Kombucha tea

[Ovidius]

Hello!

Have you heard about Kombucha tea? It has many names, such as:
Kombu, Kombu-cha, Fungus Japonicas, KT, tea fungus, tea mushroom, Manchurian mushroom tea, tea fungus, Miracle fungus. During the Tsing Dynasty it was known as the "Remedy for Immortality”, the "Elixir of Life" and "The Divine Chi."

Kombucha tea is a powerful health drink, which is reported to be the answer to many health problems.

Pronounced [Com-boo-cha], It is made and drunk right around the world. It has been a 'secret formula' for those 'in the know' and a lifesaver for many a poor person in the less blessed nations.

Kombucha works with your body to boost its natural, inbuilt ability to fight sickness and disease as well as bring a healthy balance back to your metabolism and organs.

Kombucha tea is a result of fermenting process. Usually people make it by putting together water, tea, sugar and Kombucha culture, which is the only special thing you need to have.

The Kombucha culture is the live substance which is put into the sweet tea to ferment and convert it into Kombucha tea. The culture is probably best known as a Kombucha mushroom, though this is an incorrect definition.

The Kombucha culture has been known as a mushroom, a lichen and many other things but the best and most accurate definition we have today is a "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast".

This is just a scientific term for a co-dependant live mix of bacteria and yeast. That definition sounds a little complicated, though it is where we get the more friendly term "SCOBY" from.

More info: http://www.kombuchatea.co.uk/

My question is (inspired from the question about Kava), what does Chinese Medicine say about Kombucha tea?

[shaolin_mike]

Oh yeah I've heard of this there was a craze for this stuff a few years ago. My mum and all her friends used to grow it in the fridge and drink it I remember looking at it and saying 'why must we keep this disgusting fungus in the fridge?'
I can't tell you anything about the health benefits of it just that its not very pretty.

[Ovidius]

I can't tell you anything about the health benefits of it just that its not very pretty.

Yeah, my parents had it too. The tea itself tastes a bit vinegar...

[Toltec]

I love kombucha tea and do believe in its healing properties. I read it contains a substance called glucoronic acid, which is normally made by your liver and it binds to toxins and pulls them out of your body.

It is a very probiotic drink and contains lactobacillus and other good bacteria much like yogurt does.

It tastes delicious if you brew it then bottle it and let it sit for at least 5 days at room temperature. It gets nice and fizzy, just chill it before opening or it may explode.

[Guy Carr]

kombucha tea

I had seen it ready made to have cold in bottles in a supermarket in switzerland. I was initially drawn by the ilustration of a japenese archer on the bottle but after drinking it, enjoyed it so much I looked hard for places in England to buy it. I think I must have been searching by brand name as aposed to just "kombucha tea" so I couldn't find any. now that I know that it can be bought here, my search is at an end! Thanks very much.

[Omar]

Exploding tea from mushrooms that grow in fridges?

Must pack quite a punch.

[Chiahua]

I have friends who "grow their own". It's supposed to be loaded with good stuff, but I'm not sure what that is. Apparently it's quite easy, sort of like keeping a sourdough starter in the fridge.

[Molly]

I work for a chain of natural grocery stores and we sell pretty much every kind of this stuff. I guess there are a lot of naturally occuring enzymes, vitamins, etc. in it as a result of the fermentation process that promote good digestion, metabolism, circulation, etc. I do drink it occaisionally when I dragging at work and it's a kick in the pants that makes you feel much better. It does, however, taste, uh, not awesome. I love watching people drink it for the first time because they make this great half-disgusted, half-confused, half-pleasurable face.

[willow43]

kombucha mushrooms

hi, I have been making my own kombucha tea for a few years now and i love it. i have as a result of this lots of mushrooms if anyone would like one id be happy to send them one along with instructions if needed. All i ask is that postage is paid please. I am in the UK

Linda

[Ray]

Hello family,

How exactly do you make this tea? Do you just purchase the mushrooms, toss it with the other ingredients and stick it in the fridge?

I've had kombucha tea from the grocery store. I thought it actually tasted pretty good. At first I thought it meant "Scary" tea (It's a pun on what it sounds like in Chinese)

Cheers,

Ray

[willow43]

hi there,

to make the tea you usually get the mushroom plus kt starter liquid and go from there. You never brew kombucha in the fridge as the cold slows it down to a dormant state. Once you've prepared the kombucha you let it sit covering the openening of the vessel with muslin or double thickness kitchen roll held with an elastic band for from between 5 to 10 days depending on how you like your kombucha.The longer you let it sit the more vinegary it becomes. Airing cupboards are the best place to brew it if you are in the UK that is as it does need warmth to turn the ingredients into kombucha.If you need to know more you can always email me .

Linda, UK

[Ray]

Ah that's great!

Thanks,

Ray

[mwolf]

One of the things you guys may want to be aware of though is that Kombucha Tea has had fatalities.

Kombucha (Kvass) is an acidic drink. The more you drink Kombucha the higher your body's pH is going to be.

Normal human pH is usually between 6.0 and 7.4. If your pH goes any lower, your body is in a state of metabolic acidosis.

Metabolic Acidosis can cause neurological side effects such as lethargy,narcosis, seizures and in severe cases comas. It can also cause arrhythmias and hypotension (if you stand up and get dizzy = hypotensive).

Bascially the environment that your cells require to move impulses/nutrients back and forth require a delicate pH balance. IF that goes out of whack... then you can die.

Best thing to do, would be to pick up some pH strips for your mouth and test your own pH. If you're too cheap but have some copper utensils at your home, just hold something cupric for an extended amount of time (30mins to an hour) and look at your hand and see if you have black marks on your hand. That means your body is too acidic.

It is recommended that you only drink 4oz of Kombucha a day. If you're a very base person, then you can probably afford to have 8oz... but if you're already acidic, please be careful.

I had to stop drinking Kombucha because I already had a very low pH (acidic) to start with.

Best of luck with your Kombucha brewing!

[Anton S.]

Normal human pH is usually between 6.0 and 7.4. If your pH goes any lower, your body is in a state of metabolic acidosis.

Dear Mwolf, this is wrong. There is no "normal human pH". You are talking about the pH of the blood. This is highly regulated between 7.35 and 7.45.

Metabolic Acidosis can cause neurological side effects such as lethargy,narcosis, seizures and in severe cases comas. It can also cause arrhythmias and hypotension (if you stand up and get dizzy = hypotensive).

This is true. Food and drink can have an effect on the blood pH. But metabolic acidosis cannot occur from a few cups of Kombucha Tea in a healthy patient. The pH-test of the skin or saliva is therefore not necessary.

Just don´t worry too much and keep enjoying life (and tea) !

[Irina]

Dear all

Paracelsus was the first one to say, "It depends only upon the dose whether a poison is a poison."

Yes, the tea is acidic due to fermentation process, but like with all things, if you do not exaggerate it might be healthy, I remember when I was a child we had kept the colony of yeasts and bacteria called kambucha - which is sometimes erroneously called "mushroom" but in fact is not - it on our windowsill. We used to prepare sweet black tea, let it become cold and then put the kambucha colony iside. After few days the tea was ready. I liked the taste. Then we did some experiments with different kind of teas. Instead of using black tea we used peppermint tea, herbal teas, etc.

After a while we were tired of "feeding", cleaning, looking after this thing and we got rid of it.

There is very limited scientific data supporting any benefit for health attributed to the tea. Most of the information is based on stories, personal accounts and myths.

However, if you like it, Enjoy! :-)