Chinese in origin and having been used for well over 2,000 years, the “Immortal Health Elixir” is a beverage with many incredible health benefits. Kombucha is an interesting beverage that has been shown to provide benefits to your heart, brain, and gut, but while many people drink it, many don’t actually understand what difference this drink is making for the body. Read on to find out for yourself!

What is Kombucha

Kombucha is made by following a fermentation process that ultimately develops a large number of healthy bacteria that serve as probiotics. These probiotics are able to line your digestive tract and support your immune system by absorbing nutrients and helping to fight developing infections and illnesses.  Your gut is responsible for housing 80% of your immune system, which – since this is the second largest section of your neurological system – understandably awards the gut the title of the “second brain”.

The fermented and gut-benefiting drink, kombucha, is made out of black tea (or some green teas) and various sugars (cane sugar, fruit, or honey). As a probiotic, kombucha contains an interesting collection of bacteria and yeasts that initiate the fermentation process once the sugar is added, after which the kombucha adopts a carbonation containing vinegar, vitamin B, enzymes, probiotics, and certain acids (such as acetic, gluconic, and lactic).  This sugar and tea concoction is properly fermented by the bacteria and yeast, which is most commonly identified as a “SCOBY,” which stands for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast.

Due to kombucha’s growing popularity, it can be found at most natural health food stores and many groceries generally for $5 or less. Additionally, kombucha can be made at home.

What are the Benefits of Kombucha?

So now that we understand what kombucha is, it’s important to clarify exactly what it benefits. See the following list for reasons why you should begin introducing kombucha to your daily diet:

1. It Helps Prevent Diseases. Not only does it help your gut health and boost your immune system, kombucha also contains powerful antioxidants that serve to detoxify your body, which protects from disease and even cancers, especially by reducing inflammation. (1)
2. It Supports Your Gut. We’ve already mentioned this one, but it’s important to stress that kombucha greatly helps digestion due to its high levels of beneficial acids, probiotics, amino acids, and enzymes, and it also helps heal stomach ulcers. (2)
3. Improves Mental Health. Due to the high level of B vitamins contained within kombucha, your brain can be benefitted by increased energy levels and overall mental wellbeing by drinking kombucha (1). Additionally, your gut also plays a strong role in mental health, so a healthy gut often leads to a healthy mind (1). Studies have suggested that kombucha could be useful in preventing or minimizing anxiety disorders and depression. (3)

Conclusion

These are just three reasons out of many that should encourage one to drink kombucha more regularly. There is plenty more science-backed evidence that further praises this drink as beneficial for one’s health, so try introducing it to your diet a little bit at a time to see how you improve!

References

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24192111
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/?term=kombucha+tea
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3904694/