Make L. Reuteri Cultured Yogurt w/ Major Age-Reversing Benefits

Dr. William Davis, MD, the author of the best-selling book Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, has a passion to help you heal your gut. And he has great news about a little-known superstar bacteria called Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri).

I’m excited to share Dr. Davis’s live-changing information here with you!

SIBO, IBS, and L. Reuteri 

More and more people are struggling with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), and SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth). SIBO is the presence of excess harmful colonic bacteria in the small intestine. Those bacteria don’t belong there and create a lot of havoc.

There were not many answers to help these unique problems —until now. 

“L. reuteri is totally unique compared to most good bacteria that live in the six-foot-long colon. L. reuteri prefers to colonize the upper gastrointestinal tract (in the stomach, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) which is ~23 feet long. When L. reuteri takes residence in the upper GI tract, it produces natural antibiotics called bacteriocins that are very effective against undesirable bacteria species that live in the small intestine and which can cause SIBO.

Restoring this species of bacteria (L. reuteri) is becoming part of the solution to SIBO ^[2,3], especially after antibiotics, glyphosate food-contamination, and pharma meds, etc. (source)

Fermented foods work significantly better than probiotic supplements in colonizing the body since the body knows what to do with food.

Probiotic supplements are often killed in stomach acid and never deliver the strains or amounts you need.

Dr. William Davis Developed a Way to Properly Make Yogurt High in Lactobacillus Reuteri

Dr. William Davis has done a ton of research on this species and developed a way to make a yogurt high in L. reuteri, which the body readily absorbs.

The yogurt manufacturers told him that making yogurt with L reuteri couldn’t be done. Since L. reuteri is really a cultured dairy made with completely different strains of bacteria than conventional yogurt, it also required different temperatures and longer fermentation times.

Nobody was actually making this because they didn’t think it could be done. However, he’s made dozens of successful batches, had them tested in a lab, and they all had high counts of L. reuteri. The secret is keeping the temperature steady at about 100°F while it ferments for 36 hours. The long, slow fermentation increases the bacterial strains exponentially over the 36 hours and creates a thick delicious yogurt.

“Modern life has eradicated this species from 96% of people in the modern world. Today only 4%—fewer than 1 in twenty people—continue to enjoy this marvelous species.” ~Dr. William Davis

Why We Lost Simple Fermentation

Before refrigeration in 1927, everybody fermented their food. They would ferment their milk and their vegetables. Water could be risky since it wasn’t always clean, so they also made drinks containing good yeasts and bacteria. They would even salt cure or ferment their meat.

Manufacturers marketed the new freon-cooled refrigerator by saying fresh food was better than fermentation, demonizing fermented foods. And we were taught that in our medical and nursing schools. Along the way, we’ve also demonized eggs, coconut oil, and what are normal levels of cholesterol etc.

I’ve realized now it’s not the food, it’s what we’ve done to the food and to our microbes.

Using raw milk:

(We recently found a local source of organic raw whole milk. I tested my particular Instant Pot and found it could not do yogurt at a constant 100 degrees, so I purchased the Luvele yogurt maker that can maintain 100 degrees for 36 hours).

No need to Pasteurize my raw milk!

Update 3/28/24: I found that this particular strain takes a while to ‘adjust’ and ‘settle down’. It is a very powerful, robust strain. I decided to do a test and keep my raw milk raw! I didn’t want to pasteurize and kill all the other good bacteria and enzymes inherent in organic raw milk, so I slowly persisted with 7 batches (yes, 7!) … at first they were so separated and tart that I felt like I might be wasting my time, but on the 4th and 5th batch, it stopped separating! From that time on, I instinctively felt it was moving in the right direction! By the 6th or 7th batch it became WAY more creamy and mild.. and my taste buds craved it. This last batch is hardly any different than Trader Joe’s European-Style Organic Plain Whole Milk yogurt and TJ’s Organic Plain Whole Milk Yogurt. Deciding to be patient is a huge win for me.

