CaliforniaLyme
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1: Clin Rheumatol. 2004 Aug;23:355-7. Epub 2004 Apr 16. Links A case of anti-Jo1 myositis with pleural effusions and pericardial tamponade developing after exposure to a fermented Kombucha beverage. Derk CT, Sandorfi N, Curtis MT. Division of Rheumatology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 1910, USA. [email protected]
The pathogenesis of the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies has been postulated to be an environmental trigger causing the expression of the disease in a genetically predisposed patient. We report a case of anti-Jo1 antibody-positive myositis which was associated with pleural effusions, pericardial effusion with tamponade, and 'mechanic's hands', probably related to the consumption of a fermented Kombucha beverage. Kombucha 'mushroom', a symbiosis of yeast and bacteria, is postulated to be the trigger for our patient's disease owing to the proximity of his symptoms to the consumption of the Kombucha beverage.
PMID: 15293100
1: J Gen Intern Med. 1997 Oct;12:643-4. Links Probable gastrointestinal toxicity of Kombucha tea: is this beverage healthy or harmful? Srinivasan R, Smolinske S, Greenbaum D. Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and Veterans Affairs, Amarillo 79106-1797, USA.
Kombucha tea is a health beverage made by incubating the Kombucha "mushroom" in tea and sugar. Although therapeutic benefits have been attributed to the drink, neither its beneficial effects nor adverse side effects have been reported widely in the scientific literature. Side effects probably related to consumption of Kombucha tea are reported in four patients. Two presented with symptoms of allergic reaction, the third with jaundice, and the fourth with nausea, vomiting, and head and neck pain. In all four, use of Kombucha tea in proximity to onset of symptoms and symptom resolution on cessation of tea drinking suggest a probable etiologic association.
PMID: 9346462
1: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1995 Dec 8;44:892-3, 899-900. Links Unexplained severe illness possibly associated with consumption of Kombucha tea--Iowa, 1995. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Kombucha tea is a popular health beverage made by incubating the Kombucha mushroom in sweet black tea. Although advocates of Kombucha tea have attributed many therapeutic effects to the drink , its beneficial and/or adverse effects have not been determined scientifically. During April 1995, cases of unexplained severe illness including one death occurred in two persons in a rural town in northwestern Iowa who had been drinking Kombucha tea daily for approximately 2 months. Based on the findings of a preliminary investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Health, on April 10 IDPH issued a news release recommending that persons refrain from drinking Kombucha tea until the role of the tea in the two cases of illness had been evaluated fully. This report summarizes the investigation of these cases by the IDPH, CDC, and the Food and Drug Administration .
PMID: 7476846 1: Biomed Environ Sci. 2000 Dec;13293-9. Links Subacute 90 days oral toxicity studies of Kombucha tea. Vijayaraghavan R, Singh M, Rao PV, Bhattacharya R, Kumar P, Sugendran K, Kumar O, Pant SC, Singh R. Defence Research and Development Establishment, Jhansi Road, Gwalior-474002, India. [email protected]
Kombucha tea is a popular health beverage and is used as an alternative therapy. KT is prepared by placing the kombucha culture in solution of tea and sugar and allowing to ferment. The inoculum is a fungus consisting of symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria. KT is consumed in several countries and is believed to have prophylactic and therapeutic benefits in a wide variety of ailments, viz., intestinal disorders, arthritis, ageing and stimulation of immunological system. Though KT is used in several parts of the world its beneficial effects and adverse effects have not been scientifically evaluated. Since there are no animal toxicological data on KT, subacute oral toxicity study was carried out. Five groups of rats were maintained: a control group given tap water orally, b KT given 2 ml/kg orally, c plain tea given 2 ml/kg orally, d KT given in drinking water, 1% v/v and e PT given in drinking water, 1% v/v. The rats were given this treatment daily for a period of 90 days. Weekly records of weight, feed intake, water intake and general behaviour were monitored. There was no significant difference in the growth of the animals as evidenced by the progressive body weight change. The organ to body weight ratio and histological evaluation did not show any toxic signs. The haematological and biochemical variables were within the clinical limits. The study indicates that rats fed KT for 90 days showed no toxic effects.
