Commerical Yogurt Has Little to No Health Benefit
As I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day, I noticed an older lady in front of me had an entire cart loaded with commercial yogurt.
I immediately felt very empathetic for her situation as she obviously was placing high importance on yogurt in her diet – perhaps to help some sort of chronic digestive issue.
What is really sad is that it is virtually certain that she was experiencing little to no benefit for her efforts.
This is because standard store yogurt including those squeezable yogurt tubes for kids are not the probiotic filled food that the television commercials and other advertising would lead you to believe.
The problem is that commercial yogurt is fermented for very short periods of time. The length of time is so short (one person in the dairy industry told me once that it is an hour or less) that thickening agents are sometimes even added to the yogurt to give it the look and feel of yogurt that has been fermented for much longer such as would happen with yogurt made on a small dairy farm or in your kitchen.
This is why Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome, recommends eating yogurt that you’ve made yourself and fermented for a full 24 hours in order for the majority of the lactose (milk sugar) to be used up and sufficient strength of the probiotic cultures to become established.
The Specific Carbohydrate (SCD) Diet also recommends yogurt fermented for a full 24 hours.
Of course making yogurt yourself also permits selection of high quality milk and avoidance of all the additives and sugar added to most commercial yogurt as well.
Yogurt made in the traditional fashion and fermented for 24 hours will most definitely assist your gut and help rebalance your digestive flora with the help of beneficial though transient cultures that good quality yogurt is loaded with.
It is also helpful to note that yogurt made with raw milk will be naturally more drinkable style like kefir than yogurt made with heated or pasteurized milk.
So if someone you know eats a lot of commercial yogurt and is doing this primarily to assist with their digestive health and to boost immune function, tip them off that they would be better off making it themselves or buying it from a small farm!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
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{ 108 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! I’m going to share this with my clients. Did you enlighten the woman?
Paula\’s last post: September 17, 2010
No I didn’t say anything. The grocery store checkout line is not a great place place to start a conversation about the dirty secrets of the food processing industry! LOL
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Perfect timing with this post! I am almost finised with my first batch of homemade yogurt right now….but I am wondering if it didn’t sit long enough either. 3 hrs cooking milk, 3 hours for it to stand, and then 12 hours with the yogurt culture in it.
I too, was shocked, when I finally woke up and read the ingredient label on the store bought yogurt – YUK!
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What about goat milk yogurt? I think Redwood Hill Farm yogurt is made in small batches. Have you ever eaten goat’s milk yogurt?
If you are not sure … call the farm and ask directly. How long do they let the yogurt ferment?
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health
I am not sure on that, but my friend did visit their farm and their vanilla flavor is made from pressing the vanilla beans until liquid is all pressed out. My corn-allergic son does very well on it. It is *very* expensive though!
Kristina, I realize I’m commenting a year later, but I have met very few people who share my corn allergy! I have never had trouble with Stoney Field Farms, Brown Cow, or Aussie yogurts. To be fair, however, I’ve had to avoid dairy for the last year and I haven’t paid attention to those brands since then.
I have a yogourmet that I make my yogurt in. Does the 24 hours START once it goes in there??
His,
Shari
24 hours once you add the culture.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health
Do you have any problems with your yogurt getting too separated with long yogurt-making times? My yogurt maker recommends 8 hours; when I’ve gone much longer than that, the yogurt separates into curds and whey.
Sarah Smith\’s last post: Crustless Chicken Pizza Casserole (GAPS-legal and grain-free)
Your yogurt probably got too hot. Some yogurt makers build up heat and if you go too long they will kill the culture and curdle the milk.
I love to make my yogurt from my homemade kefir. I don’t need to subject the raw milk to any heat (which destroys all those great enzymes) and it’s loaded with great probiotics. It’s funny, because there are times that I let my kefir ferment for too long and it begins to separate the milk fat from the whey. So I just let it sit out longer to fully separate. I then strain it until the “curd” is a yogurt consistency and then I have the whey leftover to use for homemade beet kvass, sauerkraut or to use when I soak grains or legumes. It’s a win-win situation!
Oh, and Sarah, I love to talk to people in the grocery line. I’ve told people about lots of good things they should try. Sometimes I’ll even ask someone about a unique item they have in their cart that I haven’t tried yet. I’ve even shared phone numbers with one lady so I could share with her my kefir grains.
We all hate that sometimes long wait in the grocery line, so why not make it fun?
