Yesterday I wrote about Vegemite, an Australian yeast-based food with a whole lot of nutritional power.
Can't wrap your brain around that? Consider nutritional yeast, a cousin to this food that is more readily available and equally as nutritious.
This type of yeast is cultured with sugars for about a week, then packaged to sell.
What may interest many of you: it's gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free. Long-time vegans will tell you it also contains that vitamin so elusive to vegans, vitamin B12. Be careful, however, the only reason it appears in nutritional yeast is because it is fortified and not all brands include it. Read your label!
Interestingly, nutritional yeast also contains chromium, something that is thought to be deficient in PCOS and again, is not easy to find in food.
Nutritional yeast is also a complete protein. One ounce has 14 grams, 80 calories, and just 1 gram of fat.
It tastes a little bit like parmesan cheese; I've enjoyed it on popcorn and I can see it being used in a lot of ways where parmesan is traditionally used.
I found a great nutritional yeast product at Natural Products West that is perfect for you vegans who miss your cheese! It's called Queso, by Food for Lovers, and it's just like nacho cheese, only made with nutritional yeast. Two tablespoons contains 20 calories and 2 grams of protein. A great improvement on the old nacho stuff!
Heads up, however, this product DOES contain wheat so it is not gluten-free.
Food for Lovers is based in Texas, and can be found in quite a few stores there, as well as a few locations in other parts of the country. Here's an ordering link where you will soon be able to get it. Amazon has set up a signup so you can be notified when the product is ready to order.