Yeast Free Diet
Yeasts are part of an enormous family of fungi that includes mushrooms, baker's yeast and antibiotics. Some illnesses are caused by fungus, e.g. farmer's lung and candida (thrush). A feature to look for is food that has been around some time, because yeasts need time as well as the right conditions to grow. Many yeasts are invisible to the naked eye. Any products that are fermented will have made use of yeast in their processing, e.g. wine. Preserved or dried foods will undoubtedly have yeasts on them, even if they are treated to prevent decay. Some yeasts will be unavoidably taken in as they are everywhere in the air. Clues to the presence of yeast are the descriptions 'melted', 'dried', 'pickled', 'cultured', and 'fermented'.
Eating out is not difficult provided cheese dishes are avoided and any food with vinegar or alcohol as well as pickles and mushrooms/truffles. Bread also has to be avoided, but some plain crispbreads may be acceptable. Salads should not have dressing put on them. Avoid meat with stuffing. Grilled meat without gravy, plain boiled or steamed vegetables, plain grilled fish and omelettes are the safest. Fruit desserts are best avoided and so, of course, is cheese and biscuits.
Make whole-wheat soda bread and scones at home. Use a raising powder that does not contain cream of tartar. Rye crispbreads can be eaten instead of bread, also whole-wheat breakfast cereals such as Shredded Wheat and Puffed Wheat and rice. (Omit the cereals if they cannot be tolerated.) Increase the amount of vegetables eaten. All fruit eaten should be thoroughly washed first, dried and then peeled and eaten immediately. Keep the peel well away from the flesh of the fruit or you may contaminate it with yeast. Make oil/lemon dressings for salads with fresh lemon juice.
The main problem with this diet is the omission of bread as this could lead to a deficiency of B-complex vitamins. Drop scones can be made with whole-wheat flour. An increase in the amount of liver to 4 oz (l00 g) per week would also help. Natural supplements of B-complex vitamins will probably be made from yeast. In this case synthetic B vitamins would be more suitable if a supplement needs to be taken. Fruit juices should be made from fresh washed and peeled fruit and drunk immediately they are made. It is a good idea to increase your whole grains as you may be receiving too little cereal fibre. This helps many bodily functions and helps to maintain blood sugar levels and reduce hunger. Typical foods are: wholemeal soda bread, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, oat and rice cereals. All in all quite a difficult diet to follow, especially as no alcohol whatsoever should be taken.
| FOODS TO AVOID | ALTERNATIVES |
| Bread/Rolls/Croissants Some enriched doughs, e.g. currant teacakes / doughnuts / scones. Bread and Butter Pudding Fruit Charlotte. Pitta breads |
Soda bread / Soda farls - sold in some bakeries, supermarkets and Health Food stores (may contain buttermilk, which should be avoided, at least at first). Easy to make at home. Other yeast-free breads - e.g. Manna bread from Health Food stores. Rice cakes, Oatcakes (sugar-free oatcakes) |
| Quorn | |
| Mushrooms / Truffles | |
| Cheeses, buttermilk | Live-Bio natural yoghurt. Cottage cheese. |
| Vinegars - all kinds. Ketchups. Pickles of all kinds / chutneys. Sauerkraut / horseradish / mint sauce / mustard / salad dressing / Soy Sauce |
Salad dressing: Lemon, oil, garlic and herbs can be used. |
| Fruit skins, e.g. apples / pears etc. Dried fruits (all kinds - currants, sultanas, raisins, mixed peel, apricots, figs etc) Grapes |
Fruits: Maximum of 3 fruits per day, peeled and washed. Fruits which cannot be peeled. e.g. berries should be avoided unless very fresh. |
| Malt / malted drinks / malted cereals | Cerals: malt-free cereals - Shredded Wheat, Puffed Wheat / Rice, Porridge, oats, homemade muesli etc. |
| M.S.G (Mono-sodium glutamate or E621) in: Crisp etc Chinese food Pot Noodles Dried soups and sauce mixes Stock cubes e.g. Knorr and Oxo |
MSG: Found in Chinese food as flavoured flavour enhancer. Can ask for MSG to be left out of food in Chinese restaurants / takeaways Try Health Food shops for alternative stock cubes but they are not always available malt / yeast free. |
| Black (fermented) tea | |
| Nuts: Peanuts and Pistachios | Other nuts are acceptable if freshly shelled |
| Yeast Extract (Marmite, Bovril, Gravy mixes) Yest -derived vitamines, e.g some Vitamin B supplements |
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| Citric Acid (e.g in drinks and tinned tomatoes) |
Please note that any diets and dietary advice in the Patient Guidance section of our website are only intended for the patients attending our own clinics in Southampton and London. These diets are based on a recommendation made by one of the Centre doctors after an appropriate consultation. Our advice relating to use of a particular restricted diet is really only appropriate for individual patients who have consulted us and have been individually assessed by one of the doctors from the Centre and advised that they should follow a particular dietary regime. We do not recommend that people use restricted diets without proper medical supervision. We also recommend to our patients that they should not use a restricted diet for more than 6 weeks in the first instance without further consultation with us, as it may result in nutritional deficiencies. Sometimes food exclusion diets may be clinically effective in the long term, but their management will require a balanced nutritional approach.
We hope that visitors to our website who are not our patients will find much to interest them in this website; we aim to present useful, practical, considered and authoritative information on Complementary and Integrated Medicine. We strongly advise that you should not follow a restricted diet without proper medical supervision by a qualified practitioner.
