What is yeast? To most people yeast is just something that is in the food that we eat; However to the scientific community yeast is much more then that. According to the Dictionary of Student Science yeast is a one-celled fungi that can cause the fermentation of carbohydrates, producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. ( ) Yeasts are found in the soil, in water, on the surface of plants, and on the skin of humans and other animals. Like other fungi, yeasts obtain food from the organic matter around them; they secrete enzymes that break down the organic matter into nutrients they can absorb.
The yeast cell is oval or round and has a thin membrane. Under ideal conditions of moisture, temperature, and food supply, it reproduces asexually, by budding. When a yeast cell reaches full growth, a bud like swelling forms on its surface. Part of the parent cell’s nucleus goes into this bud, and a wall is formed between the parent cell and the bud, which then becomes a separate cell. This new cell may break off when it is full grown. It may, however, remain attached as it produces another bud. In this way, chains or clusters of cells are formed.
Budding is a rapid process, requiring about 20 minutes to produce a new organism. People ingest yeast on a daily basis along with many other things and we do this without knowing anything about what it does to the body. Yeast is not just found in bread which is what most people associate yeast with. Yeast reacts differently in bread then it does in alcohol. During bread making the formation of carbon dioxide a byproduct of ethanol fermentation causes bread to rise. Ethanol fermentation causes bread dough to rise.
Yeast organisms consume sugars in the dough and produce ethanol and carbon dioxide as waste products. During fermentation for alcohol making yeast converts the glucose in the wort to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide gas giving alcohol content and its carbonation. Yeast is hidden in many other foods for example: Grape juice contains yeast as well as soy sauce. There is also yeast extract, which is an extract that replaced monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a taste-booster in most processed foods because it appears to be a natural ingredient on food labels.
However, yeast extract contains the same concentrated free glutamic acid as MSG. The increasing use of yeast extracts in foods ranging from soups and sauces to meats and canned fish is due to its distinctive taste, resulting from the peptides and amino acids formed by autolysis of yeast protein. Yeast extract is a clear and water-soluble product formed after the enzymes in the yeast cells autolyze, or dissolve the proteins in the yeast.
Canned and frozen soups contain yeast extracts to enhance their taste and highlight the flavor of meaty or cheesy ingredients. It is a practice widespread throughout the food industry, and yeast extracts can also be found on the ingredient labels of processed soups proclaimed natural and without MSG, including those sold in nature food stores. Most snack foods, including crackers and pretzels, depend on yeast extract for their enticing flavors, Processed meat and fish preparations contain yeast extract.
Preformed frozen hamburgers, brand-name turkeys and chickens, lunch meats and even veggie burgers list yeast extract on their labels. Bacon, ham, canned tuna, canned salmon and other canned fish are processed containing the extract. Research by Vanderbilt University has found that although the Food and Drug Administration does not prohibit the use of yeast extract, even when the name is used to disguise the presence of MSG, the quantity of free glutamate it contains poses problems for MSGsensitive individuals who experience its effects as toxic. ). In the absence of competition, yeast colonies grow into all the empty nooks and crannies of the large and, possibly, small intestine. It is a scientific fact that when yeast cells reach a certain critical mass, they change from round buds to a threadlike invasive tissue. They are running out of food, so they pack their bags and emigrate to the small intestine from the large intestine looking for more. In the small intestine, the yeast threads poke microscopic holes in the intestinal lining.
Such a phenomenon is called “leaky gut”—where a compromised gut lining essentially becomes a superhighway of toxins to the blood stream because there is nothing to block their flow. Instead of absorbing life-giving nutrients, a now permeated intestinal wall allows all 180 of yeast’s chemical by-products, as well as undigested food molecules, bacterial toxins, and other chemicals to take a one-way ride straight into the blood. Though the holes are not necessarily big enough to allow the yeast to get into the blood, the bloodstream is now carrying hundreds of waste products from head to toe.
When yeast, bacteria, and food toxins hit the bloodstream, they trigger widespread inflammatory reactions by either directly attacking tissues or creating allergic reactions along with the production of histamine, which causes immune cells to react. Some of the yeast toxins, like acetaldehyde, alcohol, zymosan, arabinitol, and gliotoxin, have been named by mycologists (biologists who study fungi), but rarely do they extend their discussion to the human suffering caused by these toxins. Acetaldehyde is produced when yeast digests sugar. It is a particularly potent toxin that can damage all bodily tissue, including the brain.
It is also produced when you drink alcohol, breathe exhaust from cars, and smoke cigarettes. What most people don’t know is that yeast also produces alcohol in the body-enough to make some people feel drunk and give a positive reading on a breathalyzer test. Most people with yeast overgrowth can’t touch alcohol because it makes them feel so rotten. Allergies happen when your immune system reacts to a certain substance. The immune system produces antibodies, some of them protect people from invaders that could make you sick or cause infection.
If an allergy is suspected a doctor will do allergy testing which involves having a skin or blood test to find out what substance, or allergen, may trigger an allergic response in a person. When a person is allergic to yeast, candida, or yeast extract there are several things that happen sneezing, diarrhea, irritability, constipation, abdominal swelling, mood swings, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, dizziness, osteoporosis, difficulty in concentrating, muscle and joint pain, respiratory and ear problems, menstrual problems, infertility, weakness, and bladder infections.
What we eat plays a large role in the health of our bodies, as well as our mental health. After eating yeast it has been found that people experience chronic fatigue, loss of energy and the inability to concentrate. Everyday you hear people talking about their food allergies and their intolerances to certain foods. In western Europe and North America, the second half of the 20th century witnessed a rise in the pursuit of convenience.
Food processing companies marketed their products especially towards middle-class working wives and mothers. found their success in sales of juice concentrates and “TV Dinners” contributes to the success of convenience food today. Using food additives presents a large safety concern. The health risks of any given additive vary greatly from person to person; for example using sugar as an additive endangers diabetics and using yeast or yeast extract can endanger someone with an allergy to yeast.
For some people a simple five-day elimination of yeast and molds in your diet, followed by a challenge or binge of yeasty foods will often relieve and then trigger your symptoms. Long-term yeast control is needed if you have an allergy to yeast rather than just an intolerance or an overgrowth. Different people with different sensitivities may require varying degrees of dietary restrictions. Often, the process of healing requires listening to your body and its signals and sensitivities.