The book "Flavor Chemistry and Technology" By Gary Reineccius and Henry B. Heath tells how they make yeast extracts (yeast extracts are like MSG),and it says that brewer's yeast can be the raw material to make yeast extracts (scroll down until you see "brewer's" highlighted at the botom of the page):
[books.google.com]
"The initial step is the selection of the starting material, a yeast byproduct, (e.g. brewer's yeast) or a primary yeast (i.e. grown specifically for this purpose)."


I found an interesting blog which goes into this a bit more, here are some quotes from the blog and the responses:
[catheolson.blogspot.com]
1 - "MSG is just a name, the underlying culprit is glutamate. I have been studying its effect on me for quite a few years and found that I can end my symptoms of Bipolar DIsorder by cutting out the majority of the amino acid in either its free or bound form. Check out my blog: [glutamateandhealth.wordpress.com];

2 - "[www.truefoodsmarket.com]
Red Star Yeast has 91MG of glutamate per serving, I dod not know if it is free glutamate however. Here is the amount in nutritional yeast: 1456 mg![www.myvitanet.com];

3 - "See, this is how they are sneaky. The damaging part of MSG is not the MS, but the G. You get it? So things like autolyzed pea protein stimulate taste the same way that MSG does because it is high in free glutamic acid. So even though they say "No MSG" if still could be high, as it is, in free glutamic acid, and those of us who are affected by MSG will also be affected by nutritional yeast."

What are the negative effects? I've used nut yeast in the past but never noticed any negative effects. If I eat raw tomatoes though I get a pounding headache.

rufio,

It's odd what you say about tomatoes, because they are naturally high in glutamates--maybe your body dislikes these, but can tolerate formulated MSG?

Tropical,

Thanks for posting this. I don't use yeast extract, but I do seem to like the foods that have natural glutamates, as in umami, as in seaweed, sundried tomatoes,etc. Am I an addict? Hard to know . . . but it does make me wonder if the British would have conquered the known world hopped up on Marmite, had that been around then.

What are the negative effects? These are the possible side effects of MSG, and they go far beyond headaches. I don't know what the side effects of the glutamates in nutritional yeast would be and there are also glutamates in all kinds of healthy foods but it's interesting that nutritional yeast is a source for making yeast extract and here is how you would turn it into yeast extract.

[en.wikipedia.org]
"The general method for making yeast extract for food products such as Vegemite and Marmite on a commercial scale is to add salt to a suspension of yeast making the solution hypertonic, which leads to the cells shrivelling up. This triggers autolysis, where the yeast's digestive enzymes break their own proteins down into simpler compounds, a process of self-destruction. The dying yeast cells are then heated to complete their breakdown, after which the husks (yeast with thick cell walls which would give poor texture) are separated."

[www.holisticmed.com]
Collected Reports of Adverse Reactions to MSG

January 1, 1995

Ingestion of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is known to produce a
variety of adverse reactions in certain people. These reactions,
although seemingly dissimilar, are no more diverse than the
reactions found as side effects of certain neurological drugs.
We do not know why some people experience reactions and others do
not. We do not know whether MSG "causes" the condition underlying
the reaction, or whether the underlying condition is simply
aggravated by the ingestion of MSG. We only know that the
reactions listed below are sometimes caused or exacerbated by
ingestion of MSG.

All forms of MSG (free glutamic acid that occur in food as a
consequence of manufacture) cause these reactions in MSG-
sensitive people. Names of offending ingredients used to hide
MSG in products include: MSG, glutamic acid, glutamate,
hydrolyzed protein, sodium caseinate, autolyzed yeast, yeast
nutrient, yeast food, natural flavoring, and a host of other
ingredients. In addition, the MSG produced when a protease
enzyme or other reactive agent is allowed to interact with
protein during product manufacture can bring on these same
adverse reactions in MSG sensitive persons; and there is often no
clue on the product label that such an interaction is taking
place.

Cardiac
Arrhythmias
Numbness or paralysis
Seizures
Extreme drop in blood pressure
Slurred speech
Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
Angina

Circulatory
Swelling

Muscular
Flu-like achiness
Joint pain
Stiffness

Neurological
Depression
Dizziness
Light-headedness
Loss of balance
Disorientation
Mental confusion
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Hyperactivity
Behavioral problems in children
Lethargy
Sleepiness
Insomnia
Migraine headache

Digestive
Diarrhea
Nausea/vomiting
Stomach cramps
Irritable bowel
Bloating

Respiratory
Asthma
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Tightness
Runny nose
Sneezing

Skin
Hives or rash
Mouth lesions
Temporary tightness or partial paralysis
(numbness or tingling) of the skin
Flushing
Extreme dryness of the mouth

Urological
Swelling of prostate
Nocturia

Visual
Blurred vision
Difficulty focusing



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2009 05:57PM by tropical.

Quick question, has anyone cut nutritional yeast from their diet and noticed a change in thier appetite? Did it decrease? Thanks

tropical,

It's been well over a year since I stopped consuming nutritional yeast. I didn't notice appetite changes; they might have been inconspicuous. But I did notice I felt way less groggy and mucusy after I stopped. And I was using minuscule amounts seldom!

I used to take brewers yeast(nutritional yeast??)
But stopped cause it can aggravate gout which I had.

Thanks Tamukha and eaglefly! I think I've decided to quit nutritional yeast. I've heard that before about it mucusy but it's interesting that you noticed it even in small amounts.

Hmmm... interesting post. I confess that I eat nutritional yeast on popcorn on a regular basis and struggle with some of the symptoms on the above list. I'm going to try to cut it out and see what happens. Thanks!

I have a chart that shows most grains,if not all,to be rather inflammatory.

Vinny