Nutritional Yeast Benefits & B12 in a Vegan Diet

Protein Rich Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Made with Nutritional Yeast

Get the Recipe HERE

Maximizing the Health Benefits of  Your Plant-Based Diet

Many of us found our way to a plant-based diet because we were looking to maximize our heath. Nutritional research clearly shows that a plant-based diet is extremely beneficial to good health, but it is important to understand what vitamins may be missing from a vegan diet and adjust accordingly to get the most out of your vegan lifestyle.  

Vitamin B12 - Small but Mighty

Vitamin  B12, an essential nutrient, plays a crucial role in maintaining the proper functioning of our nervous system and the formation of red blood cells. You only need small amounts of B12, but your body can not make it on its own. Therefore, it’s important to get it through the foods you eat, yet most plant-based foods are not good sources of B12. Although B12 deficiencies are rare, they can be serious so it is important to recognize the early signs of B12 deficiency such as extreme fatigue, nausea, and/or sore mouth/tongue. In rare cases vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to serious health issues such as mental confusion, numbness in the hands and feet, and vision problems. So you can see why it is important that vegans know how to get the right amounts of B12!

What is Nutritional Yeast and Why do Vegans Put it on Everything? 

My favorite way to get my B12 is by eating nutritional yeast or “nooch.” Nutritional yeast is a versatile ingredient that has always been popular in the vegan community for its unique cheesy flavor. I love to make parmesan cheese from nutritional yeast - you can find that recipe here.   In addition to its savory taste, this vegan parmesan cheese serves as an excellent source of vitamin B12 and, get this, it is a complete protein as well, containing 8 grams of protein per 2 tablespoons.

I love to sprinkle nutritional yeast on soups and salads but there are so many ways to use it.   Check out my 3 favorite nutritional yeast recipes here. Still, not everyone is as crazy about nooch as I am, and there are some people who should avoid it for health reasons. If you have Crohn's disease or a yeast allergy, you should find another source of B12, but rest assured there are other easy ways to get enough B12 into your diet.  Plant-based milks - such as soy, almond, or oat milk - are often fortified with vitamin B12, and it is also generally added to cereals. 

Check Your Levels

I have been vegan for 20+ years and have never had a B12 deficiency, but I was lucky enough to attend a talk by Dr. Michael Gregor when I first started eating a plant-based diet.  Dr. Gregor taught me that testing your blood for B12 is not always the best way to assess if you are actually getting enough.  So what should you test for? Homocysteine is an amino acid that is broken down by vitamin B12 in your body, and high homocysteine levels can indicate that you do not have enough B12 in your blood.  High homocysteine can lead to heart disease, stroke, and dementia - all the things we try to avoid by eating a vegan diet!  So, next time you go to your annual check up, just ask the doctor to include a test for homocysteine.  Although testing B12 levels will let you know if you are deficient, testing homocysteine levels can avoid getting to a point where you are deficient. 

Sources:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22831-vitamin-b12-deficiency

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21527-homocysteine