Last week I talked about the huge benefits of making your own yogurt, how this can heal bacterial or fungal overgrowth, and how it’s been transforming the tummies of our household.

Many of you asked for the remedy, so here it is, with thanks to Dr William Davis, who formulated the yogurt and talks about it in his excellent book Super Gut, which I highly recommend.

In this remedy, you use three different species of probiotics, each of which do different things, according to Davis, but all help to colonize your GI track and all have the ability kill bad bacteria.

They include:

1. L. reuteri: reduces wrinkles, accelerates healing, boosts oxytocin release, induces deeper sleep, promotes weight loss, increases muscle mass and strength
2. L. gasseri: promotes weight loss, reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), reduces visceral fat and waist size, and protects against recurrence of bacterial or fungal overgrowth
3. B. coagulans: reduces symptoms of IBS, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation and inflammation, while also reducing inflammation, joint pain and muscle breakdown

You’ll need to get all three from specific suppliers.  Three possibilities are  BioGaia Gastrus tablets which contain L. reuteri DSM 17938, ATCC PTA 6475; a supplement from Dr Joseph Mercola’s website for  L. gasseri BNR17; and Digestive Advantage Daily Probiotic product from Schiff, which contains B. coagulans GBI-30, 6086. Many of these are available on Amazon.

You’ll need a yogurt maker that offers both reliable temperature control, up to 106°F (42°C), and timing (up to 48 hours).  Davis’ secret to success is to ferment yogurt for far longer than usual, which just makes the good-guy microbes more abundant.

William Davis’ Super-Gut SIBO Yogurt   

This can be made with dairy or other milks, such as coconut milk.

Ingredients

10 BioGaia Gastrus tablets, crushed (total 2 billion CFUs), or 2 Tbsp L. reuteri yogurt

1 capsule L. gasseri (10 billion CFUs) or 2 Tbsp L. gasseri yogurt

1 capsule B. coagulans (2 billion CFUs) or 2 Tbsp B. coagulans yogurt

2 Tbsp prebiotic fiber (such as inulin powder or raw potato starch)

1 quart (950 ml) organic half-and-half (single cream) or whole milk

Method

1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the starting probiotics, fiber and 2 tablespoons of half-and-half (single cream). Make a slurry to ensure the prebiotic fiber does not clump. Stir until well mixed.
2. Stir in the remaining half-and-half. Cover lightly (e.g., with plastic wrap), place in your fermenting device and ferment at 106°F for 36 hours.
3. Remove from fermenting device and add fresh fruit and sweetener if desired. Chia seeds are a great addition as well. Eat immediately or chill if you prefer it cold.

You only need to use the capsules and tablets of the store-bought strains once. To make future batches, use 2 tablespoons of curds or whey from a prior batch.

The  Coconut Yogurt Super-Gut SIBO Yogurt

Davis also provides a recipe for coconut milk yogurt for anyone who is sensitive to dairy (currently, I’m making coconut yogurt).  Choose tinned organic coconut milk or cream that contains nothing more than coconut and water, with no mixing agents, although guar gum is okay, he says.

To avoid having the yogurt separate into, essentially, oil and water, you need to add a few additional steps.  Don’t be alarmed about the sugar in the recipe below.  The sugar will be entirely consumed by the microbes and won’t be present when you eat it.

Because it takes so long to make the yogurt (2 days to make coconut yogurt) I double the recipe below.  I also use coconut cream, which makes for a creamier result.

Ingredients

13.5 oz (400 ml) tin of coconut milk

¾ tsp guar gum

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp raw potato starch

10 BioGaia Gastrus tablets, crushed (total 2 billion CFUs), or 2 Tbsp L. reuteri yogurt

1 capsule L. gasseri (10 billion CFUs) or 2 Tbsp L. gasseri yogurt

1 capsule B. coagulans (2 billion CFUs) or 2 Tbsp B. coagulans yogurt

Method

1. Heat coconut milk over medium heat to 180°F (82ºC) or until just below a boil; remove from heat and leave it to cool 5 minutes.
2. Add guar gum, sugar and potato starch to the cooled coconut milk and blend for a minimum of 1 minute or until mixture thickens to consistency of heavy cream.
3. Cool mixture to 100°F (38ºC) or room temperature, then mix in the probiotic powders
4. Ferment at 100°F (38º) in a yogurt maker for 48 hours. Remove from the device and refrigerate for another 6-8 hours.

To make another batch, just take 2 Tbsp of the curds or whey of yogurt from the current batch and mix them in after heating and cooling the coconut mixture, as above.

Happy fermenting – and do let me know, in a comment below, if eating the yogurt makes a difference to your health.

And, by the way, a full story about this, written by our intrepid reporter Cate Montana, will be in our June issue of What Doctors Don’t Tell You, which will be available on June 21 and  online on our website a few days before. To find out more or read the full story, check it out on www.wddty.com.