Foods with high yeast content
Yeast is a living fungus, one form of which is used in many foods and drinks. Other forms, like Candida, live naturally in the human gut flora and mouth. At appropriate levels Candida is healthy, but when your body’s natural flora becomes unbalanced due to diet or infections, a yeast overgrowth can cause unpleasant symptoms.
Rarely, people are allergic to yeast, but it’s more common to suffer from a yeast intolerance which can also cause health problems. “Food intolerance, also known as non-IgE mediated food hypersensitivity, refers to a difficulty in digesting certain foods.”[1]
If you’ve noticed that you feel bloated and achy after eating foods with high yeast content, like baked goods, then it’s possible that you have developed a yeast intolerance. Other foods that contain yeast are snacks like dried fruits, and aged or fermented foods, like alcohol. One way to discern whether you’re intolerant is to try avoiding yeast for several weeks to see if your symptoms are eliminated.
High yeast content foods
Some of the symptoms of food intolerance include, bloating, migraines, headaches, cough, runny nose, general malaise, stomach ache and irritable bowel. If eliminating yeast from your diet resolves these problems, then you likely are suffering from a yeast intolerance.
In order to properly test the theory, it’s important to learn exactly which foods contain a high yeast content. Baked goods are an obvious no-no because yeast is used as a leavening agent. Foods that are preserved through aging, like cheese, or drying, canning or smoking, like cured meats, also contain a good deal of yeast. Additionally, processed fruit juice or cut fruit that you buy from the grocery store tend to contain quite a bit of the yeast fungus.
Try this test
What do you do if you’ve tried avoiding foods with high yeast content and your symptoms haven’t been alleviated? If an elimination diet doesn't work, your problem could be an overgrowth of Candida yeast in your gut. “Candida albicans is a naturally occurring, and usually benign yeast, that grows in the intestinal tract. When it over-proliferates in the body, though, the symptoms can be debilitating.”[2] The potential issues it may cause include, painful and persistent gas, bloating, yeast infections in women, constipation or diarrhea, skin issues, migraines and fatigue.
Many of these symptoms overlap with those of yeast intolerance which can be confusing. But there is a way to test your yeast levels at home to see if you could be suffering from an overgrowth of Candida, also called Candidiasis. We’ve posted the steps on our site.
Restore balance to your gut by taking a probiotic like Threelac or Fivelac that will reintroduce healthy bacteria into the digestive tract and combat the overgrowth of yeast.