Thank-you for your comment, Debra.

I agree that a more comprehensive list is useful. I do have one in the works. This will always be a work in progress, as the list is very long, and has to be pulled from a variety of sources. Add to that all the packaged foods that may contain yeast, and the list becomes nearly endless!

If you have items you would like to ad, please leave a comment with your suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestion, Janel!

As far as I can tell, cheese does not generally contain yeast.

Cheese is made with a bacteria culture.

Some cheeses might contain yeast sometimes. And with so many cheeses out there, maybe there are cheeses that include yeast as part of their process.

This will require more research for a definitive answer.

Can the following cheeses cause an allergic reaction - Urticaria?

Emental
Feta
Mozzerella

With red wine, the yeast comes from the grape skins. Yeast naturally occurs on grape skins.

Natural or not, its still yeast. Actually, the word "natural" is meaningless here, since wine is man-made.

The difference is that many white wines have yeast added because the skins are removed. Probably this is the same type of yeast as normally grows on the grape, although this is a guess.

Yeast levels do vary for different wines - extra yeast added or not.

I'd follow this guide-line: if you can drink a certain amount of a particular wine, then great! If you have unpleasant symptoms, drink less or avoid that particular wine altogether.

If you are new to a yeast-free diet, avoid all wine until you have been on the diet for some time and know what "normal" feels like.

You were right to try a gluten-free diet because a gluten allergy is so common, but a yeast allergy is up there too - hard to say which is more common.

Probably it is best to cut out both and see what happens.

At least you can drink cider. I've avoided it for years knowing it has yeast in it, but there are many types of yeast, so I suppose the sort used in cider is OK for some people, including you, lucky for you!

I'll have to give cider a try myself some day and see what happens.

I have similar food allergies, as well as a Candida yeast overgrowth, and when I bake, I sometimes use flax gel that I make myself in place of eggs. I don't have the exact measurements on hand at the moment, but it is very easy and quick. All you need to do is boil whole flax seeds in water until the mixture reaches the constistency of egg whites. You can either strain it, or use it as is. Check out the Whole Approach Forums (www.wholeapproachforums.com) and use the "find" function to do a search for flax gel. You will find the recipe there. Good luck!

Hi Rachel,

The basic pastry recipe consists of flour water, salt and fat of some sort. This is yeast-free.

This does not mean to say that all pastry is yeast-free. Always check ingredients!

If no yeast has been added to the pastry then you should be OK.

One thing to watch out for though, is yeast overgrowth. This is not the same type of yeast as is used in baking, it is a type of yeast infection. Given your skin problem, this could be relevant.

In this case you must also watch sugar intake, and refined carbohydrates as well (which are not high on my list of healthy foods anyhow). Flour is an example of refined carbohydrate.

Eliminating refined carbohydrates and sugar from your diet is no easy task. This website might help: Yeast Free Cooking

Some doctors are aware of the full range of possible yeast infections, others may think it's just a "woman's problem" if you know what I mean, and I'm not talking about your skin.

Talk to your doctor to see if your problem might be related to a yeast infection. If they say "no", look for a second opinion, unless the doctor understands quite a bit about how yeast can affect the body.

PS Thank you for helping me to add another item to the list!

If the ingredients say that something is fermented, this usually involves yeast (but not always).

Some foods, like grapes, have naturally occurring yeast, so you have to watch out for that as well.

Sounds like a real drag, Bob. Actually, it sounds like eczema, which could be caused by all sorts of things, and yeast is one possibility.

Regarding vitamin B -some brands use a yeast based process, others not. Check with GNC to find out what they use.

Sugar is a big yeast driver. Milk products may make the problem worse also. This does not necessarily mean you must avoid milk products, just try cutting them out for a week or two and see if it makes a difference.

It sounds like you are playing trench warfare with your yeast infection (assuming that is what it is). It comes and goes. It could be worse of not for the Diflucan, but won't go away completely.

I suggest you visit your doctor again, or get a second opinion. There is a tenancy I've notices with many doctors to take a quick look at the symptoms, make an educated guess, and then write a prescription.

You shouldn't be living with this for 15 years!

What you describe could be an allergy, but I wouldn't rule out a $yeast-infection$ either.

As you have already noticed, avoiding yeast-containing products helps both conditions. Refined carbs and sugar fuels yeast growth, so that is best avoided as well.

You can check out this Yeast Free Cooking product as well.

Brown bread is the same as white bread, except brown flour (wheat flour with some of the outer part of the wheat kernel included).

Brown bread contains yeast.

Many types of rye bread also contain yeast. Some types of pumpernickel bread (extremely dense) are without yeast - but you should double check each brand to confirm this.

Other types of bread, sold as rye bread, contain a mixture of rye and wheat flour, and also contain yeast.

Take a look at the ingredients. Bakers yeast is one type of yeast. Probably it means they haven't added any type of yeast, but you can't go on 'probably'!

Rice itself does not contain yeast.

Some rice products could have yeast - rice wine for example.

Again, always check ingredients!

Doctors suggest that yeast allergy patients avoid all types of yeast.

But how do you avoid the yeast growing in your body?

There are ways of reducing and getting rid of invasive yeasts. Ingesting caprylic acid is one method.

Yeast is not found in all packaged foods. In my experience, most packaged foods are yeast free.

Check the ingredients of course.

Yes, rice and pasta are yeast-free.

I suspect that the link is a bit more indirect.

Someone with a yeast allergy can experience depression as one of the symptoms, that is for sure.

I am not aware of a link between yeast and depression without the allergy.

Feel free to comment if you have more information.

Good point, Hanna.

I have started a new article: Yeast-free Foods.

It is the beginning of an answer to your question. It will grow over time so please revisit the article every so often.

PS Thanks for the suggested article!

Yeast-free Foods

The main problem with sugar is that it feeds the yeast in your body.

High sugar consumption causes many other health problems: diabetes for example. I'm told it also reduces the effectiveness of the immune system.

Small amounts of sugar are not unhealthy for most people.

Here's the thing about sugar: everyone (and everything) loves sugar, yet you don't need it in your diet at all.

Start eating sugar, and you will want more. Eventually, it becomes a problem.

I know you won't want to hear this, but you are best to cut out sugar from your diet. Once you get used to a low- or no-sugar diet, you won't miss it.

Sounds like an interesting study. Could you give me a link to it?

Thanks

I wonder why you bother to eat bread at all, even toasted. Your body seems to be giving you a pretty clear message about it!

Yeast allergy and yeast overgrowth are completely different. One is a sensitivity to yeast, where the body reacts to too much ingested yeast (even if cooked and no longer viable).

Yeast overgrowth involves a specific type of yeast (candida, which is not the same as brewer's or baker's yeast). It is driven by over-consumption of sugar and other simple or refined carbohydrates, and skewed body chemistry.

Trying to get a complete list of yeast-free products - that's a challenge! Just listing every available product in the world is already hard enough.

You're best to check the ingredients. It's good to know what's in your food anyhow (and you may find that not everything you eat is real food).

Mold and yeast are not the same, although the are both very simple organisms. Mold is a slightly more complicated organism, but not by much.

Many people are allergic to specific types of molds rather than all molds. You could be allergic to yeast and not molds or the other way around.

The cheapest way to make vitamin B is with yeast. I believe there may be yeast-free vitamin B (for a price) but have not reseached this.

Its worth asking at the drug store (or better yet) health food store.