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Dairy-Free Yogurts: L. Reuteri and More
Making a dairy-free yogurt, be it L. reuteri or Yogurt Plus, can be a little different from regular yogurts. Since these types of milk are made with mostly water it can be challenging to create a creamy yogurt and especially with L. reuteri since it ferments for 36 hours. I have found that making your own non-dairy milk is the ticket and is easy and fun and is so much better than store-bought milks that have a lot of additives that aren't good for you. It's much faster to make your own milk than driving to the store to buy these types of non-dairy milk. You only need a couple of things - a high-speed blender and a nut bag to strain the milk in. I am going to teach you to make homemade oat milk yogurt (which is my favorite) and homemade coconut milk yogurt. Oat milk even contains fiber, a nutrient you won't find in cow's milk that helps to feed your microbiome. I still prefer dairy milk for my yogurt, but oat milk is a close second. I am crazy about this yogurt. It works well in both Yogurt Plus and L. Reuteri and it is loaded with resistant starch which feeds your Bifidobacteria like crazy. That's an important microbe that keeps your immune system strong and helps you to fight off pathogens and keeps all the processes in your body running strong.
Oat milk Yogurt
Resistant Starch For Your Yogurt
Resistant starches resist digestion. They don't feed us, they feed our bacteria including some of the most important ones such as Bifidobacterium. These resistant starches come in the form of carbohydrates like green bananas, oats, legumes, potatoes, and rice just to name a few. But the caveat is that you need to eat these special starches cold which is perfect for yogurt.
These special fibers aren't completely broken down and absorbed in the stomach or small intestine. Instead, they pass through to the colon and are converted into short-chain fatty acids which act as prebiotics to help feed the beneficial bacteria in the gut.
- For every 100 grams of fiber your gut ferments you make 30 grams of bacteria. This fermentation process, done by the microbes in your gut, is necessary to achieve a powerful and robust immune system.
- Fiber also adds bulk and viscosity, and this reduces the ability of carcinogens to make contact with your cells. Fiber binds cancer-causing compounds and bile acids and keeps the gut in balance.
- Fiber is needed to make Butyrate, a short-chain-fatty acid. Butyrate is also essential to a healthy gut and immune system. One of the health benefits of butyric acid is its ability to provide your colon cells with energy. Butyric acid provides your colon cells with about 70 percent of their total energy needs. Researchers are finding that increasing butyric acid is important for those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Crohn’s disease. [1]
Homemade Oat Milk Yogurt is creamy and a little more lumpy than regular yogurt, but boy is it good. It feeds the species in the yogurt so much that you need less Prebio Plus or prebiotic. It will do this in you too. Oats are a powerful resistant starch once cooked and cooled. It's also really fun to make.
Coconut Milk Yogurt
Coconut and Candida
Coconut is one of the most common alternatives to the dairy option for yogurt, especially for those who may suffer from intolerances and allergies. Coconut milk has similar benefits and probiotics as the dairy versions just as long as you give it a prebiotic. Coconut milk is low in carbohydrates and the microbes need the extra food to make probiotics.
Researchers have established that coconut milk is an effective anti-fungal. [2,3] Coconut works against Candida albicans, a type of fungus that is most commonly responsible for fungal infections. I have witnessed this firsthand. It has worked quite effectively to bring Candida back into balance. Combine this with L. reuteri yogurt, which is also effective against Candida, and you have a strong remedy to encourage the probiotics in the yogurt to dominate in your gut, bringing this pesky yeast back into its rightful place. It can create a die-off, or Herxheimer reaction, as Candida can give off a lot of toxins as it dies so be aware of this.
Candida and L. Reuteri
L. reuteri has exhibited antifungal properties against five of the six most common oral Candida species. It completely eliminated these species and is now being studied for the treatment of SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth). SIFO is characterized by the presence of an excessive number of fungal organisms in the small intestine associated with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. [4]
Candida can be quite a challenge, but having large amounts of good bacteria keeps Candida in check. We need balance, not complete extinction, and having the proper gut flora makes this a natural process.
Dairy-Free Yogurt Recipes
Check out these non-dairy yogurt recipes. These are turning out to be some of my favorites. They are very satisfying to make and come with huge benefits. You'll enjoy making your own non-dairy yogurt and will wonder why you haven't been doing it all along. It is one thousand times better for you than store-bought versions. Check out all the recipes and grab you a bag of rolled oats and dried coconut, and let's begin.
Listen To My Podcast
Making dairy-free yogurt, whether it be L. reuteri or Yogurt Plus, it can be a little different than regular yogurt. Since these types of milk are made with mostly water, it can be challenging to create a creamy yogurt. I have four new recipes that have huge benefits. Tune in to learn more.
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