Description
Nutritional yeast flakes, also known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is a by-product of the beer making process. It is different from bread-raising baker's yeast and is not related to Candida albicans -- the species that causes yeast infections.
As with baker's yeast and hot ovens, the live cells in brewer's yeast are destroyed during the brewing process. However, the nutrients accumulated by the yeast remain.
Yeast is a single-cell organism and can be grown on anything sugary. It will divide approximately twenty times before it dies. These divisions themselves divide within days, as do their offspring, resulting in millions of yeast cells over a very short period of time.
Yeast typically requires the same vitamins and amino acids needed by humans. As they are grown on foods lacking in some nutrients, the yeast is forced to manufacture its own amino acids and vitamins through biochemical reactions. In the end, the yeast becomes a more complete food for those who consume it.
"Brewer's yeast" and "nutritional yeast" are two terms often used interchangeably. However, nutritional yeast refers to any yeast grown for the purpose of becoming a food supplement. It may be brewer's yeast, but can also be yeast from another species.
