Why I Stopped Eating Nutritional Yeast
In this blog post, I’ll talk about why I stopped eating nutritional yeast and started walking more. I’ll also talk through some new habits that I’m integrating to live a healthier, longevity-focused lifestyle.
So, why did I stop eating nutritional yeast?
Let’s start with why I started eating it. While in quarantine, I’ve been cooking for myself far more often. And what I’ve been cooking for myself has been plant-based. I’ve been a vegetarian for four years now and—though I do enjoy “supporting the economy” and ordering takeout once a week—I mostly cook vegan meals.
That’s why I decided to add a bit of nutritional yeast to a lot of my cooking. I used it to season kale, as something in my hummus and sauces, and just in a lot of meal prep.
Now, a while back, I had started developing intense headaches. I’d never had headaches before and my family wasn’t prone to them either.
At first, these headaches occurred around the time of my period, so I figured that it had something to do with my hormones. This was confirmed when I started to develop some Melasma (hyperpigmentation) on my face. But then last month, they started happening more frequently. I began to fear the “headache days” as I called them.
These headaches were so intense that I often vomited from the pain. Needless to say I was useless for most of the day as I fought off the pain.
Now, I’m not one to go to the doctor, but headaches are a different story. Headaches can be a symptom of so many things and I think it’s important to report them to a doctor and get them checked out right away. So, I scheduled a virtual appointment and began to track these headaches.
I also went in for a Pap Smear (I was a few years overdue) and had a physical to check my blood work, lungs, and heart. After the Pap, I switched birth controls to the mini pill so that I wouldn’t be getting the estrogen I’d been receiving from my former pills.
I believe that this switch made a difference with my headaches, but I still wrote in my journal to make sure that I was tracking if there were any other triggers for these painful aches.
Cut to last Saturday when I awoke with one of the headaches. Though not as severe as some of the terrible ones that I’ve experienced, it was fairly uncomfortable and I felt pretty awful. I also felt frightened. I’d been off my birth control for a full week and had felt like that had made a big difference.
Also, not only was I having the headaches, but they were accompanied by brain fog and dizziness.
Now, here I was experiencing one of the pounding headaches once again.
That’s when I decided to open my “headache journal” and try to see what had been different about the day before.
A side note: I’d let the doctor know that these headaches often occurred the day after I ordered takeout. I thought maybe they also had to do with the amount of salt that is sometimes included in these meals.
But I hadn’t ordered takeout that Friday.
I’d cooked for myself.
The only thing that stood out was the fact that for the first time in a week, I’d added nutritional yeast back into my cooking.
Nutritional yeast.
It stood out. It was different. It had been removed from my diet and now had been reintroduced.
But could the small amount I’d used caused something to go wrong in my system? Was that even possible? Wasn’t it supposed to be good for me? It’s packed with vitamins, it’s high in protein, and it’s deactivated yeast so it’s not like that was doing anything.
Still, I decided to do some research.
Here’s what I discovered:
Many manufacturers are adding folic acid to their nutritional yeast.
The manufacturing process can inadvertently create MSG in the nutritional yeast which has been related to overstimulation of neuron receptors and a death of neurons. (The inclusion of MSG would also help explain why I often experienced these headaches after eating certain takeout foods).
Tyramine is also present in nutritional yeast which is a migraine trigger.
I’m not the only person to experience headaches, dizziness, and brain fog from eating nutritional yeast.
Note: Of course, many people do not seem to have any side effects to eating nutritional yeast. I’m also not a doctor nor an expert in dietetics. I am only speaking from personal experiences and noticing a correlation between this dietary addition and my headaches.
I also don’t think that this was the only trigger for my headaches. However, I think it’s important to share (especially since after doing a bit of research I discovered I’m not the only one who experienced these side effects).
In conclusion:
I have removed nutritional yeast from my diet completely. I have focused on getting my vitamins naturally as well as from enriched plant-based milks that I have never experienced any problems with.
I’ve even had fun learning where I can get these vitamins from plants and other sources.
Fiber - grains (soaked overnight), chia seeds
Magnesium - pumpkin seeds, almonds, boiled spinach
Copper - seeds and nuts
Manganese - legumes (soaked overnight), leafy vegetables
Vitamin B12 - supplement, fortified plant-based milks
Vitamin B6 - oatmeal, potatoes
Other B vitamins - peas, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms
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