Truths “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”~ Confucius. What is that thing? It’s a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), a term coined by kombucha enthusiast Len Porzio in the mid- 1. It may not look appetizing, but it creates a very popular fermented beverage that goes for $4 a bottle in the health food stores. Luckily, you can make it very inexpensively at home. You just need 6 simple ingredients: a SCOBY like the one pictured above, tea, sugar, clean water, a warm place, and time. ![]() The final product contains a blend of beneficial bacteria and yeast (probiotics) as well as certain acids and enzymes that aid digestion, detoxify the body, and promote health. However, with popularity sometimes comes infamy, and a number of myths have cropped up surrounding kombucha over the years. Let’s separate the myths from the truths. Kombucha History & Science. Kombucha has been around for thousands of years, believed to have originated in China, traveled throughout Asia and Russia and eventually became a health craze in the US over the past two decades. Legend has it that it was named after a Korean physician Kombu who healed the Japanese Emperor Inyko with the tea, and the tea was then named after him: “Kombu” + “cha” (which means tea.)The science of fermentation is one practiced in homes, rather than laboratories, and for that reason it has an air of mystery. These living foods change from batch to batch, and since they can’t be patented or highly controlled, there’s no real incentive for the science community to spend resources in research. Therefore, health claims tend to be anecdotal, and certain assumptions about the “science” behind the process get spread with no real evidence to support those assumptions. We know fermented foods are powerful in their ability to support a healthy body, and restore balance to an unhealthy one. We don’t really know the fine details of how this occurs. Well, Michael Roussin, a kombucha lover, decided he wanted to know what exactly was in this drink that made him feel so good. With the help of a professional lab, he spent 1. ![]() North America and parts of Europe, with different teas, sugars, temperatures and brewing times, and he discovered some surprising things. Here are some highlights from that report: Busting the Myths. Although kombucha is made with caffeinated tea, by the end of the fermentation cycle, none remains. MYTH. Roussin found that the caffeine content doesn’t reduce at all. This myth might have started because only 6- 8 teabags are used to brew a gallon of kombucha tea, which is half the strength of a normal cup of tea. The good news is that kombucha doesn’t need caffeine to thrive. If you want to remove even more of the caffeine, simply pre- steep the tea bags for 3. Then steep these teabags again in fresh hot water, for the kombucha brew. The majority of the caffeine is dispersed in the pre- steeping. Update: You cannot decaffeinate tea at home. ![]() How I Lost Weight Eating One Meal A Day: I lost 30lbs over 5 months eating 1 meal in the evening. This is my experience by David. Invariably I get asked the question, “If carbohydrates are so bad, why did Since you are already reading this page within the. This Is How Ivanka Trump Reportedly Reacted When Her Dad Refused to Apologize for "Grab Them By the Pussy" Comments. Thanks to Mari in the comments below for busting the myth of pre- steeping tea to remove caffeine. Lab testing shows this eliminates only a small amount of caffeine. If you can’t have caffeine, buy tea that has been decaffeinated by the CO2 method (a healthier choice, compared to the more common chemical decaffeination.)Although kombucha is made with sugar, by the end of the fermentation cycle, none remains. There will always be a little sugar remaining, and the amount depends on how long the tea is fermented. Generally, people brew the tea according to their taste. A 5- day brew is going to have a high quantity of sugar remaining. A 3. 0- day brew is going to have very little remaining (yet still some). Most people brew the tea for 7- 1. This is equal to 4 teaspoons of sugar. You could brew the full 3. If you do this, you’re going to get 1. This is why many people call it a healthy soda- pop. The “healthy” part comes from the probiotics and beneficial acids it contains, and rest assured the sugar content is much lower than regular soda. You may feel tempted to try to make your kombucha with less sugar or no sugar at all, but sugar is the food your SCOBY needs to create the probiotics and acids you seek. It will become malnourished and eventually die without it. If you want to know the sugar content of your home brew, you can use sugar test strips. Update: Silvia (in the comments below) did the math and noted that 1. Here’s why: In the first stage of fermentation, the yeast uses the minerals from the tea to produce enzymes that separate sugar into glucose and fructose. At the 7- day mark, that’s as far as the process has gone. The sugar is easier to digest, but hasn’t yet diminished in concentration. By the 1. 