Does Kombucha Really Have Health Benefits?
You probably already know about probiotic-filled health foods like yogurt, tempeh and sauerkraut. The latest trend in the gut-friendly diet wave is kombucha, a sweetened beverage that is made from steeped tea and sugar, then mixed with yeast strains and bacteria and then fermented. People buy it in the supermarket or health food store or make their own.
Kombucha (pronounced kom-BOOCH-a) is hardly a new thing, since the tea has been brewed in many parts of the world (starting with China) for centuries. But the beverage is knocking on the door of mainstream success as health foodies in North America tout its dizzying array of purported benefits for illnesses as diverse as high blood pressure, cancer and heart disease.