By Amy Szkorla
Sometimes referred to as mushroom tea, kombucha tea, and my personal favorite: 'the booch,' kombucha seems to be riding in on the newest wave of self-purported health trends. As of 2018, it was reported to be the fastest growing product in the functional beverage market, boasting a 49% increase in dollar growth over a past year.
So what is kombucha? Well, it originated in northeast China around 220 B.C as a form of medicine. It's made by fermenting tea (usually black or sometimes green or oolong) and sugar with a specific biofilm of microorganisms known as a "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast," or SCOBY for short. After 7-10 days, what you're left with is a probiotic packed cocktail of chemical components like amino acids, essential elements, antibiotic substances and even trace amounts of alcohol (cheers!)
Sounds good for you, right? Marketing teams sure seem to think so! Kombucha has been advertised to regulate gastric activities, relieve arthritis, decrease cholesterol and speed up toxin excretion just to name a few. But for every article endorsing kombucha, there's one to offer the opposite position. At the extreme end, one man reportedly died from a homemade batch gone wrong. As for mild complications, some people have reported stomach troubles and allergic reactions from ingesting too much 'booch.'
What do we make of all this conflicting information? Whatever you want! For those of you who have no interest in drinking bubbly fermented tea, the good news is you aren't missing any miracle cures. And for those who love the slightly acidic drink? A moderate amount might provide a slight boost in the amount of good bacteria in your gut. As long as you aren't drinking it by the gallon, there aren’t many drawbacks. Placebo effect or not, I personally enjoy a nice cold MasterBrew Pinapple Peach kombucha from time to time. If you're interested in seeing what all the hype is about, check out Patty Squared to get your hands on some Evanston-made Brava Kombucha.
Kapp, Julie M, and Walton Sumner. “Kombucha: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Evidence of Human Health Benefit.” Annals of Epidemiology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30527803.