Hi All,
As posted in another thread, I recently got into probiotics due to research on gut health and the micro-biome. My loose understanding of the theory is that some people (LADAs) become diabetics after a large dose of antibiotics triggers an auto-immune reaction where the t-cells go rogue and ****** up the pancreas. My thought is that if I can recover the damage done to my biota, perhaps it will allow my pancreas beta-cells to start producing the good stuff!
What's this got to do with Kombucha? It's a funky hippy drink that has a crazy amount of probiotics in it. Probiotics are what feed the good flora of your gut.
You create the drink by getting a piece of the scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), combining it with warm tea, sugar and water and letting it brew. The scoby looks like a weird mushroom thing but it's a lovely little thing that creates a probiotic drink for very little expense. Don't worry about the sugar, the scoby eats this, consumes it, until there's ****** all there. 250 ml of drink is about 30 calories.
For ME, it's been good for getting rid of the arthritic pain I was beginning to experience (I'm 46) and reducing BS spikes. It's also been good for getting rid of thrush - yes, the probiotics will stop thrush from forming (for ME, I need to drink 500mls daily) !
I've been experimenting with taste. I began using black tea which made it vinegary and tart very quickly. I have since switched to using green tea which has a much more palatable flavour and takes longer to go sour. The longer you leave your 'brew' the more complex and tart it gets as more of the sugar is consumed.
I usually flavour the tea (called a second ferment) with a couple of sultanas or chunks of sugared ginger. It also means a fizzy drink I can have that is good for me, which I also like.
If this has piqued anyone's interest in trying Kombucha, google is your friend and it's even easier than making packet mix yoghurt at home.
As posted in another thread, I recently got into probiotics due to research on gut health and the micro-biome. My loose understanding of the theory is that some people (LADAs) become diabetics after a large dose of antibiotics triggers an auto-immune reaction where the t-cells go rogue and ****** up the pancreas. My thought is that if I can recover the damage done to my biota, perhaps it will allow my pancreas beta-cells to start producing the good stuff!
What's this got to do with Kombucha? It's a funky hippy drink that has a crazy amount of probiotics in it. Probiotics are what feed the good flora of your gut.
You create the drink by getting a piece of the scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), combining it with warm tea, sugar and water and letting it brew. The scoby looks like a weird mushroom thing but it's a lovely little thing that creates a probiotic drink for very little expense. Don't worry about the sugar, the scoby eats this, consumes it, until there's ****** all there. 250 ml of drink is about 30 calories.
For ME, it's been good for getting rid of the arthritic pain I was beginning to experience (I'm 46) and reducing BS spikes. It's also been good for getting rid of thrush - yes, the probiotics will stop thrush from forming (for ME, I need to drink 500mls daily) !
I've been experimenting with taste. I began using black tea which made it vinegary and tart very quickly. I have since switched to using green tea which has a much more palatable flavour and takes longer to go sour. The longer you leave your 'brew' the more complex and tart it gets as more of the sugar is consumed.
I usually flavour the tea (called a second ferment) with a couple of sultanas or chunks of sugared ginger. It also means a fizzy drink I can have that is good for me, which I also like.
If this has piqued anyone's interest in trying Kombucha, google is your friend and it's even easier than making packet mix yoghurt at home.
