Super Gut SIBO Yogurt Recipe (Reuteri, Gasseri, Coagulans)

SIBO yogurt is one of the most powerful foods you can consume for gut health, especially to push back overgrowth in the small intestine and restore the microbiome!

It’s estimated that over half of Americans have SIBO and leaky gut.  This is a major root cause for all kinds of illness, including and especially autoimmune diseases and chronic autoimmune symptoms.  The good news is, SIBO and leaky gut can be healed!  It takes direction, discipline, time, and consistency but it *can* be healed.

There are many protocols for addressing SIBO and leaky gut, but not all of them are natural or pregnancy & breastfeeding friendly which is of special interest to me since I am regularly pregnant, breastfeeding, or both!

Dr. William Davis and his team have had a ton of success pushing back overgrowth and healing SIBO, SIFO, and leaky gut with this home-fermented “yogurt.”  So I decided to give it a try after having my 5th baby and experiencing (another) autoimmune flare that completely took me down.  

I’ve been eating a cup of SIBO yogurt for breakfast every morning and I’m hooked!  I do want to mention that I started eating SIBO yogurt about 4 weeks into a strict elimination diet I began in order to heal my gut.  Before I added the SIBO yogurt into my gut healing protocol, I had experienced a weight loss plateau and couldn’t tolerate dairy at all.

I’m so excited to have this yogurt as a tool to re-seed my microbiome on my way to restoring my health along with the other efforts I’m making like cleaning up my diet.

What is SIBO?

Certain gram-negative bacteria like Escherichia coli (E.Coli), Enterococcus spp, Klebsiella, Clostridia should only live in the colon in a certain proportion to good microbes to maintain a healthy microbiome.  

But thanks to lots of factors like processed food consumption, life stressors, sedentary lifestyle, etc. – gram negative microbes often proliferate in the colon causing colonic dysbiosis.  And if left unchecked, these microbes (along with fecal matter/poop) can ascend into the small intestine and even the stomach!  As you can imagine, this causes big problems.  Nobody wants to be full of poop.

Proliferation of gram-negative bacteria in the upper bowel is called SIBO or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.  Microbial cells only live for a few hours.  When they die, their cell wall releases endotoxin.  When endotoxin is released in the small intestine or stomach, it damages the mucosa and escapes through the one-cell thick small bowel lining into the bloodstream.  A damaged intestinal lining means increased permeability.  You probably know of this as leaky gut.

Why is SIBO a problem?

When endotoxin leaks through the gut lining, it enters portal circulation and goes to the liver.  The liver can “detox” small amounts of endotoxin, but if the liver is taxed and/or there is a large amount of endotoxin, then endotoxin ends up in the bloodstream circulating through the whole body.  This is called endotoxemia.

Severe endotoxemia is known as sepsis.  Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency. 

People with SIBO, while not technically “septic” – have some degree of endotoxemia happening in their body at all times!  It’s like they are constantly experiencing mild sepsis.  Except we don’t call it “mild sepsis.”  We call it autoimmunity because the body recognizes the endotoxin in circulation and in the tissues and organs and attacks it.  

Yes, I am making the argument that many, or even most cases of chronic autoimmune symptoms or conditions are caused by SIBO.  In other words, the root cause is poor gut health. Heal the gut, heal chronic autoimmunity, lose weight, gain muscle, and watch your body find its way to a healthy place.

Why is this SIBO yogurt recipe better than store-bought yogurt?

SIBO yogurt is made from very specific strains of keystone bacteria that are essential to human health and well-being but missing from the microbiome of many modern people due to antibiotic use, c-section birth, formula/bottle feeding, and processed food consumption to name 4 of the biggest culprits.

Long fermenting these specific strains of beneficial bacteria exponentially increases the CFUs to have a much more powerful effect on gut health than if one were to simply take the probiotics themselves.

Let’s briefly look at these keystone microbial strains and how they contribute to a healthy gut and healthy life…according to Dr. William Davis’ book Super Gut:

BioGaia Gastrus Lactobacillus Reuteri

The specific strains of Lactobacillus Reuteri in the BioGaia Gastrus tablets used in this yogurt recipe work to restore health in so many amazing ways!  These strains should be present in every human’s microbiome but it’s missing completely from most.  

L. Reuteri is particularly susceptible to amoxicillin, so go figure – that one course of antibiotics you got as a kid wiped it out.  Or, maybe you have never had antibiotics but your mom did and so the L. Reuteri was wiped out from her microbiome before she ever had you, meaning she couldn’t pass it on to you.  

