Yogurt

Yogurt is another ancient ferment from the old world, perhaps the earliest anecdotes date from 5000BC in Mesopotamia. There are long yogurt traditions in Egypt, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Greece, India, Nepal, and the list goes on, with goat, cow, yak and sheep’s milk ferments. Thought to have been created by natural fermentation of fresh milk inside an animal leather pouch, people discovered that not only did the transformation preserve the milk, but also conferred health benefits to the consumers. Genghis Khan attributed the power and prowess of his soldiers to fermented milk foods, and much research has been done on the lactobacillus species found in fermented dairy, yogurt particularly.

Yogurt is a semi-liquid culture, or at least one that does not have a structure associated with it, like kombucha or kefir. The (mostly) bacteria and (a few) yeasts that create yogurt from milk are suspended in the liquid culture and may be transferred simply by adding a spoonful of live cultured yogurt to the next batch of milk. How does yogurt enhance our gut culture and health? Firstly, enough organisms must be ingested to survive the acid pit of the stomach. There needs to be a certain number of organisms in a dosage to qualify as a probiotic (1 - 2.5 billion cells, for example). One way of getting probiotics is through a small stomach-acid-proof capsule that then dissolves in the intestine. Eating fermented foods is another way, since a macro-dose of organisms is delivered with the meal. Once enough microorganisms make it through to the intestine, they join the current population of the gut microbes, and add their effects to the mix.

In terms of kefir vs yogurt, it’s really what ever floats your boat. Kefir is easier to culture (ferments at room temperature), and has a thinner consistency. Yogurt is more mainstream, and has a less diverse microbial fingerprint. They can be substituted easily for each other. Why choose? Eat or drink both. They are both delicious, healthy and can be made at home.

There are many foods around the world that embrace unsweetened yogurt in their recipes, including chicken korma, a delicious Indian dish. If you want to prepare something a little less ambitious, try Greek tzatziki (a delicious sauce), refreshing Turkish ayran (a yogurt drink), or Lebanese labneh (a thick cheese-like yogurt). Because of it’s acidity, yogurt blends well in sauces without curdling and is used frequently in Indian cuisine. remember, as soon as you cook live foods, you heat-sterilize the microbes. You’ll get great flavor, but not the probiotic components.

Here’s the recipe I use.

There are non-dairy versions of yogurt (coconut, almond, cashew milk etc.) Here’s one and here’s another. They both use probiotic capsules as the culture. (disclaimer, I have not tried a non-dairy yogurt version yet).

A quick aside on microbes. For the purposes of these workshops, I am talking about bacteria, yeasts, and viruses. Food and beverage cultures make use of bacteria and yeasts found in the environment. Viruses are also found in the environment but are not involved in food, only disease.

So let’s quickly talk about disease. Some bacteria, yeasts and viruses cause disease in humans - the umbrella term for these are ‘pathogens’. The three types of microorganisms (B, Y, V) are as dissimilar as fish, giraffes, and trees in terms of their size, function and makeup - here’s really cool short video that hammer the size differences home! Another thing to understand is that they respond to different abatement processes. What kills a virus (for example an antiviral like acyclovir) will not kill a bacteria (for example an antibiotic like penicillin), will not kill a yeast (for example an anti-fungal agent such as fluconazole or diflucan) because the three species have such different reproduction processes. A virus is basically a tiny little nucleic acid photocopier wrapped up in a protein syringe delivery system. Antivirals target the mechanism of the copier. A bacteria is a cell without a nucleus, but with a cell coat. Antibiotics target the cell coat. Yeasts are closest in nature to us because they are also made up of cells with nuclei. They are therefore harder to pinpoint and kill, because what targets them may also interfere with human host cells. Antifungals are developed to target fungus-specific mechanisms to kill yeasts without disturbing the host human.