Yeast – the word most of us don’t like to say but the key to many of our favourite things like bread and beer.
While most of us know yeast for its presence in some of our favourite food and beverages, it can actually be used for many other purposes – more specifically, it might be the key to helping us live longer.
Yeast: The Secret to Living Longer?
First, let’s break down exactly what yeast is. Yeast is a type of fungi and like other fungi it requires warmth and moisture to thrive.
“Imagine a bunch of eggs in a basket, except that some of the eggs are a bit deformed and they have little baby eggs attached to them,” Cosmos Magazine journalist Jacinta Bowler.
“These little baby eggs are buds, which are the new baby yeast. Well, scientifically, they’re either called daughter cells or blebs.”
These blebs eventually grow big enough to separate from the parent forming a new generation of blebs.
When there’s flour or grains for the yeast to feed on, the yeast will eat the sugar on the inside which will then ferment – producing carbon dioxide which is what’s used to make fluffy bread loaves and beer.
So, we know that yeast is responsible for some of our most delicious food and beverages, but did you know that yeast can also be used in vaccinations and to help us live longer?
“In scientific research, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is sometimes used as a model organism for aging,” Jacinta said.
“In the 2000’s, scientists discovered that restricting the calories of yeast actually increased their lifespan.”
Jacinta explains how scientists discovered the secret to slowing down ageing and why they use yeast in some vaccinations.
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