Chinese fondly call the Kombucha the “immortal health elixir” that originated over 2000 years ago in the Far Eastern region. It is an age-old traditional fermented beverage that is made from black tea, mushrooms along sugar. This fermented beverage is a functional food that consists of yeast and bacterial colony, which is important for starting the process of fermentation as soon as it is mixed with sugar.
This tea that is fermented has a slightly tangy and sweet flavor that is similar to the drinks made from vinegar. As soon as the fermentation process is initiated, the drink is carbonated and has probiotics, vinegar, enzymes, B-Vitamins and is concentrated with acids, such as lactic, gluconic and acetic.
This fizzy concoction with tea and sugar solution is fermented with yeast and bacteria known as SCOBY or Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria And Yeast. SCOBY refers to mushrooms, which is a rubbery layer that spreads across the fermented liquid to seal the air to prepare it within an anaerobic condition.
It offers this drink with antibiotic properties that fight against pathogens and is an excellent choice for therapeutic purposes in humans and for pets. The tea mushroom is known to offer several health benefits, such as promoting digestion, improving immunity support, preventing cancer, weight loss, lowering joint pain, initiating weight loss, detoxification, cleansing and killing bacteria.
Note: Drinking this fermented tea at times might be dangerous. A lot of cases with adverse effects have been reported. This is primarily due to the contamination that might happen in the home preparation. Remember, there is not much scientific evidence for the authenticity of the claims mentioned below. The benefits are more based on traditional beliefs.
List of Top 15 Health Benefits Of Kombucha
1. Detoxifies The Body
Kombucha has an excellent ability for detoxifying your body. It contains glucuronic acid, which is a potent detoxifier that binds the toxins that enter your liver and remove them easily by passing them through your kidneys. It also relieves the stress on the pancreas and maintains the health of the liver. Also, it restricts the harmful effects caused by the factors of pollution in your environment.
2. Rich In Antioxidants
Kombucha is rich in antioxidants and has several organic acids like glucuronic acid to protect your body against severe oxidative damage. Their antioxidants hunt down the free radicals in your body and neutralize the effects to prevent damages. It also protects your body from signs of ageing, inflammations and diseases.
3. Lowers Hepato Toxicity
Kombucha has excellent healing properties and is highly appreciated for its hepatic protecting prowess. This fermented tea can restore glutathione levels and is very effective in reducing the induced hepatotoxicity. As it is processed by enzymes, the beverage offers impressive hepatic protection.
4. Treats And Prevents Cancer
This tea can work wonders in restricting the growth of cancer cells. The presence of glucuronic acid in it makes it very effective in preventing several types of cancer, such as breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. The detoxifying abilities of Kombucha enable it to prevent and treat all types of cancer.
5. Offers Protection From Micro Organisms
The antimicrobial properties of Kombucha make it an effective choice to tackle all variants of pathogens. The antimicrobial components and acetic acid in this tea protect the pH level and prevent infection by microorganisms like Helicobacter pylori, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia Coli, Listeria monocytogens, Staphylococcus epidermis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enteriditis.
6. Helps in Diabetes
The sweetened tea drink is said to be a natural therapeutic agent that makes it very effective for curing chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes. When compared to your regular black tea, it has excellent inhibiting properties and has superior properties that can lower the elevated levels of blood glucose levels.
It exerts impressive healing action to repair the pancreatic damages in diabetic patients. This tea also protects your kidney and liver functions by lowering the concentration of urea and taking care of the unfavourable activities that occur in your plasma membrane.
7. Eases Arthritis Pain
The glucosamines in functional beverages helps in preventing and treating several types of arthritis. It also kindles the production of hyaluronic acid that aids in relieving the pain and cartilage structure’s maintenance related to arthritis. It also contains hyaluronic acid that lowers the damage by free radicals, improves the joint elasticity by preserving collagen. This tea also lubricates the joints by strengthening the connective tissues for improving the moisture level and binds it.
8. Maintains Cholesterol Levels
Kombucha is highly beneficial in maintaining cholesterol levels. The anti-lipidemic properties present in this tea enables lowering the absorption levels of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol and improve the levels of HDL cholesterol.
9. Kombucha Initiates Weight Loss
As the drink is rich in acetic acid and polyphenols, it can induce weight loss. It also helps people feel energized and helps them to exercise for long hours without feeling tired. It also flushes away the excess toxins and burns body fats.
10. Relieves Gastric Ulcers
Manchurian mushroom offers excellent relief from all kinds of discomfort triggered by gastric ulcerations. It is loaded with phenols and antioxidants in this fermented tea protect the mucin content within the gastric tissues and lower the excess levels of gastric acids secretion. This tea is also effective in healing gastric ulcers.
11. Improves Digestion
When you drink tea mushroom regularly, it will help in improving your digestion. As it is fermented using yeast and bacteria, it performs like a probiotic to aid quick digestion. It also prevents the buildup of parasites in your stomach. Kombucha also provides good relief from several abdominal issues, such as symptoms of diarrhoea and chronic constipation.
12. Strengthens Immune System
Medusomyces gisevii is loaded with antioxidants that help it to improve your immune system and enhance the energy levels in your body. It is packed with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties that help in fighting against several viral infections and bacterial infections. Plus, this Kombucha tea can promote your body’s protection mechanism to keep allergies and illnesses at bay.
13. Tackles PMS Symptoms
The tea can clear and relieve all symptoms associated with premenstrual Syndrome. Consuming this fermented beverage regularly will relieve all your symptoms of PMS gradually.
14. Improves Skin Health
Kombucha is capable of healing serious skin conditions like eczema. This drink can clear off all the skin infections internally and also alleviate the spread of pimples and acne. It makes your skin glow with health and feel younger.
15. Keeps You Energized
Kombucha can invigorate your cells and keep you feeling energized and rejuvenated, as it has iron developed through the process of fermentation the black tea. It also has traces of caffeine and B-vitamins that are essential for energizing you. The iron in this tea is released through a process called chelation to improve the haemoglobin in the blood, promotes oxygen supply in tissues and kindle the level of energy production at the cellular level.
What does Kombucha taste like?
It tastes like cough syrup, sour and sharp. The taste is not very good. If that is not enough, it smells bad too.
With so many health benefits to offer, Kombucha is a low cost and easily available beverage. Enjoy the health benefits of this fermented tea by adding it with any herbs, fruits and juices of your choice.