Vegemite

Food · Protein · Food, Typed Supps

A little goes a long way, both for the B vitamins and the salt.

Stage by stage

Intake (Dissolves quickly): The concentrated paste dissolves as soon as it meets saliva and warm toast.
Stomach (Minimal further breakdown needed): Little digestion is required, since the yeast has already been broken down (autolysed) during processing.
Small intestine (B vitamins absorbed): Thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6 and folate are absorbed into the bloodstream.
Bloodstream (Used as metabolic cofactors): B vitamins act as coenzymes that help convert food into usable cellular energy.

Timing

Usually eaten on toast at breakfast; a thin scrape is the standard serving, since both the flavour and the sodium content are very concentrated.

Time to effect

Hours: B vitamins from a single serving are absorbed and circulating within a few hours.

Allergens

Contains: Gluten. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

221 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — very high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £11 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin)
Folate
Sodium

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 163.2
Protein: 24.4g
Carbohydrate: 10.9g
of which sugars: 1.6g
Fat: 0.9g
of which saturated: 0.1g
Fibre: 6.5g
Sodium: 3000mg

Food vs. supplement

A thin 4–5g scrape delivers a meaningful share of a day’s thiamin, riboflavin and niacin — a level of B-vitamin density unusual for a condiment, at a cost no supplement can match.

Kitchen tip

Spread it thin on buttered toast — a little goes a long way, and too much overwhelms the bread with salt.

Common myth

"Vegemite is too salty to have any real nutritional value." In reality: A thin, standard serving genuinely supplies useful amounts of B vitamins for very few calories — the sodium concern only becomes real if it’s spread on thick, which defeats the point of a condiment this strong-flavoured.

Recipes that use it

Vegemite on Toast