Welcome back to the blog! I’ve been slowly going over different nutrients and their benefits but I have had a request to write a blog post about nutritional yeast, so I’m going to take a quick pause in nutrients to dive into that topic.

What is Nutritional Yeast?

Before I get into nutritional yeast specifically, I should probably discuss the different types of yeast.

Yeast is really a broad term, much like “bacteria” or “virus”, to describe a range of organisms. They are technically a part of the fungus kingdom, like mushrooms, but they’re all single-celled organisms. There are approximately 1500 species of yeast in the world. Candida albicans is the species most commonly found in infections.

The yeast species we’re looking at today is Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae for short.) This is the yeast you find in bread, as well as the yeast used for brewing beer. Raise your hand if you hopped on the sourdough starter trend in 2020. That sourdough starter was made with S. cerevisiae. If you’ve ever wondered how the magical sourdough starter works, the yeast that causes the bubbles to form is found both in the flour and in the air around you. Crazy to think there’s yeast floating around in the air, right? When you add water, that activates the yeast and other good bacteria and causes the bread to rise.

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated (aka dead) version of S. cerevisiae, meaning it won’t activate when added to water. People often describe the flavor as similar to parmesan cheese and it is popular among vegans as a topping for pasta.

Is Nutritional Yeast healthy for you?

It may come as a surprise, but nutritional yeast is jam packed with nutrients. It contains about 5g of protein in a 2 tbsp serving, which is just a couple grams less than an egg, and the protein is considered “complete.” A complete protein is one which contains all the essential amino acids, aka the ones your body can’t produce itself. For vegans and vegetarians, this can be an easy way to get in some extra protein.

Along with the protein, nutritional yeast also contains a range of B-vitamins. You can find both unfortified and fortified versions of nutritional yeast. The unfortified yeast contains thiamin and riboflavin, along with the trace minerals zinc, selenium, manganese, and molybdenum.

The fortified version of nutritional yeast is rich in vitamins. You do want to read the labels because it can vary depending on the brand, but in general, you’ll find 214mg of potassium, 6.2 mg of thiamin, 6.3 mg of riboflavin, 35 mg of niacin, 7.2g of B6, 212 µg of folate, and 15µg of B12. To give some perspective on how much that is, that translates to 520% Daily Value (DV) of thiamin, 480% DV of riboflavin, 220% DV of niacin, 420% DV of B6, 90% DV of folate, and a whopping 630% DV of B12.

The B12 is especially important for vegans. A vegan diet means eating no animal products, and with the exception of some seaweed and Shiitake mushrooms, there aren’t plant sources of B12 found in nature. B12 is an extremely important nutrient, so if you’re a vegan, you often find yourself struggling to meet that need outside of taking supplements. But nutritional yeast is one way to dramatically increase your B12 intake if you’re a vegan, making it extremely valuable.

There is also a small amount of iron, about 5% DV in unfortified nutritional yeast and up to 20% DV in the fortified version. And if all those nutrients weren’t enough, nutritional yeast is also full of antioxidants, specifically glutathione and selenomethionine.

Glutathione is an interesting antioxidant because it is one that can be produced from other materials in the body. However, why waste resources producing it yourself when you can find it easily in foods? One reason the body produces it is because of how many important functions it has. To name just a few of the many things that glutathione can do, here’s a short list of its functions:

1. Making DNA
2. Supporting your immune system function
3. Killing free radicals in the blood stream
4. Helping enzymes function
5. Helping the body regenerate vitamins C and E
6. Assisting the body in cell death

So, definitely an important nutrient! What about selenomethionine? Selenomethionine is an amino acid that has a bunch of important roles in the body, including being an antioxidant. It is also important for DNA production, and the thing that makes it important is the selenium found inside the molecule. Selenium is a nutrient you don’t need in large amounts but being without it can wreak havoc on the body. Some things that Selenium does includes:

1. Improved thyroid function
2. Support for your immune system
3. Healthy cholesterol management
4. Overall heart health support

In short, another important nutrient!

Nutritional yeast doesn’t contain a large amount of carbohydrates, but the ones it does contain can be helpful in boosting your immune system. The 2 main types of carbohydrates found in nutritional yeast are alpha mannan and beta glucan. Mannan carbohydrates help give a boost to the immune system and beta glucan helps to absorb cholesterol in the body, lowering your overall cholesterol. Also, animal studies have indicated that both of these carbohydrates are anti-fungal and anti-antibacterial, which helps lower your risk of infections.

So, to answer the question: Is nutritional yeast healthy for you? I would say the answer is yes. No one food is a miracle food that will solve all your health problems, but adding some nutritional yeast into your diet is an excellent way to get a variety of nutrients and proteins that help promote good health.

Some Cautions

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the things you want to be careful with. Because the fortified varieties of nutritional yeast do contain high doses of the vitamins, you want to be careful not to overuse nutritional yeast, or to find an unfortified version, in order to avoid toxicity in some nutrients. Several tablespoons per day is generally safe, but more than that and you do run the risk of vitamin toxicity.

Also, anyone with the MTFHR gene mutation, which makes it difficult to metabolize folic acid, would also want to avoid nutritional yeast. And it should go without saying, but anyone with a yeast allergy would want to steer clear.

How do I use nutritional yeast?

Now that I got the warnings out of the way, how can you add nutritional yeast into your diet? Nutritional yeast is a fairly versatile food that can be used in a variety of ways. Some of these include sprinkling it on top of pasta in place of parmesan cheese or sprinkling it in soups and stews to add an umami flavor, as well as providing a thickening agent.

This is where I leave you, but I hope you learned some good information about nutritional yeast. Let me know in the comments if there are any other topics you’d be interested in hearing about and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button.

Before I go, here’s a recipe to give you a start on your nutritional yeast journey. This vegetable bouillon can be used in place of other vegetable bouillon and gives your vegetable soups some extra protein on top of being delicious.

Easy Vegetable Bouillon Powder

(Found on eatplant-based.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning*
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

*It’s worth noting that Poultry seasoning, despite what its name would suggest, is completely vegan.

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a jar and shake or to a bowl and whisk thoroughly until blended well.
2. To use, for flavoring, combine one heaping tablespoonful with one cup hot water: 1 Tablespoon mix + 1 cup hot water.