Making Super Yogurt – More Probiotics, Less Carb

Is yogurt a healthy diabetic food? Maybe not if you buy it at the supermarket. The tutti-fruity yogurt being marketed as a healthy treat can easily have more carb than a candy bar. Even the “plain” commercial yogurt has 11-13 grams of lactose (milk sugar) per cup. Commercial yogurt has too much carb for diabetics or people trying to lose weight, and all this carb is in the form of highly allergenic lactose which is not for people with autoimmune issues. I strongly encourage you to make your own yogurt that is healthy, low-carb, truly probiotic ... and much tastier!

Commercial yogurt is inferior in five ways:

Additives – Obviously, adding high fructose corn syrup can render any food unhealthy, but even the unsweetened plain yogurts have added carbs. Starches are sometimes used to make a thicker more pudding-like yogurt. Most commercial yogurts have added “milk solids” which increase the amount of lactose. Real yogurt is only made from milk, cream and live bacteria.

Little real probiotic organisms – Popular commercial yogurts usually just contain two yogurt strains that are not true probiotics. Although many yogurts are advertised as having live cultures, the number of live organisms is relatively low. Some commercial yogurts are pasteurized with zero live organisms.
Not fully fermented – Commercial yogurts use an abbreviated lower cost fermentation process (usually just 4-5 hours) that results in less probiotic organisms, more lactose and a less tart insipid taste. 

Not dripped – Most commercial yogurts are not dripped or strained. Only a few specialty Greek style yogurts use some straining. Dripping yogurt further reduces the lactose and makes it thicker.
Not fresh – Yogurt should be eaten within days of being made as most of the live organisms will die within a week even when properly stored in refrigerated conditions.  Yogurt sold in the supermarket is usually several weeks old.

MAKING SUPER YOGURT

1. I use an electric yogurt maker which has a one liter (1.06 quart) glass bowl. After sterilizing the bowl with boiling water to make sure there are no stray bacteria which may taint the fermentation process. I add about ½ cup (125ml) of heavy cream and then fill with whole milk. You can add more or less cream depending on how rich you want your yogurt.

2. Using a microwave oven and a food thermometer, warm the milk to about 85-95° C (180-200° F) to sterilize it. It should be warmer than 82° C (180° F) but no hotter than 93° C (200° F). A layer of scum will form on top which many people skim off believing it will give the finished product a better consistency. I prefer to stir it in so as to not lose any of the milk fat.  Set aside the bowl of hot milk covered by a clean towel until it cools to 108-112° F (42-44° C). 

2b. If you have access to UHT milk, it is safe to use an unopened carton of room temperature UHT milk poured directly into the sterilized bowl without further sterilizing the milk.  This saves  much time

3. Stir in a freeze dried probiotic yogurt starter. I strongly recommend an "ABC" probiotic starter.  What I refer to as "ABC" probiotic starters contain the two normal yogurt strains (L. bulgaricus and S. thermophillus) as well as the truly probiotic strains (A)  L. acidophillus, (B) some strain(s) of Bifidobacterium and (C) L. casei.  In China, there are many probiotic yogurt startes, but in the US, the dominant brand is the Yogourmet Casei Bifidos Acidophillus yogurt starter. These truly probiotic strains have the potential to colonize the gut with healthy gut flora and greatly improve one's health.

4. Ferment the yogurt for a full 24 hours. Traditionally, yogurt is only fermented for 8-10 hours. This longer fermenting time will ferment away most of the lactose. The lactose is fermented into lactic acid which gives yogurt is tart tastes. This Super Yogurt is also super tart, a taste that I like, but others might need to get used to it. The longer fermentation also results in a higher probiotic bacteria count.

5. Drip the yogurt for 1-2 hours to make thick Greek style yogurt or 12-18 hours in the refrigerator to get yogurt cheese with the same consistency as cream cheese. Traditionally, yogurt is dripped through two layers of cheese cloth placed in a colander. I prefer to use two large reusable nylon coffee filters placed in similarly sized containers to catch the liquid that drips off. Throw away the liquid and enjoy the remaining delightfully thick yogurt. By dripping the yogurt, you also further reduce the lactose (carb) and reduce the lactic acid (less sour). Dripping yogurt reduces the volume about 25% for Greek style yogurt and 50-75% for yogurt cheese.

                           

I have not measured the carbohydrate of this yogurt in the lab, but believe it is about 2-3 grams per cup compared to 8-13 grams of carb for plain commercial yogurt.  This 24 hour fermented Super Yogurt is estimated to have an average concentration of 3 billion cfu/ml of live organisms which works out to 750 billion probiotic micro-organisms per cup!

While common yogurt is a healthy food, only yogurt made with truly probiotic starters will greatly improve gut ecology and reduce chronic inflammation.  A fully fermented yogurt made with an "ABC" probiotic starter has the potential to colonize the gut with healthy gut flora.  No comparison with commercial yogurt.