KOMBUCHA tea is a fermented milk drink made with tea, sugar, bacteria and yeast cultures. Once these are mixed it is left to ferment with the resulting drink having vinegar, B-vitamins, probiotics and amino acids or proteins.
Health opportunists claim that kombucha tea helps prevent and treat health conditions from blood pressure to cancer. But this is based on pseudoscience (people’s biased thoughts and feelings) rather than real science, with not much research backing this up.
Kombucha has bacteria or probiotics which help with normal functioning of our immune systems. But if I was to give you advice on probiotics I would suggest Actimel and Yakult as these usually have a higher dose of bacteria. Every adult is advised to get some form of probiotoc daily. If you follow a vegan diet it would be the Biomel brand.
It is also important to know that kombucha tea can cause stomach upset in some people. People who are pregnant or breastfeeding or who have weakened immune systems should avoid kombucha tea. Others may drink the tea if they like the taste, but only from a trusted source. And supermarket brands are just as good.
• Lee McCusker (BA; MSc; MSc; MSc; ANutr; SENr) is a registered nutritionist from Belfast and can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Email: attentivenutrition@gmail.com
