The daily dose of nutritional supplemental products, such as multivitamin/mineral, dietary supplements, is mandatory for our overall well-being. One such supplemental food product is nutritional yeast. Widely used ingredients in vegan cooking, nutritional yeast is high in vitamins, protein, minerals, and antioxidants and has an extensive array of potential health benefits. From preventing vitamin B deficiency to keeping the cholesterol level under control or boosting your immunity power – nutritional yeast is a key to enhance your wellness level.
What Is Nutritional Yeast?
You must have heard of yeast which is needed to bake bread or brew alcoholic products like beer. Unlike most other species of yeasts, nutritional yeast AKA Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is grown specifically to make food products out of it. The yeast goes through a lot of manufacturing processes to become ready to use eventually.
The fortified nutritional yeast is full of healthy nutrients like vitamins and available as granules, flakes, or powders. Because of its natural low-calorie, gluten-free characteristics, and high nutritional values, this type of yeast goes with nearly all types of diets, making it a complete protein solution.
It Is Full Of Vitamin B
Rich in many B vitamins fortified nutritional yeast is a powerful dose of vitamin B12 for those who follow the vegan diet. People who are strict vegans, can’t get the essential source of vitamin B12 which is found naturally in animal-based products only. This form of the vitamin is important to increase the count of red blood cells in your body and the rates of energy metabolism to have a healthy nervous system.
When it comes to finding an effective way to consume vitamin B, none can match the nutritional yeast. A tablespoon of nutritional yeast is enough for an adult to prevent his daily vitamin B12 deficiency. Not just vitamins, but it contains the essential amino acids and proteins that one gets from animals. These are the absolutely necessary nutrients to develop your body as you age with time. One who doesn’t consume animal-based food products can rely on nutritional yeast for essential proteins.
Replete With Powerful Antioxidants
Powerful antioxidants such as selenomethionine and glutathione protect your body from cell damages which happens every day due to free radicals. There are a lot of toxins out there in our environment being absorbed in our bodies without our knowledge. Heavy metals in antioxidants help our body eliminate such harmful toxins to clean up the body from within.
Antioxidants not only prevent the cell damage by binding to free radicals but disarm them as well. Fruits and green vegetables are the general sources of antioxidants available in high amounts. But in case if you skip those antioxidant-rich foods, try taking nutritional yeast instead, to develop a healthy body.
It May Boost Immunity
Although it’s not fully tried and tested in humans, nutritional yeast consists of two major carbohydrates called alpha-mannan and beta-glucan which could be the potential agents to fight against harmful bacteria in the future. Alpha-mannan and beta-glucan, are already tried in animals and it’s evident that these two carbohydrates can help reduce the infections of dangerous infections in animals.
It might not fully diminish the hazardous virus and bacteria but can successfully keep them from doing further damage. The research on animals sure is promising but to find the answer whether it works on humans or not we need to wait for the final verdict from the scientists. If it does then nutritional yeast could be a game-changer. Beta-glucan also helps lower cholesterol levels, as found in a study.
How To Use Nutritional Yeast?
As mentioned earlier, nutritional yeast is available in many forms such as granules, powder, flakes. The thick, cheesy flavor of the product adds a unique taste to the food you’re consuming with. You can eat the yeast to thicken your soups or sprinkle it over pasta for an added flavor. Usually, 1 or 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast are enough for an adult human for their daily dose of adequate nutritional values. Store it in a dry, cool place to keep it away from moisture.
Rich in multivitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, nutritional yeast can bring a lot of health benefits to your daily life. The cholesterol-free, gluten-free formula of it is what makes it a safe food product to savor. We often miss out a lot of essential healthy nutrients while eating our meals, simply because of our unhealthy food habits. Nutritional yeast can be an effective way to recover the deficiency with no harmful elements in it.