Kombucha’s been in the news a lot lately since many brands got pulled off the shelves due to elevated alcohol levels — a move that had Lindsay Lohan fans speculating whether the fermented drink set off her alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet. The flurry of coverage about the fizzy beverage even had one enterprising company, Kombucha Wonder Drink, quickly send me a sample of its product with this happy message: “It’s been pasteurized from the start (since 2001) because our founder was aware of the potential for alcohol in a raw product.”
So yesterday I tried Kombucha Wonder Drink — and enjoyed the fizzy, refreshing drink. But today, I’m not sure I’ll ever drink kombucha again.
Why not? Well, the slew of kombucha related articles have me rethinking whether or not kombucha is actually good for me. Now, I never believed the far fetched claims that kombucha cured cancer or AIDS as some people claim, but I did think that the drink’s claims of antioxidant properties and healthy digestion sounded plausible. Plus I liked the not-too-sweet, slightly tart taste of Kombucha. That’s why I’ve occasionally posted about kombucha and even took a kombucha making class, brewing my own kombucha at home for a while.
But today, I read GOOD’s rundown of kombucha’s questionable health claims — which included a link to an article penned by Dr. Andrew Weil, whose opinion I value. Here’s what Dr. Weil says:
I don’t recommend kombucha tea at all. I know of no scientific studies backing up the health claims made for it. Beyond that, there’s evidence that kombucha tea may have some antibiotic activity. If so, by drinking the tea you could be unnecessarily taking antibiotics, which could encourage development of resistant strains of bacteria….
There have also been reports in the medical literature of adverse reactions including nausea, vomiting and headaches among those who drink more than four ounces of kombucha tea daily. Allergic reactions, jaundice and head and neck pain have also been reported. I would particularly caution pregnant women, nursing mothers, the elderly, children and anyone with a compromised immune system against drinking kombucha tea.
Weil’s warning that there are “no scientific studies backing up the health claims” is quite the contrast from the claims on G.T. Kombucha’s website. The popular kombucha company claims “Kombucha is a miracle” right on its home page, which has a tab called “Health Benefits.” That section claims “extensive literature” and “independent medical research” backing up kombucha’s health claims — but provides no details on how one might find this literature and fails to mention that no clinical studies exist on the matter — a fact even long-time kombucha makers and drinkers recognize. For those wishing for more hardcore proof of G.T.’s health claims, the company doles out this ridiculous advice:
To find out additional information on Kombucha, simply type in “Kombucha” as a search term at a site like google.com or yahoo.com.
I think it would be a better idea to get additional information from Dr. Weil. To be sure, I’ve never gotten sick or felt ill after drinking kombucha, and my guess is that an occasional glass of kombucha — especially the pasteurized kind — is unlikely to do harm. But that’s only a guess — and perhaps I should take Dr. Weil’s recommendation more seriously, choosing to enjoy drinks we actually know more about.
What about you, green LA girl readers? I know many of you enjoy kombucha — Will you continue to do so?
Siel:
I’m not going to try to make any claims for kombucha – my husband brews his own – but I will try to say that I think your taking Dr. Weil’s advice is just as faith-based as believing kombucha is a wonder drink.
Dr. Weil references “medical reports” of headache and nausea, but he doesn’t give links to those reports. Nor does he try to explain in any way WHY kombucha might be dangerous for the immuno-suppressed.
I think what you say tends to tar the idea of eating and drinking fermented, non-pasteurized foods. That, I think, is a mistake. One thing there is evidence for (see Sandor Katz “Wild Fermentation” and the bibliography of that book for sources) is that older societies ate a lot more fermented foods than we do and that it was one method for neutralizing some unhealthy compounds in food and adding in some probiotics via lactofermentation.
Of course, I don’t know whether I would argue that older societies were healthier than we are overall, but I do think some of our health problems can be traced to the abundance of chemicals and preservatives in our foods. Each person has to make her or his own decision about kombucha, but thus far Dr. Weil doesn’t give enough good evidence against it, in my opinion.
