Yeast & Weight Loss
Yeasts are microorganisms and part of the natural flora of the human body, where they aid in digestion and other functions. When internal yeast levels get out of balance they can lead to negative health conditions, such as weight gain. But following a yeast-free diet can help restore the internal yeast balance and lead to weight loss. For others, taking nutritional yeast as a food supplement helps them maintain healthy nutrition.
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Yeasts in Human Flora
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Yeasts are mostly single-celled organisms botanically classified as fungi. According to Dr. Carolyn Dean, a naturopathic physician, more than 400 types of microorganisms inhabit the human body, including several kinds of yeast. One variety, candida albicans, is usually kept in check by helpful bacteria that also live in the human intestinal flora.
Imbalance
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Poor nutrition---particularly an excess of sugars, fats and carbohydrates---or antibiotic use can kill off helpful bacteria in the human intestines, leading to an overgrowth of the candida yeast. Stress also changes body chemistry and can lead to yeast overgrowth. According to Dean, excess candida growth causes abdominal bloat, cravings for sugar and alcohol, and weight gain.
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Yeast-Free Diet
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Following a yeast-free diet means avoiding products such as baked goods, alcohol, vinegar and lacto-fermented items such as sauerkraut on the theory it will reduce internal yeast levels. Dr. Brent Bauer writes on the Mayo Clinic's Consumer Health web page that yeast-free diets can improve health by eliminating most processed foods and excess sugar, carbohydrates and other high-calorie items. However, there is little scientific support for the notion that a yeast-free diet will change an internal yeast imbalance. Yeast-free diets can result in weight loss by reducing caloric intake and emphasizing healthy whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Nutritional Yeast
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Nutritional yeast, also called brewer's yeast, contains all of the essential amino acids, as well as many vitamins and trace minerals. Dieters are often deficient in some of these nutrients, particularly B vitamins and trace minerals such as chromium. Nutritional yeast is an inexpensive, highly digestible form of dietary supplement that can boost energy and make it easier to reach weight loss goals. Nutritional yeast can be purchased in bulk from health food stores and sprinkled on popcorn, vegetables and other foods in place of Parmesan cheese or salt, or it can be purchased in capsules and taken as a supplement.
Cellular Research
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Yeast may be helping medical researchers find new treatments for metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes. Researchers at Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology have learned that yeast proteins have cellular receptor components that are similar to human cells, so they have been using yeast cells for research. A 2006 study discovered that some of these receptors respond to glucose, an important development that may lead to pharmacological treatment of metabolic imbalances.
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