The Amazing Multiple Benefits of the Reuteri Strain

If you are new to this conversation, you may be surprised to learn that no other conventional yogurts achieve these effects.

One of the most interesting benefits of L. reuteri is its ability to release the hormone oxytocin from the human brain. ^[1,7] If you had a baby or have been in love you know how wonderful oxytocin can be. As the hormone releases, we feel more love and connectedness and we all need more love and compassion for one another. These have been stressful times in the last few years and fear tends to separate and cause division. With the loss of L. reuteri in most of the population, we must all have lower levels of oxytocin. Our body is a virtual pharmaceutical factory and can create more of the things we need, if it is given what it needs. Who would have thought a bacteria could do this?

All but the last 3 benefits listed here are a result of L. reuteri’s ability to provoke a release of oxytocin, a hormone that is proving to be the key to substantial age-reversal and health effects including: (1,2)

1. Smoothing of skin wrinkles due to an explosion of dermal collagen

2. Accelerates healing, cutting healing time in almost half

3. Deeper sleep—though this benefit is enjoyed by less than 20% of people

4. Reduces appetite, the so-called “anorexigenic” effect—food still tastes good, but you are almost completely indifferent to temptation

5. Increases testosterone in men

6. Preservation of bone density—obtaining L. reuteri is one of the most important steps you can take to prevent osteoporosis

7. Increased empathy and desire for connectedness with other people (I think of all the children who struggle with connecting!)

8. Probiotic effects that may include prevention of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, SIBO

9. Increases Vitamin D by 25.5% (study)

10. Increases Vitamin B12 and B9 (Folate) (study)

11. Improves fertility by encouraging a healthy vaginal microbiota (study)

Dr. Davis’s Instructions to Make L. reuteri Cultured Yogurt: A step-by-step guide

Dr. Davis writes, “Here is the simple recipe, step-by-step to minimize your potential for making mistakes. Truly, I have made something like 60-70 batches with not a single failure. You can do this, too”.

You will need:

• Glass or ceramic bowl or other vessel large enough to hold at least one quart of liquid

• 2 tablespoons of prebiotic fiber such as inulin powder or raw potato starch, or even better yet, Pre-Bio Plus.

• Starter: Either 10 tablets BioGaia Gastrus (or better yet, L. Reuteri Superfood Yogurt Starter) or 2 tablespoons previous batch of L. reuteri yogurt (either whey or curds works)

• 1 quart of organic half-and-half, whole milk or other liquid (to make with coconut milk, several additional steps and ingredients are required).

• Some method of maintaining at 100 degrees F.

Yields: Around 8 one-half-cup servings

1. Rinse your bowl or other vessel well after washing with hot soap and water:

2. Add 2 level tablespoons of prebiotic fiber:

3. Add 10 crushed tablets of Bio-Gastrus (that provide 200 million CFUs of L. reuteri, a relatively small number) (or better yet, L. Reuteri Superfood Yogurt Starter which includes L. gasseri). Crush the tablets with a mortar and pestle or by putting into a plastic bag and crushing with a rolling pin or heavy bottle/glass until reduced to a coarse powder. (The tablets are flavored with mint and mandarin, but the taste does not show in the final product, nor in subsequent batches.) Once you have made your first batch, make subsequent batches with two tablespoons of the prior batch, rather than crushed tablets; it can be any mixture of whey or solid curds, as both contain L. reuteri.

4. Mix either crushed tablets or 2 tablespoons of the prior yogurt with prebiotic fiber:

5. Add a little, e.g., 2 tablespoons, of your choice of dairy; I used organic half-and-half, as this yields the best texture (and, of course, we NEVER limit fat in the Wheat Belly lifestyle). Make a slurry by stirring; this prevents clumping of the prebiotic fiber. (Whole milk—NEVER low- or non-fat—yields a thinner end result, while cream yields something close to butter, too thick for my taste.)

