Nutritional yeast flakes

[Rebecca Nahid]

I used to really enjoy these there basically a good source of B12 for vegetarians and vegans in the form of tasty cheese like flakes I just wondered though I know that you sometimes causes issues with uric acid but this is deactivated so would it still be ok to have I don’t feel like I should be exexcluding it in my diet. Thanks

[nobody]

Plants are safe for you but yeast isn’t. It doesn’t mean you have to exclude yeast from your diet entierly but it means you have to be careful.
The main thing you have to watch is the amount you eat. If you eat a very small amount for the vitamins, that’s one thing. But it’s dangerous to use a protein source, a substitute for cheese or something like that.
Some (and possibly all) varieties of yeast have extremely high purine content (it’s nothing like the stuff you were worried about like chickpeas) and have been shown to markedly raise uric acid in humans. So you should assume yeast products to be dangerous unless proven otherwise or consumed in very small amounts. The same goes for any other product made out of single-cell organisms (such as spirulina).
If the yeast is merely killed (which is what I assume “deactivated” means), that wouldn’t help. But yeast could in principle be processed in a way that gets rid of the dangerous part. B12 extracted from yeast is safe for instance.

Now since you are taking allopurinol, you could in principle safely consume otherwise dangerous amounts of yeast. You’d simply have to take enough allopurinol.
The trouble is figuring how much allopurinol would be needed. If you consumed more or less the same amount of yeast every day, it would be straighforward: get a blood test and increase your allopurinol dose if it shows an unsafe uric acid level.
Which is to say that if you had already been taking yeast before your last blood test, the amount you were taking before the test is safe as long as you keep taking the same amount of allopurinol (or more). If you planned on eating a lot more yeast than you used to however, you might need to take more allopurinol.
In my opinion though, you shouldn’t need a drug to make food safe. You never know what effects that would have on your body in the long run. Best eat something else.

[Keith Taylor]

I’ve never heard of nutritional yeast flakes before. So I’m wondering if it’s this sort of thing: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Engevita-Savoury-Yeast-Condiment-Pack/dp/B00A4C48LQ

If so, I think I’ll stay with my eggs, cheese, and yogurt.

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Vitamin B12 Foods

[nobody]

Dairy and cheese naturally contain B12 but are obviously not vegan foods. I’m not aware of any safe vegan food naturally containing significant amounts of B12.
For instance it seems the B12 in nutritional yeast (when present in signifiant amounts) is typically added during processing. If that is indeed the case, straightforward B12 supplements seem like a better choice anyway.

[d q]

A bowl of cereal (choosing ones that do not increase uric acid of course) could potentially contain all the B12 you’ll need for the day 🙂

[Rebecca Nahid]

Sorry to reply late hadn’t seen the replies yes I do drink almond milk which is fortified with B12 and calcium and lots of other vitamins but I do also take supplements my diet can be pretty crap at times and I just feel like I’d rather be on the safe side so I know a lot of people criticise supplements but I’m not giving them up now

[Author]

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