Shari
This is the same way I make my homemade yogurt, which I stumbled upon quite by accident several years ago. I wanted to make yogurt without heating my raw milk AT ALL, so I kept experimenting until I got what I was looking for in taste and texture. Heating the milk and killing off even a few of they beneficial enzymes just didn’t make sense to me. Glad to hear of someone else who managed to make it work, too!
D or Shari, could you please elaborate on your process of making yogurt from homemade kefir?
Oh, this sounds like a great option since we make tons of kefir and often need whey!
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Store food won’t do squat for your health
My son is addicted to go-gurts and packs one in his lunch everyday. I know it’s not as good as homemade yogurt (which he loathes and refuses to eat), but I tell myself “it’s better than nothing.” :-/
Kati ~
I don’t think it’s better than nothing. Nothing won’t kill you and he’ll eventually eat something else
.
You could take some whole fat, plain yogurt like Cabot’s Greek Yogurt, or the Brown Cow’s Cream Top yogurt and put it into single serve tubs with some honey and dried fruit or fresh fruit, or jelly/jam sweetened with fruit juice if you can find that. Or maybe freezing it though I’m not sure if that kills any enzymes or other parts of the benefit of yogurt. Feeding your child a low fat, sugared, food dye ridden snack is definitely not better than nothing. I know your heart is in the right place, you’re surely concerned for your child’s health and love him. Do some extra research on nutrition through the Weston A. Price Foundation or other sites that offer tips on traditional, whole, real foods and nutrition. It’ll change your life, I promise!
This may be an option, you did say he doesn’t like homemade, but I am looking into a silicone reusable squeeze tube that you could fill with yogurt at least in bulk and maybe find a better kind that he would tolerate. Just a thought.
Here is one of the options I’m looking into…
http://www.thesilico.com/proddetail.php?prod=silisqueeze
What about store bought Greek yogurt?
White Mountain yogurt is fermented 24 hours. It is the only one I have found.
I buy their organic whole milk one.
From their website:
2. I have Celiac’s or Crohn’s disease. Is your yogurt OK to eat?
Our yogurt is considered gluten free and incubated over a 24-hour period. We do not add any milk solids, or anything else to our yogurt except milk and culture. Cow’s milk contains 2 mg of free glutamates per 100 grams.
http://www.whitemountainfoods.com/FAQ.html
Yes, White Mountain is one of the few national brands that has a LOT of living cultures in it from a long ferment. They also use milk that is hormone and antibiotic free (although not necessarily organic or grassfed).
There are other brands out there that have good long ferments, but I’ve forgotten what they are since White Mountain is so readily available in all the stores near me.
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Are you thinking of Mountain High? It is usually readily available and is not organic. White Mountain is a different brand and can be tricky to find; and they do have an organic line. I did some research and White Mountain was the only commercial yogurt available in the San Francisco area that does a 24 hour ferment.
So funny, and sad.. I just called Mountain High’s info line. I had not originally researched them since I was only interested in organic. The person on the info line told me that they don’t ferment their yogurt. She obviously didn’t even know how yogurt is supposed to be made. A supervisor finally told me the yogurt was cultured from the time they put it in the cup until the pull date.
After I explained how yogurt is made, they said they would have to get back to me.
Just checked online. Mountain High is now owned by Dean Foods. yuck. figures. But do try White Mountain organic if you can get it. I buy it when I don’t make my own.
“White Mountain” is different from “Mountain High”
I have only been drinking farm fresh raw milk from a local farmer for two weeks and it is fantastic. The thing is I am pretty in love with Fage greek yogurt. Is there any way for me to make my own yogurt from the raw milk and cream in a style that is similar to that? How do you get the culture? ANY advice would be so appreciated!
My family loves Fage as well. I haven’t tried making my own yogurt yet…so I’ll be very interested to hear Sarah’s take on Fage. It agrees with our digestion as well as our raw milk does.
Just strain your yogurt through a cheesecloth. Presto, thick Greek-style yogurt with less carbs
Use the Fage Yogurt, if it has active bacteria, to culture your milk, then strain it to achieve the greek style. I culture milk straight from our cow (after straining), so it’s still warm, but you can heat it to be WARM, without letting it get hot, then add a few tbsp of the greek yogurt. You can either let it sit in a dark place for a few days to culture (I’ve heard, but not tried), or place your jar of warm milk with culture whisked in into a sports cooler with warm water (not hot!) for 24 hours, then strain. Makes some super yummy yogurt!!
i found a grass fed non-homogenized whole milk yogurt at my local co-op. they do it in small batches, so i’m sure they ferment it longer….i will call to check though, thanks for the tip. There aren’t any thickeners or sweeteners in it so I’m guessing its legit!
