Fermenting L. Reuteri Yogurt at Home: The Simple Gut-Healing Secret I Swear By

You’ve probably heard the phrase “heal your gut, heal your life,” but what if I told you that making your own yogurt at home could be the most effective way to start? I began fermenting my own Lactobacillus reuteri yogurt in November 2024, and I noticed relief from my GI symptoms after just one serving. From there, things only got better.

I’m not someone who likes to overcomplicate things, and thankfully — this process becomes easy and straightforward once you do it once or twice. There are a couple of important nuances to get it just right, especially if you want your yogurt to look and feel like cheesecake and proliferate properly for your Super Gut.

👉 Here’s the exact yogurt maker I use.

Most modern humans are missing this essential bacteria because of overexposure to antibiotics throughout life, but L. reuteri is considered a foundational strain for mammalian health. It’s found in healthy indigenous populations, and even the Amish, but it’s been wiped out in most of us.

So why not just take it in capsule form? Because fermenting it allows the bacteria to multiply by a multitude more. What starts as 20 billion CFUs in a capsule becomes a gut-replenishing powerhouse through fermentation. That’s the difference between subtle improvements and truly noticeable results.

This entire method is outlined in Dr. William Davis’s book Super Gut, which completely changed the way I look at probiotics and gut health.👉 Click here to check out the Super Gut book on Amazon

I personally feel happier, more emotionally balanced, and my skin is noticeably clearer. My boyfriend — who normally hates yogurt — absolutely loves this one. We actually look forward to having it every night like dessert instead of ice cream.

And the best part? We’re enjoying a delicious treat while actively rebuilding our microbiome — the real powerhouse of the body.

Restoring lost microbes can yield astounding health benefits including smoother skin with reduced wrinkles, deeper sleep, reduced appetite, acceleration of healing, increased empathy and other effects.

If you’re starting from scratch, I recommend using the original L. reuteri strain from Dr. Davis:👉 Click here for the official L. Reuteri capsules

How to Make It: The Easy Way

This is all detailed in this interview with Dr. William Davis on Dr. Berg’s YouTube channel. Every second is worth watching, but the demonstration is toward the end:👉 Watch the video here

Still, here’s the simple version — with some of my own hard-won tips you won’t find in the video:

To fill both glass quart containers that come with the yogurt maker, you’ll need 6 pints of dairy total — that’s 3 pints per quart container.

Step 1: Denature the dairy

Grass-fed half & half or heavy cream (or a mixture of the two) is great — especially for keto folks — but if you're lactose intolerant, you can use another variation or try A2 milk, which many people find easier to digest. Use your dairy of choice — I personally use Organic Valley Grassmilk half & half.

This step is optional, but highly recommended for that creamy, cheesecake-like texture. To denature the proteins:

• Heat your milk or cream to between 180–200°F

• Stir continuously while heating to avoid forming a protein “skin” on the surface — this layer can disrupt the final texture and lead to separation in your finished yogurt

• I use this electric thermometer to get it right

Once you reach the target temp, quickly cool it in an ice bath:

• Set your pot in a larger bowl of ice water

• Stir gently and monitor closely

• You want the temp to drop to just under 99°F — ideally as close as possible to that mark without going over

If the temperature dips into the 80s, that’s still fine — just try to avoid letting it get too cold, since it will take longer for the yogurt maker to bring it back up and the fermentation may not kick in right away. Plus, the warmed dairy gives it that cheesecake-like thick texture, even better than Greek yogurt.

The most important thing here is to avoid starting the ferment above 99°F — higher temps can kill the L. reuteri culture and prevent fermentation altogether.

👉 These silicone spatulas are a must for stirring while heating and for scraping every last bit of yogurt from the jars later — especially if you’re making parfaits.

Step 2: Prepare your starter paste

In the glass quart-sized container that comes with the yogurt maker linked above, combine:

• 1 capsule of L. reuteri

• 1 tablespoon chicory root inulin powder

• Add 1–2 tablespoons of your warm, cooled dairy to make a thick paste

• Use a small whisk or fork to mix thoroughly

Note: The yogurt maker comes with two glass quart containers, so this mixture (1 capsule + 1 tbsp inulin + 1–2 tbsp dairy) is for one container only. If you're using both containers, simply repeat this same process in the second container.

Step 3: Add the rest of your dairy

Once the mixture is mixed together to form a paste, you can now add the rest of the dairy to each quart container. Using a whisk or fork, be sure to stir and mix everything well. Then place the specialized lid that comes with the glass quart container on top — it's designed to aerate the mixture properly — and place it into the yogurt maker.

Step 4: Set it and forget it

• Add water around the jar up to the level of the dairy inside

• Set the machine to 99°F for 36 hours

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Step 5: Chill immediately after fermenting

Once the 36 hours is up, make sure you’re home to move it to the fridge right away. It must chill for 6 hours to stop the ferment and prevent over-fermentation.

A Few Tips I Learned the Hard Way

• Don’t skip denaturing the dairy — your yogurt will be watery and lack structure

• Start with dairy that’s already close to 99°F — not cold from the fridge

• Cool down your dairy with care — don’t overshoot and make it too cold

• Plan ahead — make sure you’re around when it finishes so you can refrigerate it on time

• Make it your own — eat it plain, with a touch of cinnamon, or a keto-friendly topping

  
  

Final Thoughts

Between the two of us, we go through about 2 quarts every 7–10 days, so it really goes a long way.

Also, here’s something most people don’t realize:

Store-bought yogurt is only fermented for 4 measly hours! That’s hardly enough time for any real probiotic benefit. What you’re really eating is just dairy — not a therapeutic dose of beneficial bacteria.

This 36-hour method? That’s a true therapeutic probiotic — one that can actually transform your gut health and support deep, lasting changes in your body and mood.

Here’s to food freedom, glowing skin, and microbiome magic.