How to make L. reuteri yogurt using raw milk and without unhealthy prebiotic fiber that is inflammatory to the intestinal lining and disallowed on gut healing diets.
I’ve had a lot of inquiries over the past few years about L. reuteri yogurt.
This specialty fermented food was popularized by Dr. William Davis MD, the cardiologist turned author of Wheat Belly fame. (1)
While it is certainly fine to ferment L. reuteri yogurt, it is important to understand the shortcomings of Dr. Davis’ recommended approach.
Half and Half Not the Best Choice
First, Dr. Davis’ recipe uses a quart of pasteurized, commercial half-and-half.
Why would you ever use pasteurized half-and-half from Holstein cows whose milk contains so little cream, that there is often no discernable creamline?
Even worse, the cartons used to package half-and-half are toxic!
The containers are lined with a thin layer of plastic, so when the hot milk is poured in and sealed, you get microplastics leaching galore!
While I can appreciate the need for high-fat milk when making yogurt, raw milk from Jersey (A2) cows is naturally high-fat and a far healthier and digestible choice.
As a bonus, buying raw milk supports local farms and keeps your food dollars out of the pockets of the abusive Big Dairy oligopoly.
L. Reuteri Research
Secondly, the research on the health benefits of L. reuteri is interesting but not particularly compelling to me.
While I don’t doubt that strains of L. reuteri are helpful for gut health, the claims by Dr. Davis of “smoothing of wrinkles”, “accelerated healing” (to the tune of cutting healing time in half 🤔), and “increased empathy and desire for connectedness with other people” seem more than a little suspect…at least to me!
Prebiotic Fiber is Inflammatory
Third, the addition of prebiotic fiber or potato starch in Dr. Davis’ L. reuteri yogurt method disallows it from gut healing protocols like GAPS.
Even if you’re not on the GAPS diet, prebiotic fiber is often inflammation-producing for those with even mild digestive disorders. I recommend the book Fiber Menace as an excellent read on the subject.
Several of my reader friends were surprised to learn this.
They experienced a big detox reaction after eating L. reuteri yogurt (which they thought was good), only to see their gut imbalance symptoms worsen over time, likely from the inflammatory effects of the prebiotic fiber on their colon.
What if you really like L. reuteri yogurt? If you enjoy it and are finding benefits personally, there is certainly no reason not to continue.
I don’t mean to dissuade you from the practice!
There is solid research that L. reuteri strains are helpful for certain conditions, such as babies with reflux or issues with spitting up. (2)
However, I would suggest that there is a far better method for making it than Dr. Davis’ approach!
All you need to do to dial up your L. reuteri yogurt to the next level is to switch from commercial half-and-half (which is toxic!) to raw milk from old-fashioned cows that produce a large creamline naturally.
In addition, be sure to leave out that gut-inflaming prebiotic fiber or difficult-to-digest potato starch! I substitute gut-healing gelatin which promotes digestion instead.
In essence, my method for raw L. reuteri yogurt is a simple variation on my slow cooker raw yogurt recipe, which I’ve used for years.
In addition to the gelatin, I add one tablespoon of homemade kefir made with live grains (not commercial kefir!).
Kefir made with live grains naturally contains L. reuteri strains. Using a small amount making yogurt helps to prevent competition between the probiotics in the raw milk and the L. reuteri starter.
You can leave out the kefir if you like, but my results were thicker and more spoonable using it.
Preparation Tip
L. reuteri yogurt differs a bit texturally from regular whole milk yogurt in that the liquid whey is highly separated from the curds, almost like cottage cheese.
Thus, it is very easy to pour off a cup to a cup and a half of whey without straining to enjoy Greek-style L. reuteri yogurt!
The leftover whey is handy to use as starter for your next batch of L. reuteri yogurt or any other cultured dishes that call for it.
How to Make L. Reuteri Yogurt With Raw Milk
How to make L. reuteri yogurt using raw milk and without unhealthy prebiotic fiber that is inflammatory to the gut.
Ingredients
- 1 quart raw milk
- 10 tablets BioGaia Gastrus or 2 Tbsp previous batch
- 2 Tbsp plain gelatin
- 1 Tbsp homemade kefir made with live grains
Instructions
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Crush ten tablets of BioGaia Gastrus (L. reuteri starter) with a mortar and pestle (or in a plastic ziplock bag and a rolling pin).
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Place this powder starter in the bottom of your slow cooker of choice (I use a small Vitaclay for making yogurt).
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Sprinkle the gelatin into 1 cup of cold, raw milk. Mix well to combine.
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Blend the gelatin/milk mixture with 3 more cups of raw milk.
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Pour the liquid slowly into the Vitaclay. Stir to blend the L. reuteri starter with the raw milk/gelatin mixture.
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Put on th lid and turn on the Vitaclay, selecting the "yogurt" setting.
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Let the yogurt ferment for 24 hours.
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When the yogurt is finished, turn off the Vita-Clay and leave on the counter to fully set until room temperature.
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Place the Vitaclay pot in the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours or longer.
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Transfer the yogurt into a glass mason jar and store in the refrigerator.
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Enjoy your thick, RAW L. reuteri yogurt in smoothies or in a bowl topped with fruit, nuts, or your choice of natural sweetener.
