I’ve got a gazillion topics to blog about but since I mentioned nutritional yeast in the recipe post last week, I figured I’d start here.
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Last week we posted our first recipe. It’s easy and yummy —so please join us so you can cook with us too!
One of the ingredients from last week’s recipe is nutritional yeast. I’ve briefly mentioned nutritional yeast a few times, but it deserves its own post.
According to The Spruce Eats, nutritional yeast is:
“An inactivated form of yeast commonly used to leaven bread, nutritional yeast looks like red pepper flakes, only yellow, or powdered Parmesan cheese, with which it shares a deceptively similar flavor, despite being non-dairy.”
Nutritional yeast is found in many recipes as it offers a cheesy flavor. It is so popular in the plant-based world that it even has its own nickname! “Nooch.” The first couple of brands I tried I didn’t like. Then I learned that some brands add B12. I prefer it without. The brand I like is Foods Alive and I add it when I make plant-based cheeses, pestos, scrambles and more! There are other highly regarded nutritional Yeast brands too.
As you may know, vitamin B12 is the only vitamin that vegans and vegetarians must take as a supplement. The reason animals have it in their system is that they graze on and eat the dirt (including feces) that contains B12. A few plants do contain B12, but for the most part, it must be supplemented.
Some people, like Dr. Michael Greger, the author of How Not to Die and also, How Not to Diet, eat B12 fortified Nutritional Yeast as their B12 source.
He has a very comprehensive website called Nutrition Facts.
You can pretty much learn everything you need to know about the health benefits of a plant-based diet from Dr. Greger.
He includes a couple of videos about nutritional yeast and also reminds us that if you have Crohn’s disease, that nutritional yeast is not for you.
Personally, I use the nutritional yeast in recipes for its taste and then supplement with vitamin B12 separately. I always have a spare bag on hand because I seem to use it a lot.
Have you tried nutritional yeast? I’d love to know your thoughts.