Thursday, February 18, 2010

Nutritional Yeast, Fish, and Prenatal Vitamins

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on my last post, regarding The Raw Food Diet. It seems as though most of you agreed with me that while the Raw Food Diet can be a healthy way of living, it's a little too extreme and unrealistic for most people (including even the most nutrition savvy individuals!).

Today has been a really bad day, as I woke up to find my car had been hit in the parking lot, with no note (of course). Right as Nick and I are trying to purchase our first home, this has to happen. Oh well, life isn't fare.

I received a question yesterday that I would like to answer.

Q: I was wondering what you think of woman who are not pregnant and not planning on becoming pregnant, taking prenatal vitamins or a prenatal vitamin.

A: I think some women do this as a way to grow their hair faster, and longer nails, right? I think I have heard of women doing this before. In reality it's not smart because prenatal vitamins will be very high in two nutrients that you do not want to get too much of; iron and folate. Some studies have linked high doses of folate (1000 mcg from supplements and food combined) with cancer. Many prenatal vitamins will provide close to that amount (for the purpose of helping the baby!). The iron in these supplements is also high (maybe up to 25 mg). This amount of iron is not healthy or necessary for a women who is not pregnant. It can cause constipation, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The upper limit (UL) for iron is 45 mg. By taking a prenatal vitamin with 25 mg of iron, you are at risk of reaching that amount, especially if you eat fortified cereals!

The Low Down on Fish
If you are interested in learning about fish, and which seafood has the highest amount of EPA and DHA, check out my blog post for out work website, here.

Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional yeast was introduced to me by several of you. I had never thought to use it, as my diet is full of plenty of vitamins, minerals, and protein, but I saw it at Whole Foods the other day and wanted to give it a try, just for fun. It's deactivated yeast and is produced by culturing the yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses, then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging the yeast (Source: Wikepedia). It's flavor is said to be, "nutty, cheesy, and creamy" and it's nutritional profile is incredible; B12, riboflavin, folate, thiamin, complete protein, fiber, and potassium.

It tasted great on top of some spaghetti squash with spaghetti sauce and ground turkey....


It added some flavor to my boring egg whites.....

And I also added it to some popcorn, kale chips, and last night's baked potato!

Question: If you use nutritional yeast, how do you use it?

Coming Up
Tomorrow I will post a "Nutrition Tidbit" about food and supplement labeling laws. I will also post about a new product I recently tried; Yoplait Greek yogurt!

Have a great night everyone, and thanks for reading.

51 comments :

  1. WOW! Everyone is coming out with Greek Yogurt! Are the more well known companies (Dannon and Yoplait) less expensive?? I have a pretty easy looking recipe for crockpot yogurt that you can then strain to make Greek yogurt! I'm hoping to do it this weekend!!

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  2. Interesting about the prenatal vitamins - I had no idea their levels of folate and iron were that high.

    I'm anxious to hear how you liked Yoplait greek yogurt - seems everyone is on the greek yogurt bandwagon.

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  3. When I saw that you were going to talk about prenatal vitamins I thought you might have some big news to share. LOL! That is good information to have about the excess of the folate and iron. I had never heard about the connection between folate and cancer.

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  4. Hey, I just came across your blog and it looks full of so much great info! I love learning about nutrition - I'm looking forward to reading your posts. I just got some nutritional yeast the other day after reading about it on a lot of peoples' blogs. I tried it on some eggs and in some leftover soup to spice is up a bit. It's a very simple and tasty way to liven up a dish.

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  5. I love nutritional yeast on soups and Italian anything...pasta, spaghetti, spaghetti squash...mmmm!

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  6. I'm glad you addressed the prenatal vitamins. I had a friend actually ask me if she should take them to make her hair grow... I just told her to ask her doctor!

    I saw the nutritional yeast the other day at the store... I've seen it on many blogs but have no clue what to do with it so I passed... I'll have to try some next time :)

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  7. Hmm now I'm curious about nutritional yeast! I too have seen it on blogs. The thing is though I don't like cheese (except some salty cheeses like parmesan or cotija, in small doses) so something with a "cheesy" flavor kinda turns me off. I picture it tasting like Cheeto seasoning for some reason (yuck). I might just have to try it on some eggs or something though...

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  8. I've only had it a few days and it's been a star in my eggs, salads, and kale chips. I'm hooked and so glad to hear it's great for me too!

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  9. daaaaamn now i wish i bought nutritional yeast on my iherb order. blargh!

    damn that car hitter. they'll get their karma soon enough

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  10. I love to mix pumpkin and peanut butter with nutritional yeast to make a quick vegan cheddar flavor. Really, it's good wherever you would normally put a little parm.

