Summer Brew: Kombucha

Summer Brew: Kombucha

Making your own kombucha is easy and super inexpensive

I have written about Kombucha before but I wanted to write again to tell about the health benefits of the bubbly drink and to give insight into my experience of these benefits. Kombucha is at every grocery store now and is being offered at bars and restaurants. I know plenty of people who drink it for the taste and then later ask, what is this stuff even? Kombucha is fermented tea. The tea can be black or green and should be organic and unflavored. So, from that you can see that you drink the benefits of the tea. Green tea has tons of antioxidants that help protect the body against free radicals. This has been shown to potentially protect us from cancers and diseases, as well as increase brain and heart function. Black tea can also increase brain and heart function as well as potentially lowering risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure, and certain cancers. So right off the bat, you can count on many benefits just from the tea. To make kombucha, you ferment the tea and this leads to a high acidity. Vinegar and other naturally acidic foods are great for digestion. And the organic acids in kombucha help bind and remove toxins from the body, we are all in need of that! In addition to the high acidity from fermentation, kombucha also has healthy bacteria from the scoby. This healthy bacteria can hold tons of probiotics, which we all know is another trending health term right now. Probiotics can really improve your gut health which we are now learning helps with your mood and mental health, sleep, allergies, heart health, among many other things that can go array when your microbiome is unbalanced. 

Personally, I have had great results with drinking home brewed kombucha. I love the store bought flavors and how bubbly those are, but because of pasteurization, many of the probiotics are lost. My home brew has helped with digestion, keeping me more regular and feeling lighter, even on the same diet. I notice less bloating and fatigue around my cycle even! I have heard similar results with close friends, some who had more noticeable digestive issues. Now that I am pregnant, I only drink about a quarter cup a day, and I make sure its after I have my first full meal in the morning. Because there are small amounts of alcohol from the fermentation and caffeine from the tea, I don't drink it on an empty stomach or in the afternoon. I also only brew kombucha with black tea now, as green tea can be a bit risky for pregnant women.  

Blueberry Home Brew

If you are interested in starting your summer brew, I would start by reaching out to your local community to see if anyone has a scoby they can share. That way, you can go see the brewing process and learn from them hands on. If you don’t have any luck there, then you can easily order a scoby starter on Amazon. Happy brewing, cheers!

Perfect picnic bev