I want to try making coconut milk yogurt...

[Miri1]

My acupuncturist has put me on a new eating plan to deal with my poor digestion. part of the plan is to remove all dairy and soy from my diet. Ouch! I'm missing all of my favorites, but I REALLY miss my yogurt. I saw premade coconut milk yogurt in the store but it's loaded with sugar and that's going to defeat the purpose of the diet. I'm betting that I can make my own, but I'm not sure what culture to use (using yogurt would, again, defeat the purpose of the diet. Any suggestions out there? Thanks!

[goodhealthgourmet]

Miri, i know i'm late to the party, but have you seen these?
http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/2009/04/25/homemade-coconut-milk-yogurt/
http://angelaskitchen.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/coconut-yogurt/
http://cindalouskitchenblues.blogspot.com/2008/04/coconut-milk-yogurt-at-last-dairy-free.html
http://www.localforage.com/local_forage/2008/10/recipe-coconut.html
http://gnowfglins.com/2009/06/05/homemade-coconut-milk-yogurt/
http://stephensrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/01/homemade-coconut-yogurt.html

and some experiences discussed here:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/coconut-milk-or-almond-milk-yogurt-recipes

for the starter:
http://www.giprohealth.com/giprostart...

[HillJ]

Elana's Pantry has become a wonderful resource blog for so many special diet questions!
And, the suggestions to seek the assistance of a pro. nutritional person is a very good one!

[Mawrter]

I wonder what would happen if you made the coconut milk yogurt, and then strained the runny result, just as your would strain regular cow milk yogurt to get a thicker, creamier Greek-style yogurt? I haven't tried this myself, but I think it would be worth a shot.

[Kajikit]

You can make a coconut milk pudding but it won't be yoghurt. There's nothing for the yoghurt culture to feed on, and it won't set up if you try making it.

I'm surprised that you have been instructed to avoid yoghurt as well as other dairy - the probiotics are really really good for the digestion, and many people are fine with yoghurt and kefir even if they can't have any other dairy.

[sunshine842]

You might want to talk to a dietician or MD -- lots of times, people who have trouble with other dairy have no problems at all with yogurt.

The cultures in yogurt are generally held to be very important in establishing and maintaining healthy populations of intestinal flora and fauna...which in turn are held to be extremely important to good digestion.

A second opinion can't hurt.

[alkapal]

i agree with sunshine re yogurt's value and re the need for a second opinion from someone qualified. for the record, is the acupuncturist also a dietician/nutritionist?

plus...coconut milk is high in fat. http://www.7habitsofweightloss.com/co...

[sunshine842]

I think your difficulty is going to stem from the fact that coconut milk doesn't have the proteins that coagulate to make the yogurt thicken, so you'll need something else to make it happen.

[alkapal]

i agree -- and i'll bet the commercial product uses vegetable gums. you could use gelatin.
of course, it won't be yogurt, but ....it may get you through..... http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/a... the problem with any of these is the high amount of sugar. but you can cut that back.

[scubadoo97]

gelatin or agar might work

[Miri1]

Looks like I'm going to be doing some experimenting...perhaps pectin might do the job as well?

[bbq babe]

Or you could just skip thickening the mixture and change to drinking your yogurt. I can't imagine that thickening agents like pectin are going to help digestion.