KOMBUCHA is goood for you

[Anonymous]

fellows, try to find a good source of water and get some good black tea and sugar and the culture, which is over 2,000 years old! I'm cultivating it for almost 2 years. Although I was trying to "raise" it and give it away, so I did not take/drink it frequently. But I can tell the "placebo" effect. I tastes like "young vine" (before it gets the sulphi/ytes in) gentle and loaded but not like vine, like tea..... it is fermented tea. check it out for your-self. if you want link, let me know

[abduLMaria]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

The culture itself looks somewhat like a large pancake, and though often called a mushroom, a mother of vinegar or by the acronym SCOBY (for "Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast"), it is scientifically classified as a zoogleal mat.

Kombucha contains many different cultures along with several organic acids, active enzymes, amino acids, and polyphenols. [6] For the home brewer, there is no way to know the amounts of the components unless a sample is sent to a laboratory. The US Food and Drug Administration has no findings on the effects of kombucha. Final kombucha may contain some of the following components depending on the source of the culture: Acetic acid, which provides much anti-microbial activity; butyric acid, gluconic acid, glucuronic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, oxalic acid, usnic acid, as well as some B-vitamins.[7]

Due to the acidic fermentation process used in its brewing, Kombucha contains ethyl alcohol in amounts that vary from 0.5% to 1.5%[8], depending on anaerobic brewing time and proportions of microbe. Commercial preparations are typically 0.5% for distribution and safety reasons.

Additionally, some tea makers offer a dried version of kombucha, mixed with the tea leaves, that dissolves in hot water.[9]

Kombucha proponents[10] claim many advantages such as increased energy, sharper eyesight, better skin condition, and better experience with foods that 'stick' going down such as rice or pasta.

A review of the published literature on the safety of kombucha suggests no specific oral toxicity in rats,[11] although it has also been shown to increase the size of both the liver and spleen in mice.[12] While no randomized case-controlled studies have been published in humans, several case reports have suspected liver damage, metabolic acidosis, cutaneous anthrax infections and life-threatening toxicity.[13][14] Other reports suggest that care should be taken when taking medical drugs or hormone replacement therapy while regularly drinking kombucha.[15] It may also cause allergic reactions. [16]

Other health claims may be due to the simple acidity of the drink, possibly influencing the production of stomach acids or modifying the communities of microorganisms in the GI tract."

Yum ?