What is it?

First things first, what is Kombucha? In the most basic explanation, Kombucha is fermented sweet tea. It is made with tea, sugar, “healthy” bacteria and yeast. First, the bacteria and yeast must grow together to make a culture. Then, to ferment the culture and sweet tea, mix them together and let it sit. The end result of this ferment is a drink with a tangy vinegar taste. Kombucha then has to go through a 2nd fermentation to get that nice flavor you find in commercially packaged Kombucha drinks. The 2nd fermentation is also where it gets bottled and how it achieves that lightly carbonated goodness.

Why drink it?

There are many possible health benefits to drinking Kombucha. I’m going to insert my disclaimer here that I absolutely am not a doctor or any other kind of qualified health professional, and this is not medical advice. I simply am sharing with you information that I have found via my own personal research online.

The probiotics found in fermented foods is one of the most noted benefits of drinking Kombucha. Probiotics are healthy microbes that support gut health. Your gut, also considered the second brain of your body, plays such a huge role on overall health and wellbeing. It’s important to keep it in top shape. The best thing you can do is give it the healthy bacteria it needs to thrive.

Other benefits include things like detox, reducing inflammation, and strengthening the immune system. This is due to the number of acids, b vitamins, and antioxidants found in the fermented tea. Some research even suggests that Kombucha can be a useful aid in fighting against cancer. This is largely due to the antioxidants. Cell damage is what leads to cancer and other diseases, so the more cells you can protect with antioxidants, the less damage there will be.

Is Kombucha right for me?

There is typically no harm in trying Kombucha to see how it makes you feel (again, not a doctor). A few caveats to this would be if you are pregnant or otherwise avoiding alcohol for religous purposes. Due to the natural fermentaion of Kombucha, it produces trace amounts of alcohol. I highly recommend you purchase a commercially packaged Kombucha from a store to start out. These are non-alcoholic and only contain around 0.5% ABV. When choosing a brand, pay attention to the ingredients and the serving size. My personal favorite is GT’s Kombucha. You want to look for a brand that doesn’t have a ton of added sugars, and recommended serving size would be between 4-8 ounces of Kombucha per day. Too much can be a bad thing and cause headaches, nausea and GI distress.

Homemade Kombucha

If you end up enjoying commercially packaged Kombucha, and decide you want to make your own, there are plenty of resources online to teach you how to do it. There can be pros and cons to this. Aside from start up costs, making your own would be substantially cheaper. And you would have more control over different flavorings, teas, and fermentation time. The major con would be safety concerns. If condtions arent sanitary during the entire process, then consuming the Kombucha could be detrimental to your health or have serious negative side effects.

A good rule of thumb is to do your due diligence and research a reputable brand to purchase a kit and/or learn from. I used this kit when making my own, and so far it has worked perfectly. I haven’t completed my first batch yet, but there will be a post on it soon!

Please comment if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer or find another online artilce to direct you to. This is just to give you a basic knowledge of Kombucha, and not meant to replace advice of a doctor or medical professional. Nor is it meant to teach you how to brew your own Kombucha.