24 hour yogurt, otherwise known as 'Specific Carbohydrate Diet Yogurt' is a cornerstone for many people on the SCD and GAPS diets.

If you’re interested in healing your gut, it's important you read this post. SCD 24 hour yogurt may be just what your body needs.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is a diet created by Sidney V. Haas (1870–1964) One of his patients was a young girl who was very sick with Ulcerative Colitis. Dr. Haas helped her get into remission through diet and the use of fermented foods.

Elaine Gottschall, the girl’s mother, then dedicated her life to researching the diet and the effects of food on the gut. Since then the diet has become a popular, alternative way to treat inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease and various other gastrointestinal and auto-immune diseases.

I won't go into detail about the diet, (you can read that here) but in a nut shell, the diet aims to reduce inflammation by eliminating hard to digest foods and sugars that bad bacteria in our digestive system thrive on. Encouraging good bacteria to flourish by eating fermented foods is an essential way to achieve this.

Homemade yogurt in particular is a key part of the diet. It is essential that the yogurt is properly prepared so it must be homemade, as commercially available yogurts are simply not fermented long enough. SCD yogurt is an easily tolerated fermented food, and for good reason; it has virtually no fibre, it’s soft on an inflamed gut and full of friendly bacteria. If you’re keen to know more about this yogurt super-food you might like to read "24 hour yogurt vs a probiotic pill" and "Feel the benefits - Make real yogurt at home"

SCD & GAPS YOGURT CAN BE TAILORED TO SUIT EVERYONE

Although all yogurt is made from milk, this doesn’t have to mean cow’s milk. Consider sheep or goat milk. Even coconut milk and nut milk can be fermented! 

HOW IS SCD 24 HOUR YOGURT DIFFERENT?

Milk, before fermentation, is not allowed on the SCD/GAPS diet because it contains lactose (a type of sugar found in milk). The key difference between 24-hour yogurt and regular yogurt is the resulting lactose content. SCD/GAPS yogurt is different because, over the course of a 24 hour fermentation, the bacteria in the yogurt starter culture break down the lactose (disaccharides) in milk, into galactose (a monosaccharide). For more information on this process, read Making Yoghurt - Fermentation time & temperature makes all the difference.

SCD yogurt making is not difficult nor time consuming. Apart from the (set and forget) fermentation time and a few hours chilling, the actual “hands-on” time is minimal; about 10 minutes. It requires planning though because if you forget to get things started, you’re more than a day without yogurt. Click over to 24 hour yoghurt made with cow's milk for step by step instructions. For more information on making yoghurt, read Feel, the benefits - make real yoghurt at home.

EASE INTO FERMENTED FOODS

If you are lactose intolerant, have a serious digestive disorder or are prone food intolerances, it is highly recommended to start very, very slowly with 24 hour yoghurt. Start with a few teaspoons and monitor your sensitivity.

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