Brewer’s yeast used to be just an important ingredient to make beer. However, because it is a good source of many minerals, many companies are now growing it specifically to be a major ingredient in different nutritional and sports supplements. Brewer’s yeast has very good chromium content. It should be noted that brewer’s yeast is different from the other types of yeast, such as torula yeast and baker’s yeast because these types have low chromium content. Chromium is an important trace mineral that is useful in helping the body keep its blood sugar content in an optimum level. Aside from chromium, brewer’s yeast is also a very good source of protein and selenium and of the various B complex vitamins.
The B complex vitamins are used by the body to breakdown the fats, the carbohydrates, and the proteins that it consumes so that it can turn them into energy. This characteristic is very important to people who are very active and many athletes as well. Among the B complex vitamins that can be found in brewer’s yeast are: thiamine or B1, riboflavin or B2, and niacin or B3. Brewer’s yeast also has good amount of pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, thiamine, and folic acid which are also known as vitamins B5, B6, B7 and B9 respectively. These vitamins help maintain the nervous system of the body and they also support the development of the muscles of the digestive system. They are even very useful in enriching the cells of the eyes, the hair, and even the skin and the liver. It is important to remember however that vitamin B12 is not one of the B complex vitamins found in brewer’s yeast. Vitamin B12 is usually found in dairy products and in meat. Many people who do not eat meat usually make the mistake of taking brewer’s yeast as a nutritional supplement thinking that they can get their B12 vitamin form it.
Brewer’s yeast may also aid in keeping the levels of LDL or the “bad cholesterols” in the body low as some studies that have been done suggest. At the same time, brewer’s yeast also increases the levels of HDL which are the “good cholesterols” in the blood. These studies however, are not able to point out if these effects on the blood cholesterol levels are due to the chromium that is contained in brewer’s yeast or to one of the other minerals that it contains.
There are also some people who advocate brewer’s yeast as a supplement to aid in weight loss and weight management. There are studies that have been done that support the claim that the chromium in brewer’s yeast can indeed help in reducing body weight but only in very small increments. By comparison, it has been found that regular exercise and a nutritious diet result in more weight loss than taking brewer’s yeast alone. Thus it is best to use brewer’s yeast as an additional supplement to a well-balanced and nutritious diet while still maintaining a specific weight loss exercise program.
