Kombucha is a drink with an age-old recipe originating in the far east. The Chinese referred to it as the “Immortal Health Elixir.” In recent years, Kombucha has become popular with the health conscious looking for an alternative to fizzy drinks packed with artificial sweeteners and red dye whatever! At first glance, you might just think Kombucha is a fizzy, yellow, sour liquid that happens to be really fun to say. But with greater focus on health, especially gut health in recent years, this ancient recipe with perceived health benefits has gained immense popularity in the lives of the modern person.
THE PROCESS BEHIND THE DRINK
Kombucha is a fermented drink made from black tea and sugar – either cane sugar, fructose or honey. A symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, known as SCOBY, is added to begin fermentation. The drink ferments and carbonates, making it fizzy like a soda. The end product contains vinegar, vitamins from the B group, probiotics, and acids, including acetic, gluconic and lactic acid. The bacteria in SCOBY also produce cellulose within the drink which acts as a shield to cells.
RESTORE THE GUT
Kombucha makes a difference in your body. One of the immediate effects of the drink comes from the probiotics found in it. Probiotics are the good bacteria that colonize your gut and help all the food be digested and utilized by the body. They also fight infections before they even reach any other place within the body. This is because 80% of the immune system is located in your gut.
The combination of probiotics, amino acids, and enzymes support digestion and prevent stomach ulcers. If you suffer from candida overgrowth, the drink can help restore the balance within the digestive tract and re-populate the gut with good bacteria that pushes out candida.
ANTIBIOTIC WITHOUT THE ANTIBIOTICS
The beneficial bacteria in kombucha drives out bad bacteria from the gut, the first gate through which bacteria enter the body.
IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL STATE
Kombucha is rich in B vitamins. Particularly B12, a rare vitamin, is responsible for increased energy levels and overall mental well being. The restoring properties that kombucha brings to the gut also improve your mindset. This is because an unhealthy gut can become permeable to undigested food particles that once inside the body cause inflammation, and feeling bad.
KEEP BLOOD SUGAR UNDER CONTROL
Due to the antioxidants found in kombucha, the drink claims to alleviates symptoms of diabetes. The kombucha drink is made from an anti-diabetic black tea. This tea improves liver and kidney functions, essential to tackling the symptoms of diabetes.
SUPPORTS THE HEART
Kombucha has a positive effect on the whole cardiovascular system. High triglycerides in the body are linked with an increased risk for heart disease. Kombucha lowers triglyceride levels and regulates cholesterol. A Indian research group completed a study in 2016 stating ““Kombucha can be recommended for consumption by people suffering from cardiovascular diseases as well as by healthy individuals, on a daily basis.” That’s pretty awesome, right! Well, sort of. The study was on 24 lab rats but lets go with it. It’s awesome!
HELP DETOX THE BODY
The kombucha drink is a powerful additive when doing a detox. The antioxidants in the drink boost the functions of the liver and help cope with all the harmful toxins. During a detox regime, the liver is even more overloaded with the constant need to take out toxins from the body so the kombucha drink can be a benefit.
IS KOMBUCHA HEALTHY FOR YOU?
With all the health perks of the drink kombucha, there are some risks to using it. Pregnant women and breastfeeding women are advised to stay away from it as well as people who have an extremely weakened immune system. Kombucha is not something that can be taken in unlimited quantities. Drinking too much kombucha can give you a stomach ache and cause nausea.
Although kombucha can be produced at home, it is safer to buy it from a certified producer, since the production factories take care to maintain an extremely clean equipment with which the drink is made. It is harder to maintain a sterile environment inside the home.
Although few formal studies of the drink have been conducted, and most of those have been on animals, the beneficial results claimed by people for thousands of years appear to make this drink a good addition to a healthy diet.
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