10 Reasons Why Kombucha Is Good for You

Kombucha is a low cal, fermented tea alternative to sugary drinks. What separates this fizzy concoction from diet soda and seltzer is thousands of years of purported health benefits. Folk tales aren’t the only thing maintaining that kombucha is good for you—organizations like the National Institute for Health have been studying its macronutrient and probiotic content for years. Here are just ten ways that black or green teas plus probiotics may improve your constitution.

Every time you see the outline of a body in a Bengay commercial pulsating big red rings, you're seeing inflammation. Inflammation is the body's natural response to infection or tissue damage. Those red rings are an indispensable part of the healing process! But too much inflammation puts you at risk for arthritis and other health problems. Its high levels of antioxidants are why kombucha is good for you, because they reduce the prevalence of red rings, which provides the body a much needed respite from stress.

Mental Well-being

Fear is the mind-killer, but you can protect your mind with kombucha. That's because the stomach is as much a pathway to the mind as it is to the heart. The same probiotics found in kombucha are linked to reduced levels of anxiety and depression. And since making kombucha entails taking black, white, or green teas and fermenting them by adding "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast" (SCOBY), you end up with a thirst quencher as good for the stomach as it is for the mind.

Heart Healthy

Green tea is in everything from ice cream to face cream. Its flavor is beloved and its healing properties are numerous. So if you’re skeptical about the health benefits of fermented tea then you may want to make your kombucha green. Reductions in bad cholesterol and belly fat, and a boost for your heart, are all reasons why green tea kombucha is good for you.

Listeria, Staphylococcus, E. coli, and salmonella: it’s a who’s who of malcontent microorganisms. These harmful bacteria are the culprits behind many health problems, and what they all have in common is that they don’t react well to acetic acid. And high acetic acid content is why kombucha is good for you.

Gives You Energy!

Don't be a buzzkill and tell me my kombucha buzz isn't real. It’s not the negligible alcohol content in kombucha that provides the buzz; it’s the B vitamins! Just check the back of any energy drink and you’ll see B12, thiamin, riboflavin, and the rest of the B family. They’re a big part of how Red Bull gives you wings and why kombucha is good for you. Energy, alertness, mental clarity, and focus are just some of the benefits of consuming the vitamin B complex.

Combats Stomach Ulcers

Rumor has it that Kurt Cobain's stomach pain was so severe that it drove him to self-medicate with heroin. If someone gave him a bottle of GT's Tantric Turmeric, then maybe the Nirvana frontman would still be around, performing In Utero in amphitheaters nationwide to promote the album's 25 year anniversary. That's because research has demonstrated a positive correlation between fermented tea drinks and reduced risk of ulcers. Now we'll have to settle for listening to "Heart-Shaped Box" while sipping on kombucha.

Relative to its phytonutrient content, the alcohol content of kombucha is so low that I didn't even get a buzz when I drank six bottles of it in a row after they exploded in the trunk of my car. Meanwhile, the fermented tea's phytochemical and phytonutrient content is high enough that kombucha is associated with kidney and liver health, as well as a reduction in the severity of diabetes. We'll drink to that!

Potential Pulmonary Perks from Inhaling Kombucha

People working in construction, brick laying, and in mines endanger their lungs thanks to all the silica they inhale. Research in China has suggested, however, that kombucha removed silica from animal lungs when used as an inhalant. Helping men and women breath easy would be a big reason why kombucha is good for you, as would bringing much needed pulmonary relief to China's population of brick laying, mine digging, house building animals.

The alleged benefits of kombucha keep people drinking!

When humans look back on Diet Coke in a millennium they're going to be surprised how many people drank thick black water that was rumored to cause cancer and Alzheimer's. The rumors surrounding kombucha are a little more inspiring: improved vision, increased libido, less gray hairs, curing hangovers, reversing wrinkles, etc. These are the kind of rumors that have kept people coming back to kombucha millennium after millennium. The best Diet Coke can hope for is being the mythic drink of polar bears.