Nutritional Yeast: The Delicious, Nutritious, and Poorly Marketed Superfood
Nutritional yeast is an incredible high protein, natural, vegan, health food, that suffers from being called ‘Nutritional Yeast’. It is sometimes referred to as “hippie dust”, “nooch” or “yeshi”, however none of these terms have really caught on, so the product is stuck with the artificial and vaguely gross sound name ‘nutritional yeast’.
Although nutritional yeast was invented in the early 20th century, it is based on very safe yeast strains similar to those that have been used to leaven bread, and ferment alcohol for thousands of years.
It is a great option as a seasoning, even if like me you are not a vegan. The exact nutritional content varies from manufacturer to manufacturer however generally speaking the protein content makes up 50% of the calories in the yeast. It is an excellent low-sodium alternative to salt, with a very satisfying umami flavour due to naturally occurring glutamic acid.
Manufacturers often fortify the yeast with vitamin B12, however it is not a natural source of this vitamin. Generally I am pro-supplementation, and think synthetic B12 is helpful, and particularly if you are on a vegan diet where it can be difficult to obtain naturally. While it is true that in some cases the synthetic vitamins (for eg. vitamin E) can be poorly absorbed relative to their natural counterpart. Worrying about these issues is unwarranted, and should be relatively low on your list of priorities if you are following the Pareto diet principles outlined on this blog.
