Homemade Yogurt: Naturally Lactose and Sugar Free!

Did you know it’s easy to make lactose-free, sugar free yogurt at home? And it only has one ingredient? And it tastes really good?

I make and have taught others to make yogurt at home; everyone enjoys it and continues to make it as a staple food. Eaten with fresh fruit, it is a satisfying substitution for cereal and milk or for a highly sweet dessert.

When you make yogurt, you participate in an ancient food preparation technique called lacto-fermentation.

Lacto-fermentation is a process of guiding lactobacillus bacteria to consume lactose or other sugars present in the milk and convert them quickly and easily to lactic acid. That’s what makes the yogurt sour.

You’ll need what’s called a starter culture of this lactobacillus bacteria for the first batch, and then some people just use a bit of yogurt from the current batch to make the next. In our home, we do use starter culture each time to ensure even results.

Many places sell yogurt starter cultures. I use the Yogourmet Freeze Dried Yogurt Starter. Cultures for Health is also a great place to find starters. They have many different varieties.

You can make yogurt with half and half, or whole milk. A half and half yogurt is going to be thicker and those who I have taught have the most success with it.

Always purchase organic dairy products, because toxins are stored in fat. Also avoid ultra-pasteurized milk or half and half. Read the label carefully!