Q & A Thursday: is vegemite healthy?
Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea
I’m going to tread carefully here – commenting on the nutritional value of an Australian icon.
Despina has asked – is vegemite healthy?
The short answer is – it’s not too bad. There are better foods and there are worse foods.
Vegemite is a dark brown paste made from yeast extract, that was first invented in the 1920s. For those living in the UK and New Zealand, it’s similar to marmite.
Vegemite is a concentrated source of some of the B vitamins. One teaspoon contains 50 percent of your daily requirement of B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin) and B9 (folate). Unlike Marmite, it isn’t fortified with vitamin B12.
Vegemite is practically fat free and is also low in kilojoules. Which are all positives.
The main problem with Vegemite is it’s high in sodium. One teaspoon contains 150mg of sodium. This is 16 percent of the daily Adequate Intake (AI) level and 7 percent of the recommended Upper Level (UL) of intake.
This is a lot for one teaspoon of a condiment.
It depends how you use Vegemite
As I’ve blogged before the health value of a food is rarely black and white. It usually depends on how you use it.
And this is my main concern with Vegemite. It’s not the product itself which is potentially unhealthy, but what it replaces. The occasional scraping of Vegemite on toast in the morning, or as an afternoon snack is okay, but it’s not an adequate filling for a lunch-time sandwich.
Lunch and dinner are where most people eat the majority of their daily protein. It’s also where we have most of our vegetables.
If you’re having a vegemite sandwich for lunch then you’re missing out on protein, antioxidants and the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals.
As with most foods Vegemite is healthy if enjoyed in moderation.
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.
If you have a question you’d like answered send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
Photograph by Dramagirl under the terms of a creative commons license.
08 May, 2008
Comments
Great question and interesting answer! I was wondering if your answer would be the same about promite which is my black tar of choice (and is a little sweeter)! I tend to have it with cheese, tomatoes or dahl on toast.
Johanna I haven’t looked at the nutritional information on a Promite jar, and they don’t have it on their website. But I suspect it’s very similar to Vegemite. It also has the same Bs, no B12 and would be low in kilojoules, fat, etc. It is slightly sweeter than Vegemite, so may have sugar added?
I didn’t know that Marmite had B12.
Off to change brand, methinks.
Now you have made me think I should pick up my promite jar and check – the B vitamins seem about the same but per 100g the energy is 833kj, protein is 14.6g, fat is 2.2g, carbs 29.7g with 18.4g being sugars and 4844mg of sodium.
Sugar is the second ingredient on the list – when I was a vegemite lover as a child I didn’t like promite because of its sweetness but now I think it gives it more flavour.
Johanna – the nutritional breakdown for vegemite per 100g is: energy 589kJ, protein 24.4g, fat 1g, carbohydrates 8.1g with 0.2g sugars and 3,000mg sodium (from Food Standards Australia).
So a slightly different nutritional breakdown, but considering we only eat teaspoons of the stuff it doesn’t make a big difference to your diet.
I must confess to being a UK Marmite LOVER. Whenever we have a friend over from the UK they have to bring us at least one 500g jar of Marmite. At one point, after a particularly busy patch we had 4kg on the top of our cupboard. It’s the taste I grew up with. So while I like Vegemite, I’d choose Marmite any day.
ahhh Vegemite. i am a deep, hopeless, religious Vegemite fan. i grew up on the stuff and i don’t know if i could ever give it up (even if it is manufactured by Kraft!).
i eat Vegemite almost every day. my breakfast for the last six months or so has been two pieces of rye toast with butter, Vegemite, and sliced cucumbers. so good!
p.s. i have hated Marmite with a passion ever since my Grandma in England tried to pass it off as Vegemite. never again!
I am a vegemite lover too, and can’t stand that marmite stuff. Kathryn, how can you say it is similar? Wash your mouth out. :-)
Lindsey – I think it has a lot to do with the brand you grew up with. My former years were in the UK, so British marmite is still my favourite. Don’t even like the marmite sold over here, which is made in New Zealand.
Vegeyum – humbly, please accept my apologies for my blasphemy!
@ Lindsey: Vegemite with cucumber? Can’t say I’ve tried that!
I love Vegemite, especially on toasted rye bread Mmmm :) After having Vegemite sandwiches on staleish bread all through school, I promised myself that I’d never eat another one…and I have kept my promise ;)
Ah, Vegemite – breakfast on toast – from when was a kid to 50yrs later. All that’s really changed is the selection of bread from white to either a healthier kibble, sourdough or rye. The thing with Vegemite is should be spread as a thin paste – more is too much – taste wise.
½ a teaspoon over to two slices of buttered toast is probably a little too much.
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