I’d love to make my own yogurt with the raw milk I find at my local farmer’s market. Where can I find a recipe?
here are instructions for making yogurt with raw milk:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CulturesforHealth#p/u/8/bobgCNkCIS8
What about Stonybrook Farm organic yogurt? Is it any better?
Do you have a post on how to make yogurt on your blog?
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Nourishing Traditions and Mother Linda’s website. It’s very thin though and does anyone know if fermenting it the full 24 hours helps it thicken more than 10-12? I strain mine, then end up with much less yogurt but thicker, and of course I get all that great whey. It is expensive, but very healthy!
Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health — The Healthy Home Economist
http://ow.ly/6xGn3
I was buying whole milk plain yogurt for a while from one of the big companies, and I called the company one day to ask how long they ferment their yogurt. Not only did the rep I spoke with have no idea what I was talking about, but she had no idea where to find the information.
I make a batch of homemade yogurt at least once a week.
How funny that I just got your email. I literally just watched a commerical for Go-gurts, and was making my usual irritated/sarcastic comments that come after watching pretty much any “food” commericals these days. Gross!
I started my yogurt with Fage and Half n half from Trader Jo’s (organic) it makes a much thicker yogurt with no straining. After once, you use a little of your own starter. I make a quart at a time and use the cloth in the bottom of pan of water heating method, scald, then cool to 100 to 110 add starter with a little of the cooled heated cream, then stir in—-Put in oven with the light on only for several hours—-it’s the best!
Jean
I have always wondered about storebought yogurt. I knew the sugar content in them were not good but I didn’t realize there was hardly an probiotics in them.
I have also been wondering, how much cultured dairy and fermented foods should we be comsuming daily for optimum health? I know it could vary from person to person but how much do you consume?
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Would you post your yogurt recipe? I’d love to see how you make it. What if you can’t afford to use raw milk for making yogurt?
Hi Margie, I buy my yogurt from a small farm. I do make my own kefir which I have a video for on this blog if you want to watch that to learn how to make.
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I make my own, but used commercial yogurt as a starter. Is that okay?
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I think that should be ok as long as you ferment it for awhile – 24 hours is great.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health
I”ve made yogurt using raw goats milk for years. Usually just try to time starting it to milking time, it’s a good temp that way without any additional heating. I use a good quality yogurt like plain Fage, or Fage, Cabot plain whole milk Greek as starter if I need. I have an old fashioned gas stove with a pilot light and leave in for 12-16 plus hours. It’s initially thinner but after refrigerating thickens up. The freshly made makes great base for salad dressings with blue cheese or herbs added. We usually just add a little local honey or fruit to the yogurt. People who are use to sickly sweet commercial yogurt find it tangy but we love it.
GoatMom,
Can you elaborate on your process a little for me? I bought two dairy goats a few months ago and I would love to start making my own yogurt. Your post really intrigued me. Thanks!
We eat yoghurt more often over summer. I’ve had a couple of attempts at making my own, with varying degrees of success depending on expectations. I would like to let my yoghurt sit longer, but our climate is really warm. In summer, I would be lucky to find anywhere in the house that is less than 25C during the day, and more likely up around 30C. Night temperatures are similar. Any advice on how I should approach my yoghurt making? I have access to unpasteurised goat and cow milk, as well as good-quality pasteurised (non-homogenised) cow milk. I would be keen to try kefir, but also not sure how it goes with the heat. Oh, and summer is long – November to March.
Andrea
Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/cMUL55Pk
Perfect timing for this article as I just recommitted myself to making my own yogourt!
Perfect timing for this article as I just recommitted myself to making my own yogourt!
I assume that coconut milk based yogurt made with the 24 hour fermentation is healthier than store bought equivalent, too? Due to our current dietary restrictions, we can’t do dairy & my son is missing yogurt.
We also have dairy allergies here. I too am interested in more info on non-dairy yogurts. Help! I have never made yogurt but I want to begin and I don’t know where to start.
culturesforhealth.com is one source of info. but I’m still searching on line for recipes to figure out which one might be best to start with. Expensive to experiment.