PMID: 11351863 1: Nutrition. 2000 Sep;16755-61. Links Effects of chronic kombucha ingestion on open-field behaviors, longevity, appetitive behaviors, and organs in c57-bl/6 mice: a pilot study. Hartmann AM, Burleson LE, Holmes AK, Geist CR. Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-6480, USA.
Kombucha is a lightly fermented tea beverage popularly consumed as a self-prescribed folk-remedy for numerous ailments. Kombucha is claimed to enhance cognition, aid weight loss, and prolong life. This pilot study reports longevity, general health, and open-field exploratory behavioral outcomes from a 3-y longitudinal study of 64 C57-BL/6 mice males and females, half of which chronically drank kombucha, and all of which experienced natural mortality. Compared by MANOVA to controls, mice that drank kombucha showed greater vertical exploration P = 0.001 and a sex-interactive effect in novel object manipulation P = 0.049. MANOVA of kombucha-drinking mice compared to controls detected differences in appetitive behaviors food consumption, P 0.001; beverage consumption, P = 0. 008, and gross body weight P 0.001. Appetitive behaviors changed with the addition of voluntary exercise on a running wheel, with differing patterns of change noted for males and females. Both male and female mice who drank kombucha lived longer than controls P 0.001, with the greatest variability among the male mice sex interactive effect, P 0.001. Comparable effects and mechanisms in humans remain uncertain, as do health safety issues, because serious health problems and fatalities have been reported and attributed to drinking kombucha.
PMID: 10978857
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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clairenotes
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I just can't handle the sugary taste!
Claire
[ 23. January 2007, 01:31 PM: Message edited by: clairenotes ]
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sizzled
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It tastes like fizzy vinegar to me! BLGH!
I tried this on someone's rec. but couldn't handle more than a sip a week!
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northstar
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vinegar + sugar
Gave me yeast symptoms.
Northstar
Posts: 1331 | From hither and yonder | Registered: Sep 2005
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I bought some at the local health food store - citrus flavored.
Yes, it is a bit like vinegar, but this brand was definately NOT SWEET.
I had a very good reaction with it - I felt better, it works for me better than many supplements.
But I have to DILUTE IT to about 1/3 Kombucha to 2/3 seltzer water or tonic water or some sort of bubbly water - and occassionally I will add some juice to make it sweeeter.
However, for me it had effects and an improvement that was noticable, which in me is rare - that I notice, I mean
I am hooked. I am also hooked on Greek Yogurt (Plain, to which I add things)
Not cheap - $3.49 a bottle (16oz? not sure) but I get three out of one bottle.
*Bit*
Posts: 116 | From Bisbee, AZ USA | Registered: Sep 2005
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Michelle M
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Member # 7200
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Kombucha tea is antimicrobial.
Dangers have usually stemmed from unsterile preparation or preparation in a ceramic container (lead poisoning from the tea leaching lead from the ceramic).
It gives an almost immediate, palpable boost in energy.
Do not drink if you're on Flagyl as there is slightly over 1% alcohol content.
Michelle _________________________________
Kombucha Fermentation and Its Antimicrobial Activity
Guttapadu Sreeramulu, Yang Zhu,* and Wieger Knol
Department of Applied Microbiology and Gene Technology, TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, P.O. Box 360, 3700 AJ Zeist, The Netherlands
Received for review December 7, 1999. Accepted April 3, 2000.
Abstract:
Kombucha was prepared in a tea broth (0.5% w/v) supplemented with sucrose (10% w/v) by using a commercially available starter culture. The pH decreased steadily from 5 to 2.5 during the fermentation while the weight of the "tea fungus" and the OD of the tea broth increased through 4 days of the fermentation and remained fairly constant thereafter. The counts of acetic acid-producing bacteria and yeasts in the broth increased up to 4 days of fermentation and decreased afterward.
