Kombucha - 5 Reasons to Start Drinking it

If you live on planet earth, mostly likely you've heard of Kombucha by now. With it's sweet bubbly goodness it makes no wonder why so many people love it. With so many delicious choices to choose from - kombucha makes an excellent alternative to soda and other carbonated beverages but with the bonus of health benefits. Kombucha is not just a tasty treat, it's also a gut food. What this means is it promotes and encourages the growth of friendly bacteria in our guts, something we could all use a little more of.

Supporting the gut is an important step to any wellness lifestyle. Things like practicing stress management, avoiding chemicals, eating prebiotic foods, fermented foods, raw foods and even taking probiotic supplements help to support healthy gut ecology. These habits are important because a healthy gut is the foundation to good health and well-being.

I've been drinking kombucha for a few months now and have noticed a significant improvement in my digestion and energy.

I'll admit it took a bit to get used to, since I'm not used to drinking anything carbonated or sugary, but I have to say, it doesn't give you the same feeling soda gives you. With that said, start slow by drinking half a serving and work your way up to give your body a chance to adjust.

So what is Kombucha? Kombucha is a fermented beverage found in most health food stores (although it's turning up in some grocery stores and you can also make your own) that usually consists of black tea and sugar. Some brands add other ingredients like green tea and adaptogens like licorice and schizandra. Whatever the flavor or blend, they all provide probiotic benefits.

So here's my 5 reasons to start drinking kombucha:

1. It's antimicrobial - Kombucha has been shown to exert antimicrobial activities against bacteria strains like E. coli, Sh. sonnei, Sal. typhimurium, Sal. enteritidis, and Cm. jejuni.

2. It has antioxidant properties - The process of fermentation produces antioxidant molecules like D-saccharic acid-1,4-lactone (DSL). In one study, kombucha was shown to protect against the effects of tertiary butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP). TBHP, is a reactive oxygen species inducer, which causes oxidative stress in the body. Kombucha counteracts these effects.

3. It's great for mental health - Because of the gut-brain connection, the bacterial benefits of kombucha helps repair intestinal permeability which is related to mental health disorders.

4. Helps reduce cholesterol - Kombucha administration induced attractive curative effects on high cholesterol, particularly in terms of liver-kidney functions in rats. Kombucha induced lowered serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and increased the serum level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C).

5. Helps with Diabetes - One study aimed to investigate and compare the hypoglycemic and antilipidemic effects of kombucha and black tea and found kombucha tea was a better inhibitor of α-amylase and lipase activities in the plasma and pancreas and a better suppressor of increased blood glucose levels.

These are just a few of the benefits of kombucha. Give it a try for a few weeks and see how you feel. We could all benefit from adding fermented foods to our diets and kombucha is a delicious option to start with.

My two favorite brands right now are Rise and TrueBuch. (not affiliated)