Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Like many people here I had never heard of Kombucha before going Paleo. Seems like A LOT of people are drinking Kombucha.

But I ask... Where is the evidence of its effectiveness? I have searched the web far and wide and all I have found is anecdotal evidence and claims that it can cure everything from hormonal disorders to AIDS...

Does anyone have a link to any research that has found some benefit? I am reluctant to drink stuff that may give me yeast infections and a host of other problems unless I know that someone has actually studied this and found evidence.

If anyone has links to any research that would be great. Thanks.

flag	asked May 9 2012 at 8:04 MrsD 1,779●1●4●14

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I think most people understand that the anecdotal evidence is just anecdotal. I don't believe the health claims about it have been studied. It's a fermented food, which is made out to be an important dietary element in most forms of paleo and WAPF, etc. What I've found is that it's a delicious, refreshing beverage that gives me a little buzz, so that's why I drink it! :) – Gazelle May 9 2012 at 10:06

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Drinking kombucha will not "give you" a yeast infection unless you've already got a problematic overgrowth of candida or there's some other major imbalance in your gut flora. If that was the case, you'd probably have symptoms/problems even without drinking kombucha. – Chris May 9 2012 at 15:35

@chris. I'm allergic to yeast so I cannot tolerate beer, vinegar, wine, mushrooms, yeast extract.. That's why I'm concerned about Kombucha. – MrsD May 9 2012 at 16:02

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If you're allergic to yeast and can't tolerate vinegar, beer, etc., then you definitely can't drink kombucha. I guess I'm not sure why you'd even consider it. – Chris May 9 2012 at 17:50

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You will never get big, scientific research for something that people can easily make in their kitchen because big, scientific research is very expensive. For pharmaceutical drugs, for example, I have heard numbers as high as $262 million for the research. – bachcole Jul 31 at 11:18

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Eugenia · Answer 1 · 2012-05-09 23:53:29Z UTC

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A good place to start is this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=kombucha

What's interesting here is that kombucha doesn't seem to excite these researchers. Instead, the Greek Mountain Tea (Sideritis) does, and it shows major health benefits: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=sideritis And yet, the Paleo people don't know about it! Personally, that's the tea I go for, and it's herbal too, so no caffeine in it.

Here's how to prepare Greek Mountain Tea: http://eugenia.queru.com/2007/04/21/greek-mountain-tea/

edited May 9 2012 at 23:53

answered May 9 2012 at 11:27

Eugenia
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	Thanks Will look at it now. – MrsD May 9 2012 at 11:51
	@Eugenia. I've just looked it up and yes it does sound very promising. I will order some and make iced tea from it. Thanks – MrsD May 9 2012 at 12:05
	Och, how did I not know about this, my roots are in the Greek mountains... About to get very excited about this whole Sideritis departure! Thanks! – Basil.G May 9 2012 at 13:26
	Fascinating! I had never heard of sideritis before. – tdgor May 9 2012 at 15:03
	I saw this at a Greekfest last summer - didn't try it then, but I'm intrigued. Any idea if it's safe to drink during pregnancy? – savorycrow May 9 2012 at 21:14

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PrimalDanny · Answer 2 · 2012-05-09 11:08:53Z UTC

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I came across Kombucha long before I heard of paleo, and enjoyed it as a non-sugary, non-sweetened, non-fullocrap soft drink. I can't say I'd really bought into the health benefits at that point (and haven't done any scientific surveys on the matter either). But then I'm not likely to buy into a host of unspecified risks either.

answered May 9 2012 at 11:08

PrimalDanny
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I bought into them because I felt fantastic after drinking Kombucha. Turns out, I was having good amounts of the recalled batches; the ones with a considerable alcohol content ;) – Julia May 9 2012 at 16:42

g. · Answer 3 · 2012-05-10 00:15:09Z UTC

Evidence?!? MEH. Kombucha is a frecking delicious beverage!

