from "Rust Out" by Dr. Royce Bailey, page 155

Brewer’s/Nutritional yeast is a microscopic plant, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.  It is nutritionally superior than all other types of yeast.  S. Cerevisiae organisms have long been utilized to ferment the sugars of grapes (Gen. 9:20-21), rice, wheat, barley and corn to produce alcoholic beverages and in the baking industry to expand, or raise, dough.  It is not to be confused with the common yeast-like fungus, Candida Albicans, that normally lives harmlessly in everybody’s GI tract, but can cause thrush, diaper rash, vaginitis and even death if not controlled by friendly bacteria and your immune system.

Protein and Vitamins
Nutritional yeast is 50-60 % protein, including all the essential amino acids and a superior source of B vitamins, including niacin (B3), folic acid (B5) and B12.

Chromium
It is the best source of organic chromium.  Chromium in this amount is found in very few other foods and is essential for the production of effective insulin.  Without insulin the body cannot properly handle glucose, its major fuel.   Hypoglycemia results when the blood sugar level rapidly shoots upward, followed by a rapid release of too much insulin, causing symptomatic low blood sugar.  The role of chromium is to moderate insulin activity; first by potentiating the circulating insulin and then by reducing the amount required to be released (thus reducing insulin resistance).  

Nucleic Acid
Nutritional yeast is very rich in nucleic acid (RNA/DNA), which is a building block for cell development, thus by nutritional theory it may retard the aging process.

Trace Minerals
Nutritional yeast is also rich in selenium, potassium, magnesium, copper, manganese, iron, molybdenum, sodium, nickel, silicon and zinc.

But It Tastes Awful
Most Brewer’s yeast is recovered after its use in the brewing process.  It is grown in vats containing grain, malt and hops.  As the yeast plant feeds on this culture medium, it produces alcohol and carbon dioxide while it absorbs nutrients.

De-bittering Process
The yeast in the vats also picks up chemicals and other undesirables.  Although it goes through a de-bittering process to remove contaminating oils, it is still barely edible.  This de-bittering process also results in the loss of some protein, amino acids, minerals and trace elements.

Nutritional Yeast Is Better
Unlike brewer’s yeast that is grown on grain and hops and is a waste product of the brewery; nutritional yeast is grown on sugar beets and dried at a low temperature of 60oF to preserve as many of the nutrients as possible.  Sugar beets are known to absorb so much out of the soil that they can be grown on one field for about two years without totally depleting the soil.  Thus, the nutritional riches of nutritional yeast add up with their derivation from sugar beets and they taste better than flake brewer’s yeast.

Uses
My dislike of bananas comes from my mother trying to fatten her skinny teenager up with shakes made with brewer’s yeast.  The banana was to cover the taste of the brewer’s yeast.  If only she had known of the better tasting nutritional yeast.  Today, I don’t mind yeast flakes or powder as it gives a cheesy, rich flavor to otherwise dull veggie soup.  We use it to replace Parmesan cheese on pasta dishes.   We add it to our vegetable juices.  If it’s the laxative effect you need, use dried brewer’s/nutritional yeast (dead cells) or wheat germ.

Recommendations: one to three tablespoons a day.

Harm From Live Yeast In Bread
“Bread should be light and sweet.  Not the least taint of sourness should be tolerated.  The loaves should be small, and so thoroughly baked that, so far as possible, the yeast germs shall be destroyed.”  Ellen White, Ministry of Healing; 1905:301.

In the 1940s to the 60s the use of live yeast was advocated as having a therapeutic value as a source of vitamins because of its high B vitamin content and to relieve constipation.  Readers of popular magazines for years were urged to eat a cake of live yeast every day.  Not only was this statement from Ministry of Healing  called into question, but the author herself was doubted.  But let it be known that live yeast cells actually take up B vitamins from the food in the GI tract and make them unavailable to your body.  They pass through the stomach acid unharmed and in the intestine they produce fermentation (alcohol) and gas (carbon dioxide).   Ellen’s 1905 counsel stands with solid scientific support.

References:
Paulien, G.B., “The Divine Philosophy and Science of Health and Healing,”TEACH Services. Inc., Brushton, NY; 1995: 396-398., 345-346.
“Brewer’s Yeast,” Lewis-labs.com (makers of Brewer’s Yeast Buds).
The Ellen G. White Estate, “Medical Science and the Spirit of Prophecy,” Review and Herald; 1971:10-11.