Kombucha

There is an area in Russia called Kargasok, where people usually live to be over a hundred years old.  At that advanced age, they enjoy excellent health and are active and valued members of society.  Disease and degenerative afflictions are virtually unknown.  Their lifestyle is unhurried and simple, their diet healthful, and great value is placed on family, community, morality and work ethics.  When asked, these centenarians attribute their longevity not only to their lifestyle but also to a Yeast Enzyme Tea which they drink daily, as part of their diet.  This tea, which has been used for generations, is reported to have miraculous healing properties for conditions ranging from cancer and Parkinson's disease to hair loss and other symptoms of aging.  This beverage which is loaded with protein, B-complex vitamins, amino and other vital health promoting acids, serves to improve metabolism and assimilation and acts to detoxify and purify the entire body. It is also known to have a dramatic positive effect on the immune system!    

 

Kombucha: What is it?

Kombucha tea is an ancient drink from Manchuria that is cultivated from a culture formed from Bacterium Iylinum.  The taste of Kombucha is slightly acidic in nature and has been known to taste like apple cider vinegar, slightly sweet, slightly sour.  Biochemists ascribe many therapeutic affects to L-Lactic acid and Glucuranic acid.  Lactic acid is also found in fermented foods such as sauerkraut and yogurt.  Lactic acid in active fermented drinks is more highly ionized and thus superior to Acetic acid (found in vinegar.)  Lactic acid activates cell respiration, increases oxygen in the blood and increases energy.  It also balances blood PH in acidity and mildly stimulates liver function. 

Lactic acid is rarely present in the connective tissues of cancer patients.  A lack of L-Lactic acid leads to Hypoxia, which is oxygen deficiency, and which results in an undesirable build up of DL-Lactic acid.  Glucuronic acid is a liver detoxifier that binds metabolic and environmental poisons facilitating their excretions from the body.  This natural solvent is useful in arthritis, gout atherosclerosis and other conditions where there is excessive cholesterol and other metabolic products.  Glucuronic acid is also a building block of a group of important mucopolysaccharides.  Mucopolysacchariders are a large complex of molecules of sugars attached to Amino acids that form the watery, intercellular cement of the body which cushions and holds together organs and lubricates joints. 

Mucopolysaccharides include:

 

• Hyaluronic acid, which is found in expensive facial creams and in the skin where it binds cells together and water in tissues.
• Chondroitin Sulfate, a constituent of cartilage and connective tissue that speeds healing of bone and soft tissue.
• Mucoitin Sulfuric acid, a building block of the stomach lining and vitreous humors of the eye.
• Heparin, a blood thinner found especially in liver and lung tissue that helps to prevent blood clotting. 

 

Kombucha tea is especially helpful in normalizing digestive function when taken at meal time.  Even though it is acidic, it does not cause hyperacidity of the stomach.  Acid indigestion is often a symptom of fermentation of undesirable foods eaten and caused by lack of raw foods (60%) and a lack of hydrochloric acid and other necessary digestive acid secretions. 

Kombucha relieves constipation and has produced favorable results in people suffering from kidney and gall stones.  Others have reported successful weight loss with daily consumption of Kombucha tea. 

Kombucha tea is not a cure all!  For hundreds of years it has generated many amazing testimonials of improved health and well being.  To give it a fair trial, drink Kombucha tea daily for 30 days and see what it does for you.  It is suggested that you start with four ounces a day and gradually increase the amount to 12 ounces. 

 

Interesting Kombucha Information

Many people are drinking Kombucha Tea (pronounced kom-BOO-cha). Others are wondering what it is and why so many people are enjoying benefits from this daily drink. The Kombucha Tea is healthy and refreshing.  It tastes somewhat like a sparkling apple cider with a tang of vinegar, depending on how long it ferments.  The benefits to the physical body vary widely.  It is said to enhance the immune system.  By detoxifying the body, it makes it unlikely for disease causing bacteria and viruses to find a suitable growth environment.  This results in a healthier physical body! 

People from all over the world claim drinking Kombucha Tea provides relief from many physical ailments.  While it may not be the cure to all the ills of mankind, it is a traditional fermented beverage used in many cultures to promote well-being.