I used to brew my own and make it super-awesome with ginger and berries and stuff. But after I ditched gluten I developed (or discovered?) an allergy to yeast. I miss kombucha so bad. Definitely not recommending it if you have a yeast allergy. No way. But for everybody else: Yes way! yum yum yum.

AG · Answer 4 · 2012-05-09 14:59:12Z UTC

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I've seen more studies about the dangers of Kombucha than any benefits. I avoid it. There are better fermented drinks around.

answered May 9 2012 at 14:59

AG
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Can you link to some of the studies that have impressed you the most? – Sara S. May 9 2012 at 15:07

Yeah, I'm curious about the dangers. Also, milk kefir isn't tolerated by everyone, and I haven't been able to get my home-brewed water kefir as strong as kombucha yet. Are there any other fermented beverages out there you've found helpful? – Violet9 May 9 2012 at 17:40

Everything I've read has pointed to home-brewed kombucha as being unsafe because of molds, bacteria, and anthrax (!) being introduced thru unsanitary preparation. I'm typing this on my phone and linking is a pain. I can link some articles when I get home. – HeatherN1321 May 9 2012 at 20:38

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Through the research I've done, it seems like the dangers are greatly overblown... The acidic environment of kombucha helps protect it from many molds and bacteria, while the SCOBI has it's own natural defenses as well. I'd be more worried about Seafood, Poultry, eggs, etc. than kombucha (chriskresser.chriskresserlac.netdna-cdn.com/…)... I mean, 15 people on average die every year from eating raw oysters. Are there even any deaths attributed to kombucha at all? Seems pretty safe to me, everything we eat has the "potential" to be contaminated. – jjtitus May 10 2012 at 17:19

CC · Answer 5 · 2012-05-09 20:55:24Z UTC

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This was the best I could find. Apparently no clinical trials have been done. MSK are usually very fair and thorough in their reviews of literature for complimentary therapies. http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/kombucha

answered May 9 2012 at 20:55

CC
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Thanks for this. – MrsD May 10 2012 at 10:39

Jake · Answer 6 · 2012-08-24 04:45:38Z UTC

For a non-scientific (but interesting) anecdotal answer:

I drank Kombucha long before I went paleo. I simply loved it, and didn't really attribute to much in the way of health benefits other than the fact that it felt good to drink and tasted delicious. I was particularly wary of the GT brand's claim that it helped his mom through breast cancer.

Fast forward to a year when I was living in Kenya and met a Russian woman married to a Kenyan man. She'd met him at university in Moscow and moved off to Kenya. Only thing she brought was a pack of clothes and kombucha cultures. She'd been brewing it there since. She was quite old by this time and had adopted the 'babushka' title - and so I called her kombucha 'babushka kombucha!'

She had never even heard of the term 'kombucha' - the Russians simply called it Chinese Tea. But, I was pretty surprised when she explained that when her grandmother was dying from cancer, the only thing her body wouldn't reject was kombucha. She drank it for a month straight and somehow miraculously recovered.

I don't put much stock into such tales, but I love the symmetry of the stories, particularly across different countries and times. What works for me is simply that it's delicious and makes my day better.

Want2BHealthyGirl · Answer 7 · 2012-05-09 16:32:40Z UTC

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@Eugenia where can you buy Mountain Tea (Sideritis)?

answered May 9 2012 at 16:32

Want2BHealthyGirl
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I buy it at my local Mediterranean shop. Amazon has it too sometimes, but it's expensive there. – Eugenia Aug 24 at 2:22

Mimi · Answer 8 · 2012-08-23 18:51:01Z UTC

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I just use it for probiotics. Instead of greek yogurt. Kimchi is good too I heard

answered Aug 23 at 18:51

Mimi
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CICO Suave · Answer 9 · 2012-08-24 05:36:20Z UTC

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No...but there IS much evidence for Kumbaya. It's a damn catchy tune, and it's gets people in harmony with one another in no time...

answered Aug 24 at 5:36

CICO Suave
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Is there any evidence for Kombucha?

9 Answers