Striving4Zen

For those of you that have never heard of the stuff, kombucha tea (pronounced "com-boo-cha") is a health drink that supposedly boosts the body's ability to fight sickness and disease as well as bring a healthy balance back to your metabolism and organs. Often referred to as a mushroom, kombucha is actually a symbiosis of bacteria and yeast. When sugar and black or green tea are added to kombucha, a fermentation process results in the "tea." The final product of this process is a liquid containing vinegar, B vitamins and a number of other chemical compounds. Popular with models and health foodies, I have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence mostly in the positive about drinking kombucha. Some folks think it just tastes awful, but most claim the drink gives them a calm energy and that they feel like it helps cleanse them of toxins.
On the other hand, even though it has been consumed by the Chinese since 221 B.C., there hasn't been a single human trial that has been reported in the peer-reviewed literature on the benefits of kombucha. A study of this sort would give the drink some serious cred with scientists. While that doesn't necessarily mean there are no benefits to the tea, it does make all the claims seem a bit suspect to me. Many people brew their own tea at home, which poses health risks since a home-brewing process can lead to contamination.

Labels: health food, kombucha