 

Some of the reported benefits from testimonials are it: 

 

• Acts as a gentle laxative, helping avoid constipation. 
• Aids in the relief of arthritis. 
• Cleanses the colon and gall bladder. 
• Relieves colitis and stomach cramps. 
• Returns gray hair to its natural color. 
• Helps stop non-infectious diarrhea. 
• Relieves bronchitis and asthma. 
• Clears up Candida yeast infections. 
• Regulates the appetite and reduces fat. 
• Aids with stress and insomnia. 
• Improves eyesight, cataracts and floaters. 
• Relieves headaches including migraines. 
• Put Lupus into remission. 
• Helps reduces the alcoholic's craving for alcohol. 
• Eliminates menopausal hot flashes. 
• Clears acne, psoriasis and other skin problems. 
• Thickens hair and strengthens fingernails. 
• Enhances the sense of smell. 
• Revitalizes the physical body and adds energy-including sexual energy! 

 

The Kombucha Tea Culture has been used for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years in different parts of the world.  This in itself lends testimony to the fact the tea has long been beneficial to many for a variety of physical ailments.  The Russians, Germans, Swedes and others have compiled information on the benefits of the Kombucha Tea for nearly one hundred years.  In the authorative book "Kombucha, Healthy Beverage and Natural Remedy from the Far East," Gunther Frank lists many references from Russian and German doctors who have seen a variety of benefits to their patients.  Rosina Fasching's book "Tea Fungus Kombucha, The Natural Remedy and its Significance in Cases of Cancer and Other Metabolic Disease" also discusses this in more detail. 

The Kombucha Tea Culture has many names.  Gunther Frank states, "From many of the names it can be seen straight away that the origins of the Culture presumably lie in the east: China, Japan, Manchuria, Russia and India".  It is known by Combucha (Japanese word for tea sponge or tea fungus), Kombucha (Germanized form of the Japanese name is used internationally), Marine Alga (Brazilian), Tea Kvass (Russian), Olinka (Bohemian and Moravian monasteries), Kargasok tea (Japanese brought the culture from Kargasok, Russia), Manchurian Mushroom (Manchuria), as well as many other names.  According to some literature, it was introduced to Japan by the Korean doctor Kombu in 414 A.D. Rosina Fasching reports that Kombucha enjoyed wide popularity until World War II when tea and sugar, the nutrients the Kombucha Culture thrives on, became scarce. 

Although commonly called the Kombucha Mushroom, IT IS NOT A MUSHROOM. The beneficial bacteria and yeasts form a symbiotic colony in a strong cellulose matrix.  It propagates itself during the fermentation process yielding another Culture, often referred to as "baby".  The scientific term for this jelly-like mass is a zooglea.  When placed in the appropriate substrate, the yeasts in the Kombucha Culture feed on the nutrients and rapidly multiply to produce alcohol. The rich environment created by the yeasts allows the bacteria to convert the alcohol into acetic acid, which is vinegar.  The bacterium Acetobacter aceti subspecies xylinum, along with other organisms associated with production of vinegar has been identified in Kombucha.  It is interesting to note that vinegar has been used by humans for thousands of years.  In his book "Kombucha, the Essential Guide," Christopher Hobbs states, "Vinegar was mentioned in the writings of the Assyrians, Greeks and Romans as an important medicine in its own right."  Because the Kombucha Culture is a living organism exposed to all kinds of influences, the finished beverage doesn't always have the same composition and taste.  The Russian research scientist Danielova stated in 1954, "... that the actual composition of the symbiont varies according to geographical and climatic conditions, and depends on whatever types of wild yeasts and bacteria exist locally."  Variances may occur in each batch of Kombucha and may become more obvious during seasonal temperature changes. 

The tea is made by placing the Kombucha Culture in a solution of tea and cane juice sugar.  Black tea and cane juice sugar are the best nutrients.  Within 6-15 days, biological and chemical metabolic processes take place producing a variety of beneficial ingredients.  The following constituents may be found in the Kombucha Tea: a small amount of alcohol, carbon dioxide, vitamins C, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, acetic acid, glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, oxalic acid, usnic acid, fructose, dextrogyral (L-Lactic Acid+) plus enzymes and minerals. 

