Why drink Kombucha Tea?

Its origins are lost in history, but in the earliest records two thousand years ago it was known as ‘the elixir of long life’.

• Drinking Kombucha promotes good health and helps millions of people with its excellent detoxifying and immune-enhancing   There are no known negative reactions from drinking kombu tea, except for improper brewing methods.
• Kombucha is not just a health tonic; it is a complete therapy and has proved itself to be a quite remarkable therapeutic drink
• Kombucha is made from sweetened tea into which a Kombucha culture (a symbiosis of bacteria and yeasts) is placed.  It can taste similar to apple cider or a refreshing light wine, depending on the fermentation time and type of tea used.

Encouraging Self-Empowerment

There are some over-sensational claims for Kombucha’s benefits as a panacea for all ills, to is not. It is difficult, in a symptom-based medical system, for people not to expect a cure for their specific illness, rather than seek an understanding of the underlying causes of that illness or imbalance. The human body constantly seeks health and balance, but when it has been abused for many years, this balance is compromised. Once brought back to strength through detoxification, improved functioning and an enhanced immune system, the body can initiate its own natural mechanisms for healing.

Kombucha – a Nutritious Food

The Kombucha beverage should be regarded principally as a food unusually rich in nutritive properties, rather than just a health drink. As in yogurt, the bacteria are a great source of nutrition, but in addition Kombucha has a wide range of organic acids, vitamins and enzymes that give it its extraordinary value. It contains the range of B vitamins, particularly B1, B2, B6 and B12, that provide the body with energy, help to process fats and proteins, and which are vital for the normal functioning of the nervous system. There is also vitamin C which is a potent detoxifier, immune booster and enhancer of vitality.

Tea and Sugar’s Role in Kombucha

1. Tea (Camilla sinesis) is very nutritious, especially in its unfermented green form. It is high in fluorides and has anti-carcinogenic properties; it provides nitrogen, minerals, vitamins, and other substances essential for nutrition, and promotes the growth of the micro-organisms and the cellular construction of the Kombucha culture. Green tea is also high in vitamin C.
2. Sugar plays an essential part in Kombucha’s brewing process, providing a nutrient solution for the culture, assisting in the feeding and respiration of the micro-organisms, and activating the yeasts. It also gets the fermentation process going. The yeast cells make certain organic acids, vitamins and supplementary yeasts, while the bacteria produce carbonation, ethanol and other organic acids. The bacteria break down the sugars into acetic acid and carbon dioxide.

How Does Kombucha Work?
Kombucha is an effective metabolic balancer (helping the various organs work together), probiotic (supporting the beneficial bacteria), adaptogen (balancing processes that get out of kilter) and detoxifier. The probiotic case for Kombucha is that it encourages healthier intestinal flora by introducing lactic acid-producing bacteria. These work in a similar way to acidophilus bacteria, the active ingredient in live yogurt. An old saying, ‘healthy gut, healthy body,’ puts it simply. The acidity level of the gut is all-important, as is the health of its microbial flora which play a crucial role in the functioning of the whole body.

Bacteroides and Bifidobacteria

The bacteria in the intestines can be divided into two main types

1. the less acid-forming bacteroides are responsible for the decaying matter in the colon; elderly people tend to have more gastric disorders; these stem from a low hydrochloric acid production in the stomach, creating more room for fungi and parasites to take hold; bacteroides are encouraged by a diet high in fats and proteins.
2. the more acidic ones, called bifidobacteria, are more beneficial because they produce essential organic acids, such as acetic, lactic and folic acids, which raise the acidity of the intestines, preventing invading pathogens from taking hold. In addition, by keeping down the bacteroides population, they discourage the putrefaction from becoming toxic. The bifidobacteria are favoured by a diet high in carbohydrate, fiber and lactose-vegetarian food and are more common in individuals who were breast-fed as babies. They are also assisted by drinking Kombucha tea.

Kombucha – a Nutritious Food

Kombucha culture has a wide range of organic acids, vitamins and enzymes that give it its extraordinary value. It contains the range of B vitamins, particularly B1, B2, B6 and B12, that provide the body with energy, help to process fats and proteins, and which are vital for the normal functioning of the nervous system. There is also vitamin C which is a potent detoxifier, immune booster and enhancer of vitality.

Probiotic Organic Acids.

There are two organic acids produced by Kombucha culture which encourage the activity of the resident bifidobacteria, thus restoring a healthy balance with the bacteroides:

1. Lactic acid which is essential for healthy digestive action (through its derivative lactobacilli) and for energy production by the liver, and is not found in the tissues    of people with cancer.
2. Acetic acid which is an antiseptic and inhibitor of pathogenic bacteria.

Kombucha’s Vital Organic Acids

Glucuronic acid, normally produced by a healthy liver, is a powerful detoxifier and can readily be converted into glucosamines, the foundations of our skeletal system.

• A product of the oxidation process of glucose – glucuronic acid – is one of the more significant constituents of Kombucha culture. As a detoxifying agent, it has come into its own today in our highly polluted world. It is one of the few agents that can cope with the pollutive products of the petroleum industry, including all the plastics, herbicides, pesticides and resins. It ‘kidnaps’ the phenols in the liver which are then eliminated easily by the kidneys.
• Another byproduct of glucuronic acid are the glucosamines, the structures associated with cartilage, collagen and the fluids which lubricate the joints. Collagen reduces wrinkles, while arthritis sufferers have their deficient cartilage and joint fluids replenished.

Other valuable organic acids produced by the Kombucha culture, some of which have a more direct effect on other organs include:

1. Usnic acid has selective antibiotic qualities which can partly deactivate viruses.
2. Citric acid is an antiascorbic.
3. Oxalic acid encourages the intercellular production of energy, and is a preservative.
4. Malic acid also helps the liver to detoxify.
5. Gluconic acid is a sugar product which can break down to caprylic acid to work symbiotically with Butyric acid
6. Butyric acid (produced by the yeast) protects human cellular membranes, and combined with Gluconic acid which is produced by the bacteria,strengthens the walls of the gut in order to combat yeast infections such as Candida.
7. Nucleic acids, like RNA and DNA, transmit information to the cells on how to perform correctly and regenerate.