr yogurt starter is about $1 each and 32 ounces of organic milk was about $2.50, so roughly $3.50 for 32 ounces of yogurt, plus the cost of the yogurt maker.  That is about what I was paying for 16 ounces of organic plain Greek yogurt.

This is the yogurt starter I used, Yogourmet.  It is a freeze dried yogurt starter that doesn't contain Bifidus which Elaine Gottschall doesn't recommend eating and most commercial yogurt contains Bifidus. This starter contains Skim Milk Powder, Sucrose (Sugar), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Active Lactic Bacteria (L.bulgaricus, S.thermophilus, L.acidophi).   I ordered both the yogurt maker and a few packages of Yogourmet starter from Drugstore.com and got free shipping for ordering over $35.

This is how I made SCD 24 hour yogurt.  I used half of the half-gallon of milk so I can get two batches of yogurt out of it.  The jars are only about 2/3 full, about 4+ fluid ounces.

32 ounces organic milk
one package ( 5gr ) of Yogourmet freeze-dried yogurt starter

• Bring the milk to a boil, I used medium heat on my stove top setting.  The temperature will be over 180 degrees when it starts to boil, and it will quickly climb to 200 degrees so work fast to take it off the heat.
• Remove from stove to let cool to 108 to 112 degrees F, according to Yogourmet package directions.  I put the pan in the refrigerator and stirred a couple of times until it was 108 degrees.
• Remove about  2 TBSP of the 108 degree milk into measuring cup and stir yogurt starter mix into that, it makes sort of a paste, then add about 1/2 cup more of the warm milk, stir.  Then pour back that back into the pot of warm milk and stir gently to mix well.
• Pour into the 7 individual glass jars, without lids, place into the yogurt maker, turn on and leave for 24 hours.  A sticky note with the time to turn it off might be helpful.
• After 24 hours, gently remove the jars and place in the refrigerator for 8 hours before eating.  This stops the fermentation process. 
• I am not 100% sure how long this yogurt stays fresh.  I have read sources that say it stays fresh for 1 week, others say 3 weeks. 

Interesting research about yogurt and the gut!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2219330/