Kombucha or CONbucha?

Have you caught onto the latest ‘health’ drink craze yet? Kombucha — a slightly sweet, subtly tart, fizzy, fermented tea. It is made using Tea leaves (dried Camellia sinensis), table sugar, and water. A Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria + Yeast (SCOBY) is used to aid the fermentation process.

This beverage is highly contagious amongst health + celebrity trendsetters — and their disciples. It’s also popular with some ‘health conscious’ people who don’t drink coffee or teas, which is strange as Kombucha contains caffeine. (Perhaps it’s just that they don’t enjoy hot drinks?)

And rather than purchase it from a store (as it’s around $5 for 300ml), some health bloggers + facebookers recommend that you make your own ‘home-brew’ using a hand-me-down SCOBY  (which contains, who-knows-what types of gremlins — good or bad). This gives inexperienced consumers control over the taste profile, and the alcohol content of their ‘Booch’. This is not a wise idea.

Note: Kombucha is referred to as ‘Mushroom Tea’ as the SCOBY looks like a giant slimey mushroom.

If you google Kombucha, you’re either going to get people raving about this effervescent beverage, or you’ll get people saying there is no evidence to substantiate any of its purported health claims (while this drink has apparently been around for centuries, it only started ‘trending’ in the last decade).

It has been claimed that this probiotic beverage will improve your immune + digestive systems. Kombucha also apparently enhances your libido, increases your energy, stabilises your moods and detoxes you.

So, what to make of all of this? You must make your own conclusions!
Hopefully, not only will you take into consideration the information available to you, but you’ll also use your own nouse, to determine whether you’ll regularly partake or not.

Me? I don’t drink this beverage. I have tried it a couple of times, but found it too sweet to drink without diluting it 50:50 with sparkling H20.  But professionally? I would never recommend it to my clients for their health.

Note: As a Naturopath, I have to make sure the probiotics I recommend to my clients are genus, species and strain specific e.g. Lactobacillus acidophilus (NCFM), Bifidobacterium lactose (Bi07), or Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG). These highly ‘specific’ bacteria have been researched and are known to make safe passage through and onto the intestinal tract in humans. I also have to make sure there are therapeutic levels of viable bacteria, that the bacteria have been produced, stored and transported correctly, and that there is no chance of harming my client.

I would only ever indulge in a commercially brewed, unpasteurised Kombucha (as I did for this blog-post). At least this way, there is some sort of consistency or standard in what is being produced.

The makers will be trying very hard to regulate the sugar + alcohol content of their product. They will also hopefully be au fait with bacteria + yeast specimens, the brewing process,  and hygiene regulations!

Note: Unfortunately, you’ve got to ask yourself who are the so-called experts producing this product, and promoting its health benefits? Are they really in a position to be doing so? Are they batch-testing to ensure quality, safety, and consistency? And, prior to their product being available in-store, how are they storing and transporting it?

When imbibing a bottle of ‘Booch’,  I am under no illusion that this drink is going to contribute to my good health, or that this product contains meaningful amounts of B-vitamins, antioxidants, specific acids or whatever else they think may be in my bottle of brew. I just hope that it doesn’t harm my health in anyway!

Note: Did you know that you make your own B-vitamins? The good bacteria in your gut make them for your own use! This is why it is important to supplement your diet with a B-vitamin complex while taking antibiotics.

FYI: I wrote this previous blog-post about your body’s microbiome.

Why would you think this product had anything ‘going for it’ over other fermented items? Might I suggest it’s because it’s more tasty?

We have oodles of fermented foods on offer — why do we need a fermented tea beverage? We already have: Kefir, Kimchi, Miso, Pickles, Sauerkraut, Sour cream, Sourdough, Tempeh, Tofu, Vinegar, and Yoghurt.

Note: None of these are sweet, necessitate the need for added flavour (although you can), and if any of them were bubbling significantly… Well, you just know that this wouldn’t be good for your health.

If you’re one of those people who insist that Kombucha improves your sense of wellbeing, maybe it’s because you’re drinking quite an intoxicating beverage? Again — it’s primarily caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and fizz!?  Perhaps if you consumed one of the above foods on a daily basis you too would experience an equally (if not greater) beneficial effect on your health?