8 Reasons To Love Kombucha

Kombucha is everywhere now, but my love and respect for kombucha goes back over twenty years – long before it was cool. These days, many flavors and variations fill grocery store shelves. At $3-5 a bottle, it can get expensive to buy kombucha; however, with a little time it can easily be made at home! To learn how to make kombucha, check out my blog post here.

In this post, I want to share WHY I love drinking kombucha! Let’s dive right in!

Eight Reasons I Drink Kombucha Every Day:

  1. To cut back on, and ultimately QUIT, drinking diet soda. Diet soda was once a major addiction for me. I’ve heard it said, that if you want to break a bad habit, replace it with a better one. Enter Kombucha! It’s lightly effervescent, which makes for a perfect replacement for soda. I love fizzy, carbonated drinks! Kombucha is so refreshing.
  2. For the ENERGY! Kombucha is loaded with B vitamins! A typical 16 ounce bottle of booch contains about 25% of the DV of Folate, 20% of riboflavin, B6, thiamine, niacin and B12.1
  3. For the PROBIOTICS! In one study, published in the Nutrients journal, researchers found 34 genera with 200 microbial species and reported that “the broad microbial diversity with proven health benefits for the human gut suggests kombucha is a powerful probiotic.”2
  4. Anti-inflammatory effects. Many believe that inflammation is at the root of many diseases. Kombucha has high levels of polyphenols, which contribute to its immunomodulating and anti-inflammatory effects. The fermentation process increases the polyphenol content significantly.3
  5. Helps keep my blood sugar balanced. Animal studies showed that kombucha may suppress sudden spikes in blood sugar.4 Please keep in mind that I tend to steer clear of high-sugar brands of kombucha. Please see my UPCOMING post on my FAVORITE STORE-BOUGHT KOMBUCHA BRAND, including information on how much kombucha is advisable to drink per day. The easiest way to control how much sugar is in your kombucha is to make it at home! I have a POST on how to do it! I periodically taste test my brew, and can tell by taste when most of the sugar has been eaten up by the SCOBY.
  6. May Help to Prevent or Inhibit Cancer. Many of the studies done in the realm of cancer research involving kombucha have involved animals. Researchers recognize that more human studies need to be completed to see if the benefits hold true to humans as well; however, to me, this is a very promising benefit!5
  7. Lowers My Chances of Getting Sick – I find that the more probiotic rich foods and beverages I include consistently in my diet, the less I get sick. This is my personal experience but animal studies seem to support this claim as well!5
  8. Liver Protection and Detoxification. The microbe Gluconacetobacter sp. A4 in kombucha tea was studied for possible hepatoprotective effects. Researchers found that certain bacterial strains commonly found in kombucha had possible protective effects in the case of drug-induced liver damage in animal models.6

I could honestly go on and on! Kombucha is chock full of probiotics. I believe research is just beginning to scratch the surface of how beneficial and necessary the microbiome is!

References

  1. https://draxe.com/nutrition/kombucha-benefits/
  2. Kaashyap M, Cohen M, Mantri N. Microbial Diversity and Characteristics of Kombucha as Revealed by Metagenomic and Physicochemical Analysis. Nutrients. 2021 Dec 13;13(12):4446. doi: 10.3390/nu13124446. PMID: 34960001; PMCID: PMC8704692.
  3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814606004250
  4. Aloulou A, Hamden K, Elloumi D, Ali MB, Hargafi K, Jaouadi B, Ayadi F, Elfeki A, Ammar E. Hypoglycemic and antilipidemic properties of kombucha tea in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012 May 16;12:63. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-63. PMID: 22591682; PMCID: PMC3403982.
  5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1047279718307385?via%3Dihub
  6. Wang, Y., Ji, B., Wu, W., Wang, R., Yang, Z., Zhang, D. and Tian, W. (2014), Hepatoprotective effects of kombucha tea: identification of functional strains and quantification of functional components. J. Sci. Food Agric., 94: 265-272. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.6245

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