The end product contains a very small amount of alcohol, 0.5% - 1%, which is as much alcohol present in "alcohol-free" beer and many beverages including apple juice.  By law, a beverage can contain up to 0.5% alcohol and still be labeled "non-alcoholic".  Most beer contains approximately 3% - 8% alcohol.  The end product also contains a small amount of sugar which is not converted. The longer the drink ferments, less sugar and more alcohol will be present.  It will turn to vinegar if allowed to ferment too long. 

The slight amount of alcohol present in the fermented tea is normally harmless and is no more potent than non-alcoholic beer.  Some sober alcoholics who drink Kombucha find it reduces their craving for alcohol.  An alcoholic who drinks Kombucha says, "I found it would slow me down when I was on a binge.  It minimizes hangovers when you drink it with the booze (not mixed but between beer and whiskey shots).  But most interesting...I found that when I drank K-T all day, I had little or no craving for alcohol". 

Many diabetics drink the tea, but ferment it longer so the cane juice sugar content is decreased.  In a four ounce glass of Kombucha tea (that's 1/2 cup), there may be 3 - 10 calories of sugar present depending on how long it has fermented.  Many articles do not recommend the Kombucha tea for pregnant or lactating women.  The fetus and young baby do not yet have a developed digestive system to filter unwanted toxins out of their bodies.  Unless the mother has already been drinking Kombucha, it may be best for the pregnant woman and the breastfeeding mother to forego Kombucha until pregnancy or breastfeeding passes. 

Kombucha, in small doses, has benefited children with ADD and constipation.  People who have problems with Thrush or Candida may actually benefit from drinking Kombucha. 

Outside the USA, glucuronic acid has reportedly been found in the Kombucha Tea in some chemical analyses.  It was thought that this compound is what was responsible for Kombucha's detoxification of the body.  But there may also be enzymes or other ingredients that work on improving the human body in intricate and, as yet, unknown ways.  What is important about Glucuronic acid is that it has an extraordinarily important detoxifying function that binds toxins so they cannot be reabsorbed by the intestines or the urinary system.  One must think about how important it is to detoxify our body, especially in this day and age when excessive toxins are found everywhere - in the soil where we grow our food, in the air we breathe, in the water we drink and the food we eat. 

Among other constituents of Kombucha, found in a variety of studies, are Usnic acid and L-Lactic Acid+.  Usnic acid has a strong antibacterial effect.  It has been reported to contribute to the inactivation of viruses.  Dextrogyral (L-Lactic Acid+) has been reported to be lacking in the connective tissue of cancer patients. Gunther Frank states, "So long as it (L-Lactic Acid+) is predominantly present in tissue, cancer cannot develop.  It is interesting to note here that a pH value of 7.56 is exceeded in cancer patients.  Organisms which are free from cancer (and also precancers) show pH values of under 7.5.  Serological tests of the blood in the veins have shown that the Kombucha beverage shifts the pH value noticeably towards the acid side". 

To a certain extent the Kombucha tea preserves itself.  Any micro-organisms that do not belong to the Kombucha Culture are repressed by the acetic acid and lactic acid it produces.  The yeasts in the Kombucha Culture produce carbon dioxide as well as alcohol.  Carbon dioxide is a gas with antimicrobial properties and alcohol is a universally known preservative.

If you believe the Kombucha tea will help you, then it probably will!  In the long run, one must remember that healing on the physical level brings little help without real change on the emotional, mental and spiritual levels.  A person's attitude is an important part of any type of healing.  Negative emotions such as fear, shame, worry, hate, resentment, anxiety and jealousy cause energy blockages that lead to illness.  Once you realize these emotions are damaging to your health and immune system, you have no choice but to give them up if you wish to have a healthy body!  We can help heal ourselves by being non-judgmental and by exhibiting love, forgiveness and patience.  It's important to keep a positive attitude when riding the roller coaster of life!  It is also helpful to use daily affirmations such as: All my cells are healthy and reproducing properly. All my cells are communicating correctly and all my body functions are at the proper rates and levels.  It may also help to pray over your Kombucha.  Many people find it beneficial to pray over the food they ingest, asking for the full nourishment the food products offer.  And remember to give thanks.  Gratitude can also be healing.  Kombucha is not a magical, miracle elixir. It would be impractical to lead a life of excess and then drink a bit of Kombucha tea to try to even things out.  Through the stimulation of the individual immune system, Kombucha offers many people the physical resistance they need to maintain and restore health. 

 

Kombucha information www.kombucha2000.com.