What can a little fizz do for you? Kombucha tea, a fizzy, uniquely flavored drink, has started a buzz. From the popular Synergy drinks to the adventurous hoping to home brew, kombucha is a low-calorie, lightly sweet and all natural drink that might just be able to improve your energy levels and cleanse your body.
What Is Kombucha?
Kombucha tea has been used for thousands of years in Russia, China and other Asian countries as a health tonic. Kombucha is frequently called "mushroom tea," but the label is not entirely accurate. While it is in part a fungus, kombucha is a combination of bacteria and yeast that live together symbiotically. Banish the idea of little bits of mushroom in a tea strainer; raw kombucha forms a gelatinous mat with an appearance like congealed gravy. It sounds unappetizing, but it transforms as tea.
A piece of this kombucha culture is sealed in a vat with sweetened tea of any variety. The sugar is what matters, as the yeast in the kombucha feeds on these sugars to ferment. The result is a sweet tea with a unique earthly flavor, a brisk fizz and trace amounts of alcohol. There's not enough alcohol in the drink for it to be considered alcoholic.
What's In The Finished Product?
Kombucha tea is loaded with beneficial yeasts and bacteria’s, amino acids, enzymes and polyphones. Its exact composition will vary from culture to culture depending on the yeasts present. Many of these substances are present in the human body and perform critical functions such as energy production and cleansing.
Common compounds include:
- B-vitamins
- C-vitamins
- Lactic Acid
- Oxalic Acid
- Acetic Acid
- Gluconic Acid
- Oxalic Acid
Many kombucha brands and brewers will also add other beneficial extracts, juices and herbs to further boost the benefits of these naturally anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and probiotic-infused teas.
Okay, But What Does It Do?
Kombucha is sometimes called the "Champagne of Life." Its proponents will tell you that kombucha is good health in a bottle.
Kombucha drinkers say the tea:
- Improves their digestion
- Improves energy levels
- Cleanses their bodies
- Boosts their immune system
- Boosts their mood
Science also has a little to say on the subject. In some kombucha teas is a substance called glucaric acid. Glucaric acid is used by the body to break down the wastes naturally cleansed by the liver and help them be flushed from the system more quickly rather than being passed through the liver over and over. Glucaric acid is also being explored for its uses fighting cancer.
For a drink so delicious, it certainly packs a lot of potential benefits. MS sufferers can enjoy a boost to their energy levels and immune systems simply by swapping out soda for this tasty, low-calorie tea. Sip to good health and long life with a cool glass of kombucha.