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 as she obviously was placing high importance on store 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. This includes highly popular Greek yogurt alternatives. Is Greek yogurt better for you than regular? Not if the inoculation time for the probiotics to grow is insufficient!
The length of time for fermentation of commercial yogurt (both regular and Greek) is so short (one person in the dairy industry told me that it is an hour or even less) that thickening agents are sometimes even added to commercial 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 avoiding store yogurt and eating yogurt only that you’ve made yourself and fermented for a full 24 hours. This is to ensure that the majority of the lactose (milk sugar) is used up and sufficient strength of the probiotic cultures.
The Specific Carbohydrate (SCD) Diet also recommends yogurt that is cultured for a full 24 hours.
Of course, making yogurt at home yourself also permits the selection of high-quality milk and avoidance of all the additives and sugar added to most commercial store yogurt as well. Homemade kefir is even better with dozens more probiotic strains.
Yogurt 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 brands 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!
Commercial Yogurt Sweetened with GMO Sugar
Another problem with commercial yogurt is that it is usually sweetened with genetically modified (GMO) sweeteners. Â Many consumers know that corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are GMO. Â However, even health-savvy shoppers typically don’t realize that even if the label on commercial yogurt says “sugar” instead of corn syrup, it is virtually certain that sugar is also from a GMO source. Only if the label says “cane sugar” or “organic sugar” does this guarantee that the sugar is GMO-free.
The best policy is to make yogurt yourself or buy it from a small farm that uses quality grass-fed milk.
If you must buy commercial for whatever reason, seek out a brand of 24 hour yogurt if at all possible (there are only a few that exist at this time).
More Information
Also, Mountain High has 5 active cultures. What if I just left it out to ferment? Would it revitalize the process?
I just called Zoi. They ferment for “about 6 hours”.
What’s up to all, as I am genuinely eager of reading this blog’s post to be updated on a regular basis.
It consists of fastidious data.
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
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.
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,,,,
Why don’t you just make your own Kefir , it’s better it’s natural and it’s cheap.. I do and my digestive system works Great! Google it ! They should tell you how to make it. Just 3 ingredients . Water,Surgar,and whatever those little creatures I put put in the mix. Anyway the critters eat all the Surgar and produce Kefir water!!
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!
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!!
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!