The “Immortal Health Elixir”

Have you heard of Kombucha, it is a  beverage the ancient Chinese called the “Immortal Health Elixir?”

It’s been around for more than 2,000 years and has a very rich anecdotal history of health benefits like preventing and fighting cancer, fighting arthritis, and other degenerative diseases.

It is made from sweetened tea that has been fermented by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, Kombucha didn’t gain prominence in the West until recently so you are forgiven if you have never heard of it before.

In the first half of the 20th century, extensive scientific research was done on Kombucha’s health benefits in Russia and Germany. This came about mostly because of a push to find a cure for rising cancer rates. Russian scientists discovered that certain regions of their  country were  immune to cancer and hypothesized that the kombucha, called “tea kvass” there, was the reason.  They then began a series of experiments which not only confirmed their hypothesis, but began to pinpoint exactly what it is within kombucha that was so beneficial.

German scientists then picked up on this research and toke it forward in their own direction. Then, with the start of the Cold War, research and development started being diverted into other fields. It was only in the 1990s, when Kombucha first made its appearance the U.S.. At present in the U.S., no major medical studies are being done on Kombucha because guess what ?…. no one in the drug industry stands to profit from researching a beverage that the average consumer can make for as little as 50 cents a gallon.

All is not lost however and due to it’s rising commercial popularity in the last decade, the older Russian and German research has been made available in English to Westerners, and a few wide-spread anecdotal surveys have been sponsored by Kombucha manufacturers, but that’s about it. While there ais a small amount of research done on the beverage, there has been substantial  research done on many of the nutrients and acids it contains in large quantities (such as B-vitamins, antioxidants, and glucaric acids).

Ok so there has not been a large amount of scientific evidence and we know the reason why.  The undesputed fact remains that this beverage has 2,000 plus years of tradition behind it and an ardent and addicted following.

What are the health benefits of Kombucha Tea?

Detoxification produces healthy livers and aides cancer prevention. One of kombucha’s greatest health benefits is its ability to detox the body. It is rich in many of the enzymes and bacterial acids your body produces and/or uses to detox your system, thus reducing your pancreatic load and easing the burden on your liver. Kombucha is very high in Glucaric acid, and recent studies have shown that glucaric acid helps prevent cancer. Central to the detoxification process was drinking Kombucha regularly. Even Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the recently deceased Russian author and nobel-prize winner, in his autobiography, claimed that kombucha tea cured his stomach cancer during his internment in soviet labor camps. (And because of this testimony, President Reagan used Kombucha to halt the spread of his cancer in 1987. You’ll note he didn’t die until 2004, and that was from old age, NOT cancer.)

Kombucha contains glucosamines, a strong preventive and treatment all forms of arthritis. Glucosamines increase synovial hyaluronic acid production. Hyaluronic acid functions physiologically to aid preservation of cartilage structure and prevent arthritic pain, with relief comparable to NSAIDs and advantage over glucocorticoids. Hyaluronic acid enables connective tissue to bind moisture thousands of times its weight and maintains tissue structure, moisture, lubrication and flexibility and lessens free radical damage, while associated collagen retards and reduces wrinkles.

Because it’s naturally fermented with a living colony of bacteria and yeast, Kombucha is a probiotic beverage. This has a myriad of benefits such as improved digestion, fighting candida (harmful yeast) overgrowth, mental clarity, and mood stability. As such, it’s noted for reducing or eliminating the symptoms of fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, etc.

Kombucha is extraordinarily anti-oxidant rich, and you all know the benefits of anti-oxidants for boosting your immune system and energy levels.
Where can you learn more about kombucha health benefits?

Here are a few articles on the health benefits of kombucha:

http://www.kombu.de/val-gwf.htm
http://www.gaiaresearch.co.za/kombucha.html
http://www.acupuncture.com/herbs/kombucha1.htm
http://www.gokombucha.com/health_benefits.html
Are the health benefits of kombucha for real?

When you read all these benefits its easy to be  skeptical….I was

How could one beverage do so many things?

But then the more I read into the literature the more I realized that it’s not so much that the beverage does something to our bodies, like a medicine or drugs targeted at curing specific symptoms. It’s more that this drink promotes health. It supplies your body with what it needs to heal itself by

1)aiding your liver in removing harmful substances,

2)promoting balance in your digestive system, and

3)being rich in health-promoting vitamins, enzymes, and acids.

The general agreement seems to be that with regular, daily consumption, you’ll notice improvement in immune system functioning and energy levels within about a week, the healing of more minor ailments within a month or so, and the healing of more radical illnesses within a year or so.
Where can I get kombucha?

You can usually find a bottle of kombucha in your local health food store, but  you  can also make your own kombucha at home.

REFERENCES

Kombucha – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kombucha (Russian: chaynyy grib (чайный гриб), Chinese: chájūn (茶菌), Korean: beoseotcha (버섯차), Japanese: kōcha-kinoko (紅茶キノコ)), is a lightly …

Sierra Kombucha

Sierra Kombucha is made from organic green tea that is combined with a cultivated “Scoby” (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), organic sugar (the.