Many people wonder what the benefits are of making your own yogurt is compared to buying it from the store yourself. We’ve decided to include all of the benefits of homemade yogurt and why you should make it yourself here so if people think you are crazy for making it yourself you are equipped with a great answer to justify it!

Why Make Your Own Yogurt? There are plenty of reasons why you might want to make your own yogurt instead of buying it at the store.

Less Expensive: Why pay more per a single cup when you can often make it for less on your own? It is much more affordable to purchase milk by the gallon than it is to buy yogurt by the gallon, and if you enjoy eating yogurt quite a bit then this can add up to substantial savings over time! This is especially true if you enjoy Greek Yogurt which costs over $5 for just a small container of it.

Control the Ingredients: When you make it yourself, you can be assured that the ingredients you are using are the best in quality. If you’re concerned about additives or sugar and sweeteners, you can make sure that nothing goes into it unless you want it to. For those who are concerned about lactose intolerance, you can also easily make your own soy yogurt to enjoy. Having control of the ingredients, using organic products, and being able to control quality are all huge advantages to making your own homemade yogurt that is priceless.

Better for the Environment: Those little plastic containers are not good for the environment at all! When you buy a yogurt maker you can greatly reduce the number of plastic containers being produced and the amount that end up in landfills.

Making yogurt is a lot of fun and there are many different ways to make homemade yogurt. Basically to make it, all you need to do is to be able to regulate the temperature so the bacterias will culture. Some people prefer to use their crock pot or a heating pad or even a thermos. One of the easiest things to use however is a yogurt maker. A yogurt maker is a machine that simplifies the science and eliminates the concern of keeping the bacteria at a constant temperature.

Here are a few of our favorite yogurt makers available:

Ready to Get Started?

It’s easy to learn how to make yogurt. We’ve got it explained step by step with our How to Make Yogurt Guide.

We hope you enjoy our website and find everything you need in order to get started in cooking up a fun food to eat that’s good for you as well. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions about our site we would love to hear from you! Contact Us.

Probiotic yogurt is something you’ve probably been hearing more and more about through the news and health channels. You may ever have heard about it from your doctor or your pharmacist.

Yogurt is made by combining live active bacteria cultures with milk. It is these live bacteria cultures that make yogurt have so many of it’s health benefits. Not all yogurt has these live cultures in them, but the ones who do are the type that will give you benefit from eating it.

What Are Probiotics?

When we think of bacteria, we often think of it being bad, such as in the case of most bacterial infections. “Yuck! Germs!” You might think. But there are actually very good bacteria that can help us resist infections from these bad bacteria as well as yeast. They can work to breakdown other foods in our stomach better which can help with aiding in digestion.

Our bodies naturally contain good bacteria. The good bacteria helps ward off the bad bacteria and it also helps predominately with digestion, as it helps break down food so it can be processed and eliminated.

Probiotics are these good bacteria that are often found in dietary supplements and foods such as yogurt. You can get them often in capsule form or you can also get them in other methods such as eating probiotic foods.

Because yogurt is a cultured, or fermented, milk product, it is made by adding live bacteria to the milk. Common ones you will see include Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. These are the “good guys” and when you buy yogurt or yogurt starters in the store you’ll want to make sure that it contains live and active cultures of these. Not all yogurts have live cultures, as some of them are heated to the point where the bacteria cannot withstand the heat.

It is not a new process to add microorganisms to a food and have a result from it. For example, most beers are made by the fermentation of yeast, another live substance.

Why Do You Need Probiotics?

There are many different people who in different circumstances can benefit from eating probiotics. For example, someone who has had a bacterial infection that required antibiotics would benefit from eating pro-biotic foods. Antibacterial ointments and antibiotic medicines work in killing not only the bad type that cause infection, but also the good ones. If you are taking antibiotic medication for any extended period of time, your pharmacist or doctor may advise you to eat yogurt in order to help restore the natural balance in your body.

Others may benefit from taking it if they have common digestive problems, as an imbalance of good bacteria can cause quite a lot of problems. There are many products in the stores marketed specifically for this.

What Kind of Yogurt Should I Eat?
There are a lot of yogurt companies that market themselves specifically as being “ProBiotic”. These types of yogurt claim to have specially researched and trademarked bacteria strains. However, it is unknown if these actually do have more health benefits than the other types or not, since no conclusive studies have been performed that I am aware of to date.

If you are planning on buying yogurt from the store, you’re going to want to read the labels carefully. Most companies and manufacturers now put exactly what types of cultures they use to make their product, though some might still not put it on the label as to the exact strains. If you do not see the words “contains live and active cultures” on the container or label, it’s a good chance that it doesn’t have any benefits to eating it at all. This is because certain manufacturers will heat the product up to extreme temperatures in order to pasteurize it – unfortunately this also kills the cultures found in the food.

This is one more great reason why you should make your own yogurt. When you are making it you have complete control of the ingredients you use, as well as what strains you choose to make it with. You can start with some commercially available prepared yogurt to start off as a base, or you can use a starter kit instead. Making it yourself can help you get the exact type you want to use.

It is truly fascinating to learn about how probiotics may have substantial medical impact as they continue to develop and research its uses and effects. Knowing that you can have these benefits from a naturally occurring food you eat is promising for those who continue to seek more natural remedies and alternative medical treatments.