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  11. I've never had nutritional yeast before, it sounds like it would taste good though!

    I took prenatal vitamins when I was trying to get pregnant, throughout my pregnancy, and while breast feeding. After I finished the bottle I switched to regular multivitamins.

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  12. I put nutritional yeast on popcorn!!! So good and cheesy!

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  13. That's very intresting about prenatal vitamins. I heard from someone that prenatal vitamins don't actually help you with hair and nail growth if you are not pregnant because of some hormone in the body that is not there if you are not pregnant.. is that true?

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  14. I love nutritional yeast on pasta, steamed veggies, savory oats, and on popcorn :)

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  15. I love nutritional yeast! We use it on stovetop popcorn but I just made a cheezy sauce with it the other day that blew me away. The recipe is super simple (within my blog post): http://www.eatwellwithjanelblog.com/2010/02/got-my-cooking-mo-jo-back-cheesy-barley.html

    I'm already dreaming of the mac n cheeze I want to make next with this sauce!

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  16. Love nutritional yeast! I actually don't use it enough. I'd really like to get a shaker to put it in so I remember to top more of my foods with it. My favorite thing to use it on is popcorn. I also like it on top of spaghetti. I've never tried it on eggs...could be a good suggestion!

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  17. Sorry to hear about your car! What a bummer.

    I am really interested in your post about prenatal vitamins because I have been taking them for awhile with permission from my doctor even though I don't have plans to get preggo anytime soon. My interest was sparked during on of my courses on special education which discussed many birth defects that can occur do to a lack of folic acid etc during fertilization/gestation. I figured since there is always a possibility of getting pregnant I wanted to make sure my body was getting the right nutrients and the doctor said it was fine. I would like to do some more research on it now that you have given me some different info. Definitely don't want to do my body harm by taking them.
    Thanks!

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  18. Great info as always! I take a regular multi, but also take an extra Vit B supplement that my doc said would be wise. After learning that too much folic acid can decrease absorption of B12 and seeing this about too much leading to cancer, I think I'll look for a B12 specific supplement the next time. I love all that I can learn from you each day :)

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  19. it's yummy isn't it!
    I just sprinkle it on food or mix it with blended butternut squash. I think it would be really cool to add it to homemade mayonnaise and then you could use it like cheese.. mmm

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  20. Hey there. Great post. Glad to be back and able to comment! Life just gets too hectic sometimes. I am not sure if I commented on the raw foods post or not, but I meant to if I didn't. Oh well. My brain is not back to fully functioning yet.

    I do not think we have the nutritional yeast around here, but my sis uses it. She puts it everywhere, but I ate it when she srpinkled it on her kale chips.

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  21. good to know that prenatal isn't suitable for all women. So, do you recommend to take it once pregnant or before that?
    I love nutritional yeast.... perhaps even more than parmesan! I use it as substitute to cheese, it's tasty and doesn't upset my belly. :)

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  22. I'm so sorry about your car! What an awful way to start the day!

    I have heard so much about nutritional yeast and have wanted to try it. I'll keep my eyes out for it at Whole Foods next time. Where is it in the store?

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  23. I use it in place of parm. cheese. I've also used it when making raw pb cups to give the pb the right texture.

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  24. i've actually never heard of this yeast before your post - interesting!

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  25. Sorry about your car. I hope the damage is not too bad...

    I have never tried nutritional yeast, but it's on my "try" list... :)

    Happy Friday!

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  26. I'm so sorry about your car! I had my mirror ripped off completely in college. I actually think insurance covered some of it even though I had no idea who did it...so look into that.

    Wow interesting about nutritional yeast. I never knew all the stuff you can do with it!

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  27. I've never tried Nutritional Yeast, but I'd love to give it a shot. I sprinkle Parm cheese on most of my pasta. I'd rather use something with nutritional value.

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  28. I've never tried nutritional yeast. I've heard it is good sprinkled on crispy kale! I'll have to try it. Great info on the prenatal vitamins, more is not necessarily better. Just love your blog!! and thanks so much for the book, I can't wait to read it. Hope your car is ok :(

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  29. I always see nutritional yeast on blogs and never understood what it was! Thanks for clearing it up. I want to get some now since my eggs are pretty boring too haha.

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  30. I've been wanting to try nutritional yeast...I'll have to pick some up! Thanks for the ideas!

