It’s a cheesy-tasting yellow powder that’s become a staple with healthy eating gurus and social media chefs alike.
Nutritional yeast – a deactivated form of the yeast used to make bread – has attracted quite the fan club online, with Instagram foodies using it in just about every savoury dish, whether sprinkled on salads, poured into marinades or added to pasta sauces.
What was once confined to health food shops – and used mostly by vegetarians and vegans to add dairy-free cheese-like flavour to meals – is now available at most supermarkets.
Jamie Oliver uses it to bulk up his vegan mac and cheese recipe, while TikTok sensation Baked By Melissa (New-York based baker and influencer) regularly tells her 2.8 million followers of its wide-ranging benefits.
With its umami flavour, diet gurus on Instagram say the powder is a simple – and healthful – way to make meat-free meals extra tasty – pointing to its low calorie count, plethora of energy-boosting key vitamins, and hit of protein.
But can adding a spoonful of nooch (as it’s lovingly called by fans) to your meals really make a difference to the nutritional quality of your daily diet?
It certainly won’t do much harm. A tablespoon contains only 35 calories and virtually no fat, sugar or salt.
Here, experts dig in to the supposed benefits and reveal whether it’s worth forking out a fiver for a small tub.
Nutritional yeast contains just 35 calories per serving and virtually no sugar, salt or fat, but it’s packed with energy-boosting B vitamins and also delivers a punch of protein for fullness
What is nutritional yeast?
The ingredient-du-jour is a seasoning of sorts, available in the form of powder, flakes and even capsules for those who want the health benefits without the taste.
It is made by fermenting brewer’s yeast – saccharomyces cerevisiae – in a sterile tank with oxygen and molasses, which the organism feeds on.
Once fermented and harvested, the protein-heavy yeast is heated and dried to kill the living cells and nutrients like B vitamins are added.
The heat not only eradicates the leavening effect but also supplies the cheesy, creamy flavour.
The amino acid glutamate, which is also found in meat and some mushrooms, also contributes to the umami taste.
The product was first sold in the 1950s, following a discovery by chemists that leftover brewer’s yeast had high nutritional value.
Is nutritional yeast healthy?
Yes, but people with certain conditions should limit their dose.
According to dietician Sophie Medlin, the product gets most of its nutritional credentials from the large dose of Vitamin B12 that comes with every serving.
A tablespoon contains 7.1 micrograms of the nutrient – nearly five times more than the amount the NHS recommends we consume per day.
Nutritional yeast, also known as ‘nooch’ comes with myriad health benefits especially for those following a vegan diet
Also found in meat, eggs and fish, the vitamin is essential for helping the body extract energy from food. A deficiency can cause extreme tiredness.
Some studies suggest that up to 52 per cent of those following a vegan diet are deficient in B12, as plant sources contain very small amounts of it.
‘For this reason nutritional yeast is a very good thing to include on a vegan diet,’ says Ms Medlin.
However it’s not just vegans who could benefit from upping their Vitamin B12 intake; studies show that around six per cent of people under 60 in the UK, and 20 per cent of those over 60, are lacking in the nutrient.
Also worth noting, Medlin says, is the protein boost that comes from just a tablespoon of the powder – about the same as you’d find in a large egg white.
This might help a lunchtime salad keep you full until dinner time, and aid muscle growth if you’re exercising.
You’ll also get a couple of grams of fibre, Medlin adds. While this adds up to less than one per cent of your daily recommended intake, if you’re eating it several times a day, it’s a significant bowel-friendly boost.
Many nutritional yeast products also have added minerals such as iron, chromium, zinc, potassium as well as other B vitamins like folate. This can support heart and gut health, as well as immunity.
Should anyone avoid it?
Those who suffer irritable bowel syndrome may want to use nutritional yeast sparingly, Medlin says, as it is known to trigger bloating and gas.
This is likely caused by the non-digestible fibres in the yeast, which ferment in the gut, releasing excess gases.
‘The B vitamin levels in some products are very high,’ she adds. ‘Anyone also taking B supplements should be wary and limit their use.’
An excess of B vitamins can cause stomach upsets, skin rashes and dramatic changes in blood pressure.
‘It’s not suitable for some migraine sufferers as it contains tyramine which is a trigger for some people,’ adds Medlin.
As for ideas of how to use it, she suggests using it in place of parmesan in homemade pesto and pasta sauces to reduce the fat content.
‘It’s also lovely sprinkled over roasted root vegetables for an extra flavour dimension,’ she adds.