L. Reuteri is capable of colonizing the small intestine which makes it perfect for pushing back small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.  Here are some of the things L. Reuteri does when it colonizes the gut:

• increase the body’s natural production of oxytocin therefore increasing empathy and human connection
• regulate appetite control to prevent binge eating 
• increase sebum production for smoother skin
• increase dermal collagen for fewer wrinkles
• improve body composition by adding muscle mass

*due to increased oxytocin, pregnant women should not consume yogurt made with ONLY L. Reuteri yogurt, but should consume yogurt made with a mix of L. Reuteri and other bacterial strains.  This recipe is SAFE for pregnant and breastfeeding women to consume since it is a mix of 4 strains.*

Lactobacillus Gasseri BNR17

L. Gasseri is a vigorous producer of bateriocins (your body’s own antibiotics) so it’s great for pushing back overgrowth in the small bowel.  It also reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, which is almost always due to SIBO.  Consuming L. Gasseri has been shown to reduce waist size even in the absence of other lifestyle changes.

Bacillus Coagulans GBI-30,6086

This strain of Bacillus Coagulans helps to prevent inflammation in the body, aid in recovery after exercise, reduce arthritis pain, and like L. Gasseri reduces IBS symptoms.

SIBO yogurt is long fermented to break down most of the lactose in the dairy used to make it which makes it very easy to tolerate for people who have lots of food sensitivities due to SIBO and leaky gut.

I may receive a small commission for items purchased through affiliate links in this post at no additional cost to you.

What You’ll Need

INGREDIENTS

• 10 tablets Lactobacillus Reuteri DSM 17938 & Lactobacillus Reuteri ATCC PTA 6475 – crushed
• 1 capsule Lactobacillus Gasseri BNR17
• 1 capsule Bacillus Coagulans GBI-30,6086
• 2 tablespoons organic inulin powder
• 1 quart organic half & half – I use Alexandre A2 from Azure Standard when I my cows aren’t in milk

TOOLS

• large mixing bowl
• whisk
• yogurt incubator (I use this folding proofer but you can look up ways to make a DIY yogurt incubator if you don’t have one)

Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Add the crushed BioGaia L. Reuteri tablets and empty the L. Gasseri and B. Coagulans capsules into a mixing bowl.  
2. Add 2 tablespoons inulin powder and 2 tablespoons half & half to make a slurry.
3. Whisk the slurry until smooth and then add the remaining quart of half & half and whisk.
4. Cover lightly with a lid or plastic wrap if and place in a yogurt incubator.  Ferment at 100F for 36 hours.
5. After 36 hours, store in the fridge.  Eat 1/2 cup to a cup a day with your favorite healthy toppings.
6. Use a couple tablespoons of SIBO yogurt to culture your next batch by simply adding a couple tablespoons of SIBO yogurt + 1-2 tablespoons inulin powder to a quart of half & half and fermenting in a yogurt incubator for 36 hours at 100F.  Repeat this process over and over to make new batches.  You can make larger batches if you have a large family.

FAQ

Is SIBO yogurt safe to eat if you are pregnant or breastfeeding?

• Due to increased oxytocin, pregnant women should not consume yogurt made with ONLY L. Reuteri yogurt, but should consume yogurt made with a mix of L. Reuteri and other bacterial strains.  But this SIBO yogurt recipe is SAFE for pregnant and breastfeeding women to consume since it is a mix of 4 strains.

I can’t tolerate dairy, can I still benefit from SIBO yogurt?

• The long fermentation time for this recipe breaks the lactose down to negligible amounts and it can often be tolerated well by people who can’t normally tolerate dairy.  The only way to know it to try.

Can I ferment SIBO yogurt for longer than 36 hours?

• You shouldn’t ferment SIBO yogurt any longer than 36-40 hours because the bacteria start dying off faster than they multiply after that timeframe.

Why can’t I just take the probiotics in the ingredient list instead of making yogurt with them?

• You can do that, but you won’t be getting near the benefits you would with long-fermented yogurt, because the CFUs increase exponentially after 36 hours and have a much more powerful effect on pushing back SIBO in greater numbers.

Tips

• Add some fresh fruit, almond butter, nuts, chocolate chips, a drizzle of honey, etc. to your SIBO yogurt if you want to sweeten it up a bit.
• If you’ll be consuming SIBO yogurt daily, don’t forget to start a new batch with a couple of tablespoons from your current batch a couple days before you run out since every batch takes 36 hours to ferment.

Storage

SIBO yogurt can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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