Make your own yoghurt

Fermenting food can be such a fun thing to do – watch your food transform within days to something totally different; in terms of taste, texture, color and smell. I will be embarking on fermenting more things, like cabbage (sauerkraut), kim chee and peppers, stay tuned. It’s one thing to know intellectually that fermented food is good for your gut, another to see it really deliver so many great results. Since a healthy gut is essential in thyroid health (it converts the T4 inactive hormone to T3 active hormone which is the powerhouse of our body), I’ve been incorporating fermented food into my clients’ menus, with great success. Populating the gut with great bacterial flora takes the constipation, bloating, and indigestion away. Soon after, they start feeling so much better overall, probably because the T3 hormone is more active; giving more energy, taking the fatigue away, helping with weight loss. Don’t get me wrong; a healthy gut is a must for all, not just the thyroid folks

Ah, there is so much to a  healthy gut.

You might ask: so why not just get yoghurt from a supermarket rather than all that fuss? Good question. Sadly, most shelf-dominating brands (like Dannon, Activia, etc.) are a disgrace to good food and nutrition. Loaded with sugar (average small container contains 26g of sugar = 7 spoons), often artificial sugar, preservatives, artificial coloring and thickeners (like pectin, gelatin, starch, tapioca). If the yoghurt was made well with enough active bacteria, there would have been no need to add thickeners. By removing all fat (since we are terrified by fats in America), the yoghurt tastes so awful that copious amounts of sugar need to be added to make it taste palatable. In other words, most commercial yoghurts do not provide the bacterial flora we need to enjoy optimal health. Their marketing messages are spot-on; yoghurt is good for you. Their products, however, fail to deliver on this premise.

Is no supermarket yoghurt ever good? No, I’m not saying that. Look for smaller brands (that can’t effort to pay the big bucks premium shelf space) and products with ingredients like : grass-fed cow’s milk pasteurized at lowest temperature and cultures bacteria. That’s it. Nothing else. Now, as you will discover, it’s not that easy.

So, might as well have some fun in the kitchen with the kids and see what happens in 24 hours.

Fermentation time: 24 hours

The Ingredients and Utensils

• 1 carton (1 quart or 1 liter) of milk from grass-fed cows, pasteurized at a low temperature, never use homogenized milk, it won’t set
• 1 yoghurt starter from Yogourmet (most health stores carry them, refrigerated or buy online)
• 1 clean glass jar (do not use metal, aluminum or plastic containers as it won’t set)

The Making

1. Heat up the milk till it nearly boils, then let it cool down to 108-112F (42-44C)
2. Dissolve 5g Yogourmet starter pack in a small quantity of lukewarm milk in a cup
3. Pour it back to the rest of the milk and mix well
4. Transfer to a clean glass jar and cover
5. Let it stand in room temperature for 24 hours
6. Refrigerate once yoghurt is set

Easy! Kids get mesmerized when they get up in the morning and run to the kitchen to see the milk all transformed.

In the photo you see above, I sprinkled the freshly made yoghurt with raw pumpkin, sunflower and dry pomegranate seeds (for some extra proteins), and added a touch of raw honey.

Once you start making your own yoghurts, it’s hard to go back to buying commercial yoghurt.

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7 Responses to Make your own yoghurt

Iwona says: December 8, 2012 at 4:29 pm

Hi Magdalena,
I’m a little confused. You told that dairy food is bad for thyroid.
Now I don’t know what I should do…

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Magdalena says: December 8, 2012 at 4:52 pm

Hi Iwona,
I never said “dairy is bad for the thyroid”. I only say (always) that many people have a dairy intolerance and for those who do, they need to stay off dairy to heal the gut and stop the immune response. For the few who tolerate it well or in limited amounts (like me), I recommend only raw dairy and yoghurt made at home, like this one here. What you need to do is find out IF you have a diary sensitivity. I teach about it in a class here: http://thyroiddietcoach.com/classes/class_details.php?id=8.

Hope this makes more sense now.

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Patricia Nelson says: February 24, 2013 at 12:56 am

What do you think about making your own coconut yoghurt? rather than using dairy

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Magdalena says: April 1, 2013 at 10:23 am

It’s a great idea

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Trixie Lovelace says: January 11, 2013 at 5:25 pm

Also remember that if you are taking thyroid meds, you are not suppose to eat dairy within an hour before or after taking your meds as it leaves some of the medicines inactive. At least, that is what I was told by my Pharmacist.

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kristin says: March 28, 2013 at 4:59 pm

Most recipes say you need to somehow keep the milk warm, not just room temp, for the 24 hours in order for it to actually ferment. Why is this one different? Or what method do you use to keep it warm?

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Magdalena says: April 1, 2013 at 10:28 am

As long as your room temperature is no less then 68F, you are fine. I’ve done it even with 65F and just kept it a little longer than 24 hours to make sure all the lactose is eaten up by the bacteria and it worked too. If your room is cooler than that, you can get a yoghurt maker. It’s not expensive at all.

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