(1) How to make L. reuteri yogurt: A step-by-step guide
(2) Lactobacillus reuteri accelerates gastric emptying and improves regurgitation in infants
Do you have a recipe for raw milk yogurt without any other probiotics included?
Not sure exactly what you mean by “without any other probiotics included”, as ALL properly made yogurt contains probiotics, but here are my other 2 raw yogurt recipes to consider (that do not include L. reuteri).
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/raw-yogurt-made-in-the-microwave/
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/slow-cooker-yogurt/
Thank you so much for your reply and references! And my apologies for the ambiguous question. My understanding was that raw milk already contains probiotics as it is. Can’t it be fermented as is without the addition of any other probiotics?
If you self ferment raw milk, it is called clabber. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/help-my-raw-milk-wont-clabber/
To make yogurt from raw milk, you must add a yogurt culture, which involves different probiotic strains.
I’m also curious why you recommend 24 hours. The greatest doubling of the bacteria happens in the last 2-3 hours based on some specific lab-based analysis of the yogurts. If you think about the bacteria doubling every hour, the last two or three hours are going to see the biggest increases in bacteria concentrations.
It’s simple math. If you took a penny and doubled it 24 times, you would end up with $167, 722.16.
If you continue to double that penny 36 times, you end up with $687,194,767.36, more than 4000 times the amount after 24 doublings. In fact, in the last three doublings, you would go from 85 million to more that 600 million. That’s why those last few hours are so important.
I’ve made a dozen batches, all for 36 hours and, while it’s hard to wait that long, each batch has turned out perfectly.
24 hours is the time necessary for proper fermentation for therapeutic probiotic strength of the yogurt and the optimal effects on gut health. I would refer you to the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle for more on why 24 hour yogurt is recommended.
Do I pour the whey off r mix it in?
It’s up to you. If you pour it off, the yogurt will be Greek style. If you mix it in, it will be like regular yogurt.
Hi! I tried to follow your directions exactly, but, my yogurt has a lot of liquid in the bottom of the containers. I think I must’ve done something wrong. Can you please let me know what I need to change next time.
Thank you!
It is normal to get quite a bit of liquid whey making this yogurt.
I never get any liquid separation. I heat the milk to 100 degrees before adding the probiotic bacteria. I also blend the milk with the prebiotics to make sure they are mixed well. The prebiotics (in most cases I use inulin) are ingested by the probiotics, and I don’t believe the prebiotics continue to be in the final product.
Also – Is the yogurt setting on the vitaclay a 100 degree setting? Davis seems to think this strain needs 100 degree temp to grow.
The temperature of the yogurt setting for Vitaclay is 100-110F.
Thank you for this! I want to try this but was really not wanting to use pasteurized milk!
Why do you recommend 24 hours though? Does it not need 36 hours?
TY!
24 hour yogurt is the optimum time for maximizing probiotics and minimizing sourness.
Great write up, thank you for trying and sharing this as I was wondering about the use of raw milk in this case.
However I have this question which I would love to pick your brain about as I have been thinking about it and wish to discuss it with others 🙂
I much prefer raw milk for its natural benefits as well as being full fat and resulting in creamier yogurts.
But I am curious about the issue that the natural bacteria in this raw milk (and the added kefir as well of this recipe) will compete with the L.Reuteri and possibly overpower it?
Losing the L Reuteri effect of the yogurt and missing the point? (Just ending up making a more standard yogurt)?
I assume that the inicial pasteurized milk here, or possibly heating the raw milk at home a little bit, would provide a more clean canvas for the L.Reuteri to grow unnafected by other bacteria and maximize the growth and percentage of L.Reuteri
in the yogurt in order to mazimize the benefits of this particular ferment.
Probably, adding the 10 Tablets of L Reuteri Bio Gaia is introducing quite a lot of L.Reuteri into the mix and for that first or second yogurt fermentation batch we will have a lot of them, but possibly the L.Reuteri would wither away quickly and we would need to always reset/restart the batch with fresh L Reuteri tablets.
What do you think?
Thank you so much for your attention and advice.
The competition is not a problem if you use enough starter. It will keep the beneficial probiotics in the raw milk in check so the yogurt strains can dominate the fermentation.
Ok thank you for this! I’m years into health and still have gut issues even after trying elimination diets which I admit I did not do perfectly. I’m an excited to try this yogurt after a friend sent me a link to Dr. Davis. I felt uncomfortable with the ultra pasteurized cream. Im wondering about the gasseri part. In the recipe he uses there were two strains of yogurt. This only has the Reuteri not gasseri. Can the gasseri be added in here?
L. Gasseri yogurt is a different recipe. I don’t know if adding L. gasseri starter with L. reuteri would work.
I use both L. reuteri and L. gasseri at the same time, and it works fine.
I heard back from Clover.
This company also states that they have never put heated milk into any of the plastic or renewable cartons.
“ALL of our fluid milk products, including half & half, are completely cooled after pasteurization and before being bottled.
We also do our best to continue to improve. All of our organic fluid milk products including the half and half you mentioned are in fully renewable cartons. The answer to “what this means ” is that the low-density polyethylene (LDPE) lining layer of the carton is now sourced from sugar cane instead of fossil fuels. “
LDPE is hormone disrupting even if from sugar cane. That’s great that they cool it before packaging … how cool though? Did they give you a specific temperature? Is it room temperature? If it’s cooled from pasteurization temp even down to 118 F it is still going to leach.