Homemade SCD GAPS Diet Yogurt Recipe (2024)

June 15, 2015 by Jeanette 12 Comments

This Homemade SCD GAPS Diet Yogurt is fermented for 24 hours, making it virtually lactose free and easier to digest. Enjoy with fresh fruit and honey for breakfast for an afternoon snack.

Have you heard of the SCD or GAPS Diet? SCDstands for Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I first came across this diet when my youngest son was suffering from gastrointestinal issues four years ago. Our nutritionist suggested we give the SCD a try. At the time, the diet seemed far too restrictive for my son, so instead of trying it, I went down the road of an elimination diet where I removed over twenty foods that he tested allergic or intolerant to. Fortunately, the elimination diet did the trick; otherwise, we were going to try the GAPS or Specific Carbohydrate Diet next.

The SCD is often recommended for people with intestinal health issues and other illnessessuch as Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Celiac Disease, Autism, and Cystic Fibrosis. The GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) is often suggested for people with autism, ADHD/ADD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, schizophrenia, depression, eating disorders, manic depression or bipolar disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Although there are some differences in the foods you can eat on each diet, they are both gut-healing diets.

Recently, the GAPS Diet and SCD have crossed my radar screen again. We have dairy intolerances of some sort in our family. I don’t know whether it’s the lactose or casein in dairy products that’s bothersome; a few family members think it’s the lactose, and the other half think it’s the casein. So, when I finally decided to look into the SCD in more depth, SCD or GAPS Diet yogurt popped up as one of the first foods to introduce into the diet. SCD or GAPS Diet yogurt is not the same as store-bought yogurt, nor is it the same as regular homemade yogurt. SCD or GAPS Diet yogurt is fermented yogurt that is virtually lactose-free and easier to digest. The yogurt is allowed to ferment for 24 hours, at which point, the lactose is “eaten up.”

The trick is to maintain the temperature of the yogurt at a steady 105-115 degrees fahrenheit for at least 24 hours. There are a few ways to achieve this. You can buy a yogurt maker. You can use your oven pilot light. You can sous vide it. Or you can use a food dehydrator like I did. The food dehydrator can be set at 105 degrees and left overnight, as can the sous vide circulator.

I used organic grass-fed whole milk and plain yogurt containing the cultures Lactobacillus bulgaricus, L. acidophilus and S. thermophilus (The SCD says to avoid yogurts with bifidus). You can also use a yogurt starter containing the recommended cultures.

This yogurt can be served with fruit and honey for breakfast, or added to smoothies and dips. It would also make a wonderful base for ice cream.

Note: The GAPS Diet and SCD are not the same diet; there are some differences, but this yogurt works for both diets.

Sources:
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD
Breaking The Vicious Cycle, Elaine Gottschall