Dirty Dozen - KOMBUCHA

WHAT IS KOMBUCHA AND WHERE DOES IT ORIGINATE?

Crack open a bottle of Shrub-Bucha and you can hear the energy released inside this probiotic beverage even before you taste it.

An ancient recipe for fermenting sweetened tea, kombucha has been handed down through millenniums. Thought to have originated in the Far East more than 2,000 years ago, the word kombucha is derived from the Japanese root word: Kombu, meaning seaweed, and Ka meaning tea. Yet some scholars point to the map of China, Manchuria, to be exact, or Russia, or Eastern Europe, when tracing the origins of the fermented beverage that restores health and vitality and helps to prevent disease.

Kombucha begins with a strong brew of black, green or white tea, heavily sweetened with sugar. A symbiotic cultivation of bacteria and yeast, or SCOBY, is introduced to the beverage, stored in a glass jar and covered with a cloth. The liquid and its bacterial mother are allowed to ferment together in a dark, warm space for a week to 10 days, or longer.

Following the fermentation process, kombucha releases powerful antioxidants that help detoxify the body and protect it against disease. These antioxidants can help reduce inflammation, which can help protect against many chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and even cancer by eliminating free radicals in the digestive system. Kombucha supports digestion with high levels of beneficial acidic probiotics, amino acids and enzymes. It is also known to improve brain function due to the presence of B vitamins including B12, which are known to increase energy levels and stimulate overall mental well-being. Kombucha’s positive effects on liver function, diabetes mitigation, and the body’s cardiovascular and respiratory systems are widely recognized among members of the western medical community.