A year ago, Kombucha was only familiar to Australian health addicts; today Kombucha is everywhere: on the shelves of big stores, trendy bars, little cafés, or on your colleagues’ desk!
Kombucha, or booch for the initiated is a fermented drink made from green or black tea with a mix of bacteria and yeast called SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), water and organic sugar.
The drink is fizzy, rich in botanical flavour and low sugar. A perfect treat for grown ups! Impossible to miss the trend, but if you’ve failed to hit the booch, here are some good reasons why you should go for it.
- It contains probiotics
These good bacteria are formed during the fermentation process and improve your health on different levels including the improvement of the immune system.
Kombucha’s good bacteria also helps to clean the body from harmful bacteria, improve digestion, inflammation, mental health and even weight loss.
- It’s good for your guts
The Gut Foundation Australia estimates that “half of the population have complained about a digestive problem within the last 12 months”.
According to Rebecca Warren, Naturopath, gut issues are common in Australia and can play on your entire health. “The gut is the seed of all health, it absorbs nutrients and eliminates toxins, the gut has a connection with the brain, the mood and the hormones, if the gut does not work properly nothing will”.
An opinion shared by Marianna Diniz, Naturopath at Health Space Sydney, “everything starts with your gut, it’s where you get your fuel from, it needs to work perfectly”.
“Via the probiotics that Kombucha contains, it’s a good way to help your gut health, it is low sugar, fizzy and tastes good”, commented Diniz.
From the experts, it’s clear that Kombucha cleanses your body and moisturises your gut.
- Prevent mental health
Due to its action on the gut, Kombucha helps with mental health balance. “The sensation of feeling good comes from the gut, as well as most of the mental health diseases such as depression or anxiety, a good gut balance helps all of the above”, commented Diniz.
It is all the B-vitamins present in Kombucha which specifically help the battle against depression and mood fluctuations.
- Gives you energy
On the top of all the other benefits, Kombucha is a good source of energy for your body due to its B-vitamins and traces of caffeine.
But Kombucha’s ability to revitalize people is most of all attributed to the iron liberated by the tea during the fermentation process.
Kombucha is also the perfect hangover cure as it eliminates the toxins and restores hydration in the body.
The Next Level of Kombucha!
If simple Kombucha already provides a varied amount of benefits, when it is paired with nature’s superfood hemp, the drink exceeds all expectations.
“When Kombucha is paired with something like hemp you are doubling the effect, it is even better” commented Diniz.
“Hemp is rich in omega 3 and 6 which help with the hormonal and mood balance, it it's a good source of vegetarian protein, it contains anti-inflammatory ingredients and good fatty acids, it’s the perfect mix”
Kombucha and particularly Hemp Kombucha contains all the necessary ingredients to build a healthy body. With its health benefits and good action on the gut, Kombucha has become a popular drink among Australians.
However, both naturopaths recommend to vary the intake of fermented food. According to Warren, “Kombucha is a therapeutic drink but you can drink too much of it. It needs to be drunk on a semi regular basis to have its good health balance”. On the same path Diniz recommend a daily shot of Kombucha as it is “the ideal intake”.
Emilie Lauer