How do you go about making yogurt? We have 2 gallons of raw milk (there was a mix up when my husband and I went on vacation, so we got extra) and I need to do something with it before it goes bad.
How do you go about making yogurt? We have 2 gallons of raw milk (there was a mix up when my husband and I went on vacation, so we got extra) and I need to do something with it before it goes bad.
Cultures for Health has many different yogurt cultures available to purchase as well as kefir grains and sourdough starters. They have some very good videos on making your own yogurt, including instructions on using non-dairy milks. I believe their website is culturesforhealthdotcom. It would definitely be worth checking out if you have never made any before. (It helped me!)
I’ve used store bought sheep’s milk yogurt as one would use Monistat to stop a yeast infection dead in its tracks. So although I believe most store bought yogurt is crap, this product was good.
I’ve used store bought sheep’s milk yogurt as one would use Monistat to stop a yeast infection dead in its tracks. So although I believe most store bought yogurt is crap, this product was good.
The way we eat yogurt in this house we couldn’t afford to buy it like that even if it WAS the same as the stuff I make at the house (which it’s not.)
The way we eat yogurt in this house we couldn’t afford to buy it like that even if it WAS the same as the stuff I make at the house (which it’s not.)
If the store bought yogurt comes from small farms, it likely is quite good. The article is more about the commercial yogurts such as what Dannon, Breyers, or Yoplait put out.
If the store bought yogurt comes from small farms, it likely is quite good. The article is more about the commercial yogurts such as what Dannon, Breyers, or Yoplait put out.
^^^ This is true.
^^^ This is true.
@Hollie Reames There’s a youtube video I love. Shows you how to make it without buying a maker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOJYehRSL64
@Hollie Reames There’s a youtube video I love. Shows you how to make it without buying a maker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOJYehRSL64
Can you list some recipes for making yogurt? I tried making it with a heating pad as the heat source numerous times, but it was always a failure. Would love to have a good method for raw milk yogurt.
Coconut milk yogurt made at home is okay as dairy free sub, as long as the 24 hour fermentation is included? I hope so because we can’t tolerate dairy right now.
Coconut milk yogurt made at home is okay as dairy free sub, as long as the 24 hour fermentation is included? I hope so because we can’t tolerate dairy right now.
So true – other problems are that most commercial yogurt is sweetened with HFCS (and way too much sugar when it is sugar) – also that most yogurt is low fat or non fat – these are broken foods, not whole foods.
So true – other problems are that most commercial yogurt is sweetened with HFCS (and way too much sugar when it is sugar) – also that most yogurt is low fat or non fat – these are broken foods, not whole foods.
Great advice and easy to follow video. Thanks!!
I agree Sarah, home-made yogurt is utterly superior to store-bought yogurt. I can attest to this because when I started having severe health issues earlier this year, our family was under tremendous stress and had stopped eating the home-made yogurt because our raw milk source went away and I didn’t know where we’d get our milk from since what we had relied upon for so long was suddenly not available. The entire time I was consuming the store-bought yogurt – yes, organic, whole milk yogurt from Brown Cow or Stonyfield Farm – my health issues were getting worse and worse. As soon as I started on GAPS in early April, things started to improve immediately. And, things are continuing to get better and better all the time, still on GAPS over 4 months later.
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i suspected as much! i like to make homemade kefir… sooooooooo easy… sooooooooooo healthy… soooooooooooo long lasting
Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/GmPL049t
Amazing how much credence otherwise-intelligent people are willing to give a stranger on tv, being paid to read a script about how great some mass-produced concoction is, without a critical thought on it.
Amazing how much credence otherwise-intelligent people are willing to give a stranger on tv, being paid to read a script about how great some mass-produced concoction is, without a critical thought on it.
Het verschil tussen fabrieksyoghurt en #yoghurt waar, in weerwil van wat #AH stelt, geen melkpoeder aan te pas komt. http://t.co/fHtE5Gc0
Speaking of probiotics and yogurt, that low-fat store-bought sugar loaded junk ain’t worth the money– buy local… http://t.co/X9QYLFZZ
It is almost overwhelming how much crap is in the grocery store…So now I need to order yogurt making cultures? Eeek!
I recently made my first batch of homemade yogurt which came out very good. I used Brown Cow Yogurt. Recently however, my local co-op was able to get whole milk Stonyfield for me and my mom and I have been devouring it. While I agree that regular, store-bought, conventional-brand yogurts are not likely to do you much good, I do feel that the brands that Weston A. Price Foundation recommends are good. The WAPF recommends either whole milk Stonyfield or Brown Cow as good quality store-bought yogurts. Also, as readers above mentioned, Many local brands are probably also very good quality but, it’s good to do your research.
