Kombucha tea is a fermented drink available in health food stores and online that purportedly brings about a number of positive health effects. Green or black tea is fermented with a specific bacteria called the "mother" to create a sparkling drink with an apple cider-like flavor. Kombucha contains B vitamins and a trace amount of minerals, including chromium, iron and potassium notes Brent Bauer, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic. The health benefits of kombucha are largely anecdotal and not based in scientific fact, although it has been used for hundreds of years by Chinese medicine and folk medicine practitioners in the United States and Europe.
Weight Management and Digestion
Advocates of kombucha believe the tea helps regulate digestion and weight control. Some websites, such as HappyHerbalist.com, claim that by drinking 4 to 8 oz. 30 minutes prior to your main meals you can promote weight loss. Others recommend consuming a glass of kombucha first thing in the morning to rev the metabolism. HappyHerbalist.com also claims that kombucha consumption can stimulate weight gain "if this is what your body needs." The bacteria in kombucha is also said to help alleviate gas, constipation and other digestive ailments.
Immunity
Kombucha's effects on immunity raised the interest of researchers in the 1920s. Tom Valentine of "Search for Health" magazine points to writings by Dr. E. Auraner from 1929 referencing the successful use of kombucha in Asia to treat fatigue, old age, gout, rheumatism and diabetes. "The New York Times" reported in March 2010 that home-brewed versions of kombucha became popular in the 1990s with people suffering from HIV and AIDS because of its purported immune-boosting properties.
Negative Health Implications
While bottled kombucha has to pass quality standards, homemade brews may cause serious negative health effects. "The New York Times" also pointed out a 1995 incident in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested daily consumption of kombucha caused the death of a woman due to an excessive buildup of acid in the body. Some people also suffer allergic reactions or stomach upset after consuming kombucha.
Lead Poisoning
Lead poisoning can be another side effect of improperly prepared kombucha. When the tea is brewed in a ceramic pot, the acids cause leaching of lead from the glaze. Manufacturers take precautions to prevent this side effect, but unknowing home brewers are at risk.
Member Comments
mran October 11
Seriously...lead? Come on. If you want to trash kombucha, you can do a lot better than this with only minor research efforts. If lead is a concern, why aren't you writing articles against tea made in teapots or ceramic mugs? Lead hasn't been used in ceramic glaze in ages.
If you had done any research, you might have come across a real concern about kombucha, which is that it is an uncontrolled culture of wild yeast, which has a tendency to mutate rapidly and unpredictably, so that one has no way to know what, exactly is in a cup of the tea. It's not the same as home brewing or baking, where the fermentation is controlled, and the initial yeast a known factor.