
Kombucha is a type of tea that has been fermented. These bacteria can improve many aspects of health, including digestion, inflammation, and even weight loss ( 4, 5, 6).įor this reason, adding beverages like kombucha to your diet might improve your health in many ways. Probiotics provide your gut with healthy bacteria.

Although there’s still no evidence for the probiotic benefits of kombucha, it contains several species of lactic-acid bacteria which may have a probiotic function. The fermentation process produces acetic acid (also found in vinegar) and several other acidic compounds, trace levels of alcohol, and gases that make it carbonated ( 2).Ī large number of bacteria also grow in the mixture. This blob is a living symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, or a SCOBY, and can be used to ferment new kombucha.

This is why kombucha is also known as “mushroom tea.”

It’s made by adding specific strains of bacteria, yeast, and sugar to black or green tea, then allowing it to ferment for a week or more ( 1).ĭuring this process, bacteria and yeast form a mushroom-like film on the surface of the liquid. Kombucha is thought to originate in China or Japan.