Also, I made my first batch with a crock-pot. I don’t own a yogurt-maker.
Sarah, from someone who met you in line at the grocery store due to your inquiry about the raw milk I was buying, THANK YOU! I have learned so much just from our chance encounter, and it has changed our lives forever for the better. Keep spreading your wealth of knowledge. You never know how it may improve someone’s life!
Hi Candace, I must have gotten a good vibe from you as I don’t usually speak up in grocery store lines! LOL
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Monday Mania 9/19/2011
Crap, I really loved that store-bought Vanilla yogurt, too. I wonder if the good bacteria are damaged by the pasteurization process?
Ilana how do you make your own without raw milk?
Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/tq446eIH
I suspect the short fermentation time is due to concern about giving other organisms a chance to ‘contaminate’ the yogurt during processing. This is an issue for many mass-produced food products – ie concern about contamination and public health etc. Best to make your own yogurt if you can – which is exactly what I’ll be doing from now on! Thanks for the great information.
I can not properly digust the vitaman D in cow’s milk and therefor cows milk and traditional yogurt is not safe for me. any suggestions for me? in my sistuation it is best to not partake of coconut.
What about goat milk?
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Video: Proper Preparation of Grains and Legumes
I’m totally addicted to raw milk yogurt. I’ve been fermenting for 1–12 hours and I thought that was long. Now that I’ve read your post I’m going the full 24! Every time I read your blog I learn something new. Thanks!
Fortunately, there will be a "how to make you’re own yogurt" recipe in the upcoming Eat Naked Cookbook launching… http://t.co/DwmEN9sM
Store #Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health http://t.co/OtgjBUy0 Eat #RealFood with gratitude! xoxo #fb
Store #Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health http://t.co/c2638yFi Eat #RealFood with gratitude! xoxo #fb
A really good reason to make your own!… http://t.co/yajEhaAG http://t.co/040GVunL http://t.co/MGd1caI9
Store Yogurt Won’t Do Squat for Your Health — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/qry5S9U2
Tanisha, how do you make it in a crockpot?
Ever since I stopped drinking Lactose free milk and started drinking grass-fed, low-temp milk (Natural by Nature, Ronnybrook), my intolerance has all but disappeared. I love Traders Point Creamery and Fage Total yogurt. If I was going to make yogurt in the crockpot then Fage Total would be the best one for me. Sadly, New Jersey stalled a bill allowing raw milk to be sold in the state. I’ll have to make a trip to PA one Saturday for some raw, grass-fed milk!
Hi Sarah- I have tried the 24 hour incubation twice now, and both times the yogurt has curdled. I use my oven light for warmth, and the second time I monitored the temperature with a thermometer which stayed at 103 pretty consistently. If anything, I’d think this was a little cool. Isn’t it supposed to be 110? What am I doing wrong?
Also, the entire batch of yogurt isn’t setting. I always drain my yogurt to get the whey and the first cup is very milky in appearance. The latter part of the whey is yellow and crystal clear. Any tips? I very much appreciate any advice!
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I guess I’ll go back to the old 8 hour incubation. Or maybe try 12. 24 hour just isn’t working for us. Too bad!!
Sarah,
Question about probiotics. I have been trying to find out on your site if you take a probiotic pill along with all the fermented foods/ beverages that you eat. I don’t want to give up my green pastures CLO so I was thinking of giving up my probiotics instead ( a financial thing) I actually want to increase my CLO daily. I eat yogurt, sauerkraut, water kefir (occasionally) are these enough?
I drink raw milk also. So what your thoughts on probiotic pills? I love your site and can’t wait to see what you write everyday,,,,
I have tried this and it’s WONDERFUL. Thank you so much for this innovative way to utilize my useless microwave. I have a question. Some of my raw milk accidentally froze (overstuffed fridge) and I’m wondering if I can still use it to make yogurt.
I was working in a dairy plant (process enginner) and the process fermentation time for a plain yoghurt is always 6-7 hours. Its almost imposible to make yoghurt in one hour or less.
Regards
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I just called Zoi. They ferment for “about 6 hours”.
Also, Mountain High has 5 active cultures. What if I just left it out to ferment? Would it revitalize the process?
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