Comment by april — July 22, 2010 @ 2:11 pm
It is true — I am indeed guilty of trusting a medical doctor who’s a well-respected authority on natural health more than a self-interested company that advises me to google for more info! That said, I do agree that it’d be nice if Weil’s column contained more footnotes so we could look at the reports he cites if so moved (I would guess links are not possible, as most medical / research journals don’t offer free content online).
And to be clear, neither I nor Weil are anti fermented, non-pasteurized foods — You’re really extrapolating from what I (and he) said about one specific drink to assume it covers a wide swath of dishes from numerous cultures. Here’s Dr. Weil waxing lyrical about saurkraut; I posted about my intention to try and make my own kimchi just yesterday.
Comment by Siel — July 22, 2010 @ 2:25 pm
Hi, Siel:
Yeah, I totally get that the company’s advice to google for more info is completely lame.
I just don’t think Dr. Weil’s condemnation stands up very well.
The best would be a study of some kombucha home brews. Proving the health claims would probably be difficult, but perhaps showing the true risk of aspergillus would be possible.
And putting that in perspective would also be good – say that risk compared to the risk of salmonella in bagged spinach or something.
Comment by april — July 22, 2010 @ 3:17 pm
Ha — Your comment made me LOL. I can just hear the new rallying cry for kombucha makers: “Proven to be safer than salmonella-tainted spinach!”
Comment by Siel — July 23, 2010 @ 10:33 am
So confused. Which of the quacks am I supposed to be trusting, here?
peterb´s last blog ..Mid-Life Crisis
Comment by peterb — July 29, 2010 @ 8:41 am
While many journals require a subscription to view articles, anyone can cite such authorities freely. Dr. Weil’s failure to cite authority is every bit as weak as G.T. Kombucha’s lack of citations. I think your view that Dr. Weil has no self-interest analogous to G.T. Kombucha is naive; he is about as commercial as doctors come…
I believe April’s point was that even bagged spinach carries risk of adverse health consequences.
Comment by Onschedule — August 13, 2010 @ 10:26 am
No, I don’t think I’ll be having any kombucha anytime soon. But that’s not because of Dr Weil or anyone really — the concept just grosses me out. Not for me!
Terry´s last blog ..Silver Needle Been Cha
Comment by Terry — October 25, 2010 @ 5:55 pm
Kombucha “may” be bad for you, It’s much better to spend money on products that have been determined to be “safe” and “healthy” for you to consume like Tylenol, Prozac or Xanax. You can even wash them down with other safe and healthy products like JACK DANIELS, BUDWEISER or Mountain Dew.
If ANYTHING were unsafe about drinking kombucha (that was made in safe, and logical conditions) I AM POSITIVE that the BILLION DOLLAR beverage companys like ADOLPH Coors, Coca~cola, PepsiCo., etc. would have been screaming it from the roof tops. Not to mention the Trillion dollar pharmaceutical companies like Bayer, etc.
Anyone who has done any research on it at at all, can see the kind unfounded fear mongering that the media has used to keep people FAR away from it.
It proves to me that they HAVE researched the hell out of it (kind of like they’ve done with marijuana) and found NOTHING but good things about it. This would explain why anything bad reported about it is ALWAYS in the form of “may be”, “could”, “possibly”, “linked to”, “evidence suggests” and phrased in ways that allow to them to “suggest” whatever they want to suggest about anything that may be perceived as threatening their bottom line.
The more people get sick, the more money they make. Anyone should know that these days, in corporate America, “the bottom line” — profit, it GOD.
One last note…
STAY AWAY FROM THAT GARBAGE IN A BOTTLE. It tastes like ASS. If you want to try kombucha, make your own. It’s like the difference between drinking a fine aged wine and drinking Mad Dog 20/20.
There is not comparison.
Comment by MadMadWorld — November 7, 2010 @ 9:58 pm