The antimicrobial activity of Kombucha was investigated against a number of pathogenic microorganisms. Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli, Aeromonas hydrophila, Yersinia enterolitica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, Staphylococcus epidermis, Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus cereus, Helicobacter pylori, and Listeria monocytogenes were found to be sensitive to Kombucha. According to the literature on Kombucha, acetic acid is considered to be responsible for the inhibitory effect toward a number of microbes tested, and this is also valid in the present study.
However, in this study, Kombucha proved to exert antimicrobial activities against E. coli, Sh. sonnei, Sal. typhimurium, Sal. enteritidis, and Cm. jejuni, even at neutral pH and after thermal denaturation.
This finding suggests the presence of antimicrobial compounds other than acetic acid and large proteins in Kombucha. ____________________________________________
posted
I drink a tea with Kombucha as a primary ingredient. I started drinking it because I drink green tea all the time and saw that this blend was 1) organic and 2) had Cat's Claw in it! I didn't pay attention to it at the time, but it also has a kombucha culture in it. It tastes slightly fruity and earthy, compared to regular green tea, but nothing "fungus-y".
I'm listing this because unlike so many others, my doctors don't seem to think I have yeast problem, and I've not been on probiotics the majority of my treatment. Perhaps this has something to do with it, but I do not know for sure.
Posts: 691 | From East coast, USA | Registered: Jun 2006
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DO NOT DRINK Kombucha IF YOU HAVE CANDIDA. It will make it grow.
-------------------- Nov-08 NutraMedix, BurBur Pinella WORKS, Japanese Knotweed, d-Lenolate, ALC, Was on Salt/C 1.5 yrs ended in 06 My brain is working better!!
Feeling very good now Posts: 182 | From Northern, NJ, USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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sizzled
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Hmmm, promotes yeast!
Posts: 4258 | From over there | Registered: Jul 2001
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Over a year ago, while were were remodeling our home (a toxic experience to be sure) I feel in love with the K. tea. It gave me a boost, made me feel good, etc.
And then came the "bite" (or whatever). (Most likely a reinfection with the Bb.) After that, I somehow didn't feel as good drinking it and finally decided the K. tea was a bad idea for me.
However, I still make a fermented drink orginating from the area in Russia where the lower cancer rates are statistically significant. The Russian word for tea is "kvass". The drink is called "Beet Kvass" and for some reason it just "feels right" for me.
The Beet Kvass is easy and cheap to make and it seems to be healing to me. So, even if K. tea is wonderful for healthy people, it just didn't work after I was under from the other challenges.
-------------------- When I lost my grip on Faith in the maze of illness, Hope gently clasped my hand and led on.
RuthRuth Posts: 478 | From California | Registered: Jan 2007
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Michelle M
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quote:Originally posted by John292: DO NOT DRINK Kombucha IF YOU HAVE CANDIDA. It will make it grow.
Sorry but this is incorrect.
Kombucha fights yeast! Here's how:
Michelle ______________________________________ Kombucha yeasts fight Candida, they do not encourage it by G�nther W. Frank
Worry about Candida or other yeast infections? Not so! Kombucha is a different kind of Yeast-Fungi. There are pathogen (harmful) and apathogen (harmless) yeasts. Kombucha is of the harmless kind.
Since kombucha is called a "mushroom" by many people, and a "fungus" by others, and since it is a yeast as well as a bacterial ferment, there are those who will automatically warn all candida albicans victims - those with chronic candiasis or any other kind of yeast infections - to stay away from Kombucha.
However, this is not right. The Schizosacharomycodes, that is in the Kombucha culture, is a yeast that is not in the family of candida, so it can be actually antagonistic to the troublesome yeast that infects so many people.
Kombucha is likely to be very beneficial for the following reason. Candida albicans is a yeast which competes with your bowel microflora and produces nothing in the way of benefit to the host organism. It occupies the body's defenses which have to be mobilized to oppose it. While this is going on your immune system can not effectively deal with other infections. Kombucha, on the other hand, is a community of microorganisms that do have a beneficial effect on the host, namely by producing glucuronic acid. The yeasts in Kombucha compete with the candida yeasts and gradually replace them. They reproduce vegitatively or by fission rather than by producing spores. This means that instead of having an enemy inside you, you have a friend.
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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