5- day mark, it is just starting to eat/diminish the sugar content (3. ![]() ![]() 2 soda brand in the U.S. ![]() The sour flavor comes from the acids that are forming, but that sweet tone is still the sugar, unless you brew it a full 3. A study done by Cornell University confirmed these results. Kombucha is rich in B vitamins. Although it does contain these vitamins, the amounts are so small they are almost immeasurable. This was confirmed by the International Journal of Food Science and Technology. Kombucha is rich in glucuronic acid, a powerful detoxifier of the liver. ![]() ![]() Rouissin found no glucuronic acid in kombucha. Ironically, he began his experiments intending to prove otherwise. He read a book by Harald Tietze in 1. Roussin hired a reputable lab to prove him wrong. When he confirmed its absence instead, that got him curious about the other assumptions people had about kombucha, and his experiments continued. While he didn’t find glucuronic acid, he did find a different acid that is a synergist. Glucuronic acid is made naturally by the liver and works by binding to a toxic molecule and carrying it out of the body. Rouissin believes this synergist helps our body do its job. Update: Some recent studies report finding glucuronic acid in kombucha. They say Rouissin’s lab wasn’t equipped well enough to identify it. Roussin says they are mis- identifying keto- gluconic acid (the synergist) as glucuronic acid, a common mistake. But here’s my thought – does it even matter? Everyone agrees that kombucha helps our bodies detoxify. They’re just disagreeing on a name. Kombucha contains hyaluronic acid and glucosamine, which is why it’s so effective in relieving joint pain. Kombucha contains neither of these compounds. However, it does seem to have a positive effect on the joints. Roussin’s theory is that it contains the building blocks for these compounds. Kombucha contains over 5. Every batch of kombucha is different. The only things every batch contains are: (1) at least one beneficial yeast, (2) acetobacter (the beneficial bacteria in the SCOBY), (3) gluconic acid (a p. H regulator) – note: this is not the same thing as glucuronic acid referenced above, and (4) acetic acid (an anti- microbial acid, which also stabilizes blood sugar) . Most batches of kombucha will also contain an analgesic (pain reliever), an anti- arthritic compound, an anti- spasmodic compound, a liver- protective compound, and several anti- bacterial compounds. The blend varies from batch to batch. See why this elixir can’t be patented? It embodies change. Kombucha can cure everything from arthritis to gout to HIV to cancer. As Hannah Crum of Kombucha Kamp says, “Kombucha is not a panacea – it doesn’t cure anything! It brings the body back into balance so that it may heal itself naturally. That is how it is able to do so much.” Results vary from person to person. Many people do say it helps their joint pain, keeps them from getting sick, gives them energy, aids their digestion, clears their sinuses, reduces their blood pressure, clears their eczema, alleviates their headaches, and the list goes on. Then there are other people who say they enjoy the taste, but don’t really notice any effect. And still others who have a negative response to kombucha. The only way to know what it can do for you, is to try it. Kombucha is dangerous and has been linked to deaths. This one is repeated a lot, and it usually starts with a sentence like this: “There is no scientific evidence that kombucha promotes health, just anecdotal reports. However, it has been linked to both illness and death.” (With never an acknowledgement that the last sentence is an anecdotal report, and there’s no scientific evidence that kombucha is harmful.) Let’s clear up that report, though, because it’s scary. Fermentation expert Sandor Ellix Katzsums it up nicely: “In 1. US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ran a story headlined, . In two separate incidents, weeks apart, two women in Iowa had very different unexplained acute health episodes. Both drank kombucha daily and made it from the same original SCOBY. The Iowa Department of Public Health immediately issued a warning to stop drinking kombucha . When the mothers and the kombucha that possibly made the women sick were subjected to microbial analysis, . However, it’s a very small amount, usually between . If you do a second fermentation in a bottle, to flavor it and increase the carbonation, the alcohol content will increase slightly. Store bought brands were found to contain more, because the product is still fermenting in the bottle, and a long time can pass between bottling and purchase. For this reason, kombucha was temporarily pulled from store shelves in 2. Now, all store bought brands are supposed to have taken steps to prevent fermentation from continuing in the bottle. Sadly, this often means pasteurization, which limits the benefits of the drink. If you ferment more than one kind of food or beverage (sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, etc.) you need to keep them away from each other, for fear of cross- contamination: MYTH. Sandor Ellix Katz addressed this in his book, The Art of Fermentation: “While different cultures may subtly influence one another through the air over time, typically this is not an issue.
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