The Yogurt Diaries

I’ve been lately discussing how to take a single species of bacteria and amplify bacterial counts by making yogurt in the presence of prebiotic fiber. Here, for instance, I described my early experience cultivating a strain of Lactobacillus reuteri. For anyone new to this conversation, the method of making prebiotic-infused yogurt is discussed here; and why we choose higher fat starting liquids, such as half-and-half with around 18% fat, is discussed here. For anyone wishing to avoid dairy, you can also accomplish the same with coconut milk (canned, full-fat), though it requires longer to ferment (typically 48-72 hours, rather than the 36-48 hours for dairy. You may also need to add a modest quantity of sugar, e.g., 2 teaspoons, along with the inulin—don’t worry: If fermentation proceeds as planned, sugar and prebiotic inulin should be gone or present at only negligible levels in the end-product because the microorganisms have consumed them. The end-product should therefore not be sweet. And the yogurt you obtain by these methods is incredibly thick, rich, and delicious, not the insipid, water stuff you get at the grocery store. What we are doing is 1) taking a single microbial species or number of species of known composition, then 2) amplifying the bacterial counts (CFUs). Starting with, for example, 5 billion CFUs from a commercial probiotic preparation of your desired species, making yogurt with prebiotic fibers increases the bacterial counts enormously....
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Undoctored Wheat Belly Lifestyle bowel flora grain-free Inflammation lactobacillus prebiotic probiotic Source Type: blogs