How to Make Kombucha Tea

I had a scoby in my fridge for some time, plus had all the ingredients and supplies needed, before I finally decided to just do it. Had I known how easy it would be, I wouldn't have waited so long.

What are you waiting for? Scoby's are readily available. If you're making Kombucha, the scoby naturally replicates. Ask someone brewing the fermented tea—if they don't have a scoby baby at the moment, they will soon have one they can pass on to you.

What is a SCOBY?

SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast. It's similar to the mother that makes  vinegar. Kombucha begins as a sugary tea—the scoby infuses bacteria which devours most of the sugar during the fermenting process. The tea is transformed into a refreshing, fizzy, slightly sour fermented beverage.

After a few brewings using the scoby, you'll begin to feel like you have a new household pet. It is alive after all. So the first time you have something go wrong with a batch and you have to discard it, you might feel a bit weird about how to do that—discard the scoby. Should I give it a proper burial? Some say you grind it up in your next smoothie. What? You decide what to do, but tell me if you don't develop a weird feeling about this organism. Okay… maybe that's just me. Moving along now.

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Wisdom Wednesday

Tip:

I eat my veggies mostly raw, but usually have cooked veggies in the evening as a side dish to wild-caught fish or in soups. You might be surprised to know that some foods are more nutritious cooked:

• Spinach—You absorb more calcium, iron and magnesium.
• Tomato—You absorb more lycopene.
• Asparagus—Nutrient content is higher in slightly steamed asparagus.
• Mushrooms—Provide more potassium when cooked.
• Carrot—Cooking carrots whole provides more vitamins than raw.

However, vitamin C is destroyed by too much heat. Plus enzymes are destroyed by cooking. You can replenish enzymes by eating cultured/fermented vegetables like raw sauerkraut. The side benefit of the cultured foods is loads of probiotics.

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Wisdom Wednesday

You know lately I've been talking about getting good bacteria into your body and how important that is to health. Here are some links to further that end:

• Three Foods That Could Change Your Life
• How to Make Kefir Water
• Kombucha: Discover the Secrets of this Wonder Tea
• Where to Buy Starter Cultures

Thank you to Jennie for the links.

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Benefits of Kombucha Tea

I've been learning so much about bacteria in our bodies—how important it is to our health and ways to get more good bacteria into our system. In What's the Scoop on Probiotics and Prebiotics? I mentioned Kombucha tea as a great way to enrich your microbiome. That post followed What's Bugging You?—a serious discussion about the state of an unhealthy gastrointestinal (GI) tract due to an imbalance of good vs bad bacteria.

Kombucha is a fermented tea consumed for over 2000 years all around the world. It has been extensively studied and applied to several medical issues in Russia, Germany, China and other places. Many make their own Kombucha tea, but I'm happy to see it offered in the grocery stores by several companies. Its natural carbonation makes it a refreshing drink and perfect replacement for sugar-laden soft drinks that can ravage your health.

Why is drinking Kombucha tea, an all natural health beverage teeming with healthy bacteria and amino acids, a good thing? There are a host of healing properties* attributed to Kombucha tea:

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What's the Scoop on Probiotics and Prebiotics?

In a recent post about bacteria and the role it plays in our health, I mentioned probiotics and prebiotics. There was a lot to digest (ahem!) there. So I feel the need to help you along with some practical information.

I believe that Americans in general are bacteria-starved. They have upset their body's ecological balance and, as a result, get hit regularly with illness (minor and serious).

The Solution
We need to add good bacteria (Probiotics) to our systems so we have half a chance of fighting off illness and disease. Then we need to make sure we feed the good bacteria (Prebiotics) so it remains healthy and grows.

Probiotics
There are two ways to get bacteria back at work in our bodies.

1. Eat/drink fermented foods
2. Take a probiotic supplement

Eating fermented foods provides 1000 times more bacteria than taking a probiotic supplement.

I like to recommend PB8 because its the brand prescribed by my functional medicine doctor.

In the area of fermented (or cultured) foods, I recently discovered some new products in my favorite grocery store, Nugget Market: Wildbrine sauerkraut salad and Synergy Kombucha tea. Both are raw and organic foods.

I drink about 8 oz of Kombucha every day. There are several flavors to choose from. The sauerkraut gets mixed into my raw, cut-up veggie salad. It adds a zip to the flavor I really enjoy. You can also eat yogurt, but I'm highly suspect unless the ingredient's label states live bacteria. Many yogurts are pasteurized once the cultures are added, which kills the bacteria. Duh!

Prebiotics
Similar to probiotics you can take a supplement or you can eat foods that provide nourishment for your friendly bacteria. I recommend the eating route.

Here's s list of foods that provide fuel to your good bugs: onions, garlic, milk (including breast milk), bananas, wheat, oats, artichokes, asparagus, leeks and chicory. I know I eat many of these foods on a regular basis.

You can order 100% raw and organic cultured vegetables from Immunitrition.

Also, check out this video to make your own (its very easy) fermented vegetables:



Start a routine to build up your bacteria and see if you start feeling better. You'll manage to ward off those nasty bugs going around that you always seem to get smacked with.

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