6. Stir in remainder of half-and-half or other liquid:

7. Cover lightly with plastic wrap or other means.

8. Ferment by maintaining at 100 degrees F for 36 hours. Prolonged fermentation—far longer than the 6 or so hours of commercial yogurts that explain why the bacterial counts are so low–in the presence of prebiotic fibers yields far higher bacterial counts in the tens to hundreds of billions per serving.

I (Dr. Davis) use a basin-type sous vide device, but you can also use this Ultimate Probiotic Yogurt Maker, or an Instant Pot. (Just be careful with the Instant Pot or yogurt makers without adjustable temperature, as they are set to be compatible with conventional yogurt microorganisms and are often too hot and kill L. reuteri; if your device heats to 110 degrees F or higher, it will likely kill L. reuteri and you should find an alternative means of heating.  If in doubt, add some water, turn on your device and measure the temperature reached with a thermometer first before you ruin a batch.) Keep your materials out of the way of fans, heating/cooling vents, or other sources of air contamination.

The end-result for me is rich, thick, and delicious, better tasting—and with far higher probiotic bacterial counts—than anything you can buy in a store.

9. Refrigerate: Once cold, the “yogurt” is so thick that it can stand upright on a plate:

Serve with fresh or frozen berries, a squirt of liquid stevia or natural sweetener.

Plus Troubleshooting Tips by Dr. Davis:

If you are encountering difficulties in making the L. reuteri yogurt, consider these troubleshooting items (source):

• Temperature—Unlike most other lactate-fermenting species used to make yogurt, L. reuteri grows best at a lower temperature of around 100 degrees F. Microbial die-off begins at 115 degrees, with virtual wipe-out of the organism at 120 degrees. Unfortunately, many heating devices, such as yogurt makers or Instant Pots, either do not specify the temperature and/or are set inaccurately and generate temperatures of 120 degrees F or higher, killing your bacteria. If you fail to see any fermentation, i .e., no thickening occurs after 12-16 hours, check the temperature with a thermometer. You may have to use another device or do as I do: Use the oven by turning onto any temperature, e.g., 300 degrees, for 60 seconds, then turn off; repeat every 4 hours or so. As imprecise as this seems, it works great and you do not need to purchase any devices. (At night, heat before bedtime, then again when you awake—no need to get up in the middle of the night.)

• Not enough prebiotic fiber—We use 2 tablespoons prebiotic fiber, such as Bob’s Red Mill Raw Potato Starch or powdered inulin, per quart of liquid. Omitting this step will yield a thinner end-product with markedly lower bacterial counts and thereby not yield the benefits we are looking to obtain.

• Ferment longer—Although you may have yogurt after 12 hours, this is not long enough to generate the magnitude of bacterial counts we desire in the trillions. (See the Arithmetic of Yogurt blog post.) We therefore aim to ferment for 30 to 36 hours, then refrigerate.

• Use a thicker starting liquid–I like starting with (organic) half-and-half, as the 18% fat yields a cream cheese-like end-product, thick and rich. Cream also works, but yields something close to the consistency of butter, too thick for my taste. Full-fat milk (cow, A2 milk, goat, sheep) is okay, but expect a thinner end-product, similar in consistency to store-bought yogurt. Avoid use of skim, low-fat, 2%, or non-dairy almond, hemp, soy milks, as they are too thin and, of course, we never limit fat on the Wheat Belly lifestyle. Coconut milk (canned, never carton) can be used, but be sure to emulsify the milk (e.g., stick/immersion blender) prior to adding starting culture and prebiotic fiber; this prevents separation of the fat.

If you need more insight, Dr. Davis and Donna Schwenk from Cultured Food Life explain to you the health benefits and just how to make this special yogurt which can help you in many ways, especially if you’re struggling with things such as SIBO, leaky gut, low energy, loss of muscle and bone, or metabolic syndrome. The exact recipe is detailed below the podcast.

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