Health Tips

Kombucha tea is well-received by many health-conscious individuals all around the world. It is starting to gain traction in the urban areas of Malaysia, with many cafe and small business owners selling their home-brewed kombucha tea. Well known for its health benefits, kombucha tea is described to be a fizzy, sweet-and-sour beverage. However, is the health benefit of kombucha tea backed up by science or just pure hype?

Ingredients in kombucha tea

The production process of kombucha tea is not complicated at all. In fact, it shares a similar process with the production of yoghurt and kimchi, known as fermentation.

To ferment a kombucha tea, yeast (commonly being Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is mixed with sugar and black tea. The mix is then set aside for a week or more for fermentation to take place. During this process, beneficial bacteria, acetic acid , a small amount of alcohol (<1%) and carbon dioxide gases are formed. The carbon dioxide gas is what makes the kombucha tea taste fizzy. 

A while later, the bacteria, yeast and acid may appear as a film on top of the mix, known as the symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). SCOBY is a gelatinous, jelly-like biofilm that can be used as the starter liquid to make even more kombucha tea subsequently.

Evidence-based health benefits of kombucha tea

1. May be good for your digestive health?

One of the most touted selling points of kombucha tea is its probiotics and prebiotics content, which both have long been associated with good digestive health. Although kombucha is a rich