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  31. I've never tried nutritional yeast...but I've probably had it unconsciously sometime in my life. I'd just rather have real cheese, but I understand some ppl have issues with cheese. Is is more expensive than real cheese?

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  32. Gah! Sorry about your car :(

    THANK YOU for addressing the prenatal vitamin question. One of my friends took prenatal vitamins when she wasn't pregnant and ended up very sick. She was in the hospital for a day and out of work for a week. She screwed up her hormonal imbalance in her body and it was very scary. People will pop anything under the guise of it being a vitamin without researching the effects it will have on their bodies. Thank you for addressing this!

    That stuff tastes like cheese?! Gimme!

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  33. I need to try this yeast stuff! Thanks Gina

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  34. you are always opening my eyes to new things =)

    Thank you for what you told me this morning, I needed to hear that =)

    I can't wait to read your review

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  35. Hi love!!!!

    Oh thanks so much for the sweet comment , you know we all get those rude comments like you said, but we brush it off!!!! Thanks love!!! xoxo

    Nutritional Yeast a.k.a. Nooch !!

    I love it sprinkled on my veggies!! I need to try it on popcorn, yum!!!

    I love your posts, you always have great information! I feel like I learn something new everyday by coming over here!!! Yay!!

    Oh the yoplait greek yogurt, Im excited to see your review on that, I have not tried it yet!!!!

    Love ya!! xoxo

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  36. I love Nut Yeast! I add it to Oikos and use it as a sauce with veggies. I also like it sprinkled on mashed cauliflower, spaghetti squash and more!

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  37. I love Nut Yeast! I add it to Oikos and use it as a sauce with veggies. I also like it sprinkled on mashed cauliflower, spaghetti squash and more!

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  38. I love Nut Yeast! I add it to Oikos and use it as a sauce with veggies. I also like it sprinkled on mashed cauliflower, spaghetti squash and more!

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  39. I had no idea what nutritional yeast is. I still kind of don't get what it is, but thanks for the explanation. What does it taste like?

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  40. ooo, lots of interesting info in this post. I discovered your blog recently and I've loved all the advice, recipes, and reviews! Thanks!

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  41. Just like you, I discovered "nooch" through bloggers and have since become a big fan. At first I thought it smelled like feet, but now I embrace it. It's really versatile actually and can add really great cheesey flavor to food (as you saw in my cauliflower post). I really like making it into vegan "parmesan", which you do in the food processor with nuts and salt and italian herbs. Tastes so good on top of mac n cheese! Contradiction in terms, I know, but still so good!

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  42. Thank you for sharing this info especially about the prenatal vitamins!
    I still can't seem to stomach nutritional yeast!
    Oh and I liked your comment on my blog about the china study.
    Thanks for your candid! input!

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  43. Great info as usual hon! I actually have some nutrtional yeast. I dont eat it too often but I love just sprinkled on my veggies once in awhile. Or I add a bit of water to it and some pepper and use it as a quick sauce. Your spaghetti squash and turkey dish looks so good too btw!

    Thanks for the Q&A on prenatal vitamins. Ive heard of people doing this too and I wasnt sure the reasoning behind it. So really great to learn.

    I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! So sorry to hear about your car though. It has totally happened to me..(numerous times actually) So rude of people not even to leave a note. Im so hoping your will have a better day though sweetie!!

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  44. I heard that greek yogurt has less probiotics than regular yogurt...have you heard that?
    I love nutritional yeast (I need to find some here! I MISS the bulk bins at Whole Foods!) on top of my rice dishes, but I mix it in with the broth. Does that "kill" the good stuff?

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  45. im excited to hear your thoughts about yoplait greek yogurt. I never have used nutritional yeast, but thanks for the info. I think it seems like it could do great things!

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  46. I'm so sorry to hear about your car!! How frustrating! Sending big sympathy hugs...

    I really enjoyed reading your response to the prenatal vitamin question! We've actually been wondering about the iron in our regular multivitimin, since we do eat fortified cereals and get plenty of iron in our diet - do you think it's safer to take a multivitimin without iron? Thanks!! :-)

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  47. Not sure where to post this but I wanted to ask if anyone has heard of National Clicks?

    Can someone help me find it?

    Overheard some co-workers talking about it all week but didn't have time to ask so I thought I would post it here to see if someone could help me out.

    Seems to be getting alot of buzz right now.

    Thanks

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  49. Читаю статьи у вас уже небольшое время. И могу сказать сразу что буду продолжать это делать :D

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  50. Ну вообще-то многое из того что Вы пишете не совсем так… Ну да ладноне важно :)

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