I Finally Made My First Batch of L. reuteri Yogurt

What is L. reuteri ?

If you have not heard of it yet, this is the yogurt that Dr. William Davis helped make popular. He is a cardiologist, and he is the author of Super Gut, along with his well known book Wheat Belly. What he calls L. reuteri yogurt is not the kind you grab off the shelf at the grocery store. It is a slow, intentional ferment built to grow a very high count of one specific microbe, Lactobacillus reuteri, that most of us have lost along the way.

Why it takes thirty six hours

This was the part that surprised me. Regular yogurt ferments for about six hours. This one ferments for a full thirty six hours, held at around one hundred degrees. The reason is simple once you hear it. At that temperature the bacteria double roughly every three hours, so the long ferment lets them multiply far more than a quick culture ever could. That is how you end up with billions of these good microbes in a single serving instead of a tiny amount. For lack of a more technical word we call it yogurt, but it is really a fermented food made to do a specific job.

I had already been taking the MyReuteri capsules, which is the starter Dr. Davis now recommends, so I used those to culture my first batch. I also picked up a yogurt maker so I could hold that steady temperature for the full time. After the ferment I chilled it, and that was it. My first batch.

Why I wanted to try it in the first place

The benefits are what pulled me in. Dr. Davis describes a long list, and the research he points to keeps coming back to one idea. When this microbe settles into your gut, it sends a signal up the vagus nerve that prompts your body to release oxytocin, which is a peptide hormone. So many of the effects people talk about trace back to that.

A lot of folks pay for peptides these days. What I love about this is that instead of taking a peptide from the outside, you are encouraging your own body to make more of one. From there, Dr. Davis connects it to things like dermal collagen and smoother skin, the restoration of youthful muscle, bone density, faster healing, and deeper sleep. Studies have also explored its effect on inflammation and on gut health overall, including a possible role in keeping conditions like SIBO in check. Taken together, it gets talked about a lot in the context of healthy aging, which as a creative person who cares about taking care of myself, I am very much here for.

How it actually tasted

Honestly? Really good. It had that classic yogurt smell with a little tinge of cheese underneath, which makes sense for something fermented this long, but the taste was lovely. Tangy and rich. I mixed mine with blueberries and it felt like a treat, not like medicine.

I also want to be honest about one thing. Around the same time I had been dealing with chronic sinusitis, and it seems to have eased up. I was taking several different things at once, so I cannot say for certain that the yogurt is the reason. I am only sharing what I noticed. I will keep paying attention.

The recipe I use

If you are looking for the recipe, here is exactly what I do. For the dairy I use organic half and half along with A2/A2 milk. The half and half gives it a rich, creamy texture, and the A2 milk sits easier on a lot of people’s stomachs.

What you need:

• One quart of dairy, which is 4 cups. I use a mix of organic half and half and A2/A2 milk.
• 2 tablespoons of prebiotic fiber, such as inulin. This feeds the bacteria so they multiply more and thickens the final result.
• 1 capsule of MyReuteri to get started. For every batch after this, you save 2 tablespoons of your finished yogurt and use that as the starter instead of a new capsule.

What I do:

1. In your jar, make a slurry first. Stir the prebiotic fiber and the contents of the capsule into just a few tablespoons of the dairy until there are no clumps. This little step keeps the fiber from clumping later.
2. Stir in the rest of the dairy and mix gently.
3. Cover lightly, then ferment at about one hundred degrees for the full thirty six hours. Try not to disturb it while it works.
4. Dr. Davis recommends chilling it in the fridge for several hours before eating, which firms it up into that thick, rich texture. I will be honest, I ate mine as soon as it came out of the maker and it was fine for me. Then save those 2 tablespoons for your next batch.

If you want a dairy free version, Dr. Davis has a coconut milk recipe on his website. You can find it here: How to make L. reuteri yogurt.

Looking forward

This is just batch one. From here you can keep a little of each batch to start the next, so it becomes a rhythm, almost a ritual. I am curious to see how I feel over the coming weeks now that I am being more consistent with the higher dose.

I will report back. If you have been on the fence about trying it, consider this your nudge. As always, I am sharing my own experience, not medical advice, so do your own reading and talk to someone you trust about what is right for you.

With love, Sashani