Diamond V Dehydrated Yeast Culture

[JJeffreyBragg]

Whilst perusing my new copy of the absolutely fascinating book by the late Dr. Roy Walford, Beyond the 120 Year Diet, I happened to notice the miscellaneous food item "yeast" in the excellent nutrition analysis tables therein. It got me thinking. A year or so ago a friend passed me an offprint of an article by Dr. David Williams from his newsletter "ALTERNATIVES for the Health-Conscious Individual" (Sept. 2007 issue). Dr. Williams discussed the serendipitous discovery that plant workers at the Diamond V fermented yeast culture plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, enjoyed extraordinary freedom from illness, rarely taking sick leave:

 

...The story was pretty much the same for the other 35 individuals who worked in the plant. Some hadn't experienced a cold, flu, or other infection in 25 years. Others reported improvement in chronic allergy conditions, autoimmune problems, gastrointestinal health, and numerous other conditions after starting work at the plant.

 

...After accounting for all the other possible factors, it appeared the improved health of those in the production plant could be traced to their repeated exposure to the fermented yeast culture dust in the production plant.

 

Diamond V has since licensed a human version of their product called EpiCor in (expensive) 500mg capsule form, for those who are interested. My interest -- and Dr. Williams' as well -- is in the bagged livestock product. I already use this product as a nutritional supplement for my kennel of sleddogs and recently started taking it myself instead of the brewer's yeast tablets I used to use. It's extraordinarily cheap, being an animal feed; but it's on the GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe) food list.

 

I went to the Diamond V site in search of detailed nutritional information on the "Original XP" product which is the one I buy (the plant makes three different versions that vary mostly in concentration; XP is the middle one). First of all, it's a high-energy product at 343 kcal/100g, roughly comparable to pinto beans, split peas and similar legumes in its energy concentration. But we aren't talking about consuming this stuff 100g at a whack! Dr. Williams suggests a daily dosage level of 3g for human adults, as a nutritional supplement.

 

For interest's sake, here is a link to the pdf file on the Diamond V website for the Original XP yeast product with a detailed nutritional analysis: http://www.diamondv.com/languages/en/product-pages/original-products/original-xp/PP_OriginalXP_0112_FINAL_lores.pdf

 

The amino acid, vitamin and mineral values look interesting. The flavour of the product seems quite palatable to me, sort of a nutty taste. The forum is granular so it could easily be sprinkled on rice or veg as a top-dressing, or even incorporated into some dishes. I intend to do some experimentation with this!

 

Just FYI, the crude analysis is protein 12%, fat 3% and fibre 6.5%. The dehydrated culture includes the media upon which it is grown, consisting of ground yellow corn, hominy feed, corn gluten feed, wheat middlings, rye middlings, diastatic malt and corn syrup, and cane molasses.

 

I wonder whether anyone here has any experience with this yeast culture product or other similar products. (I note that Dr. Williams seems to have shared quite a few of Dr. Walford's concerns and nutrition/health issues in the past, so maybe others here are familiar with his newsletter.) The cheapness and palatability are attractive; one can buy the stuff in 50-lb bags at most feed dealers in horse country -- it's a popular equine supplement.

 

Perhaps someone here who's more accomplished at nutrition analysis than I could take a look at the above link and suggest ways in which yeast culture might be of use in a CR dietary regimen.

[JJeffreyBragg]

A small correction: Dr. Williams' suggested dosage referred to the more concentrated XPC version. I've since found the comparative dosages of the various Diamond V products for livestock, which would suggest that Original XP should be fed at four times the dosage rate of XPC. That translates to 12g daily at Dr. Williams' suggested rate. I weighed 3/4 cup by volume of the product and got 4 ounces (113.5g); so one Tablespoon = 9.46g. Four teaspoons ought to be about right (12.6g).

 

I mixed 1T. with my morning hot cereal after it was cooked; whatever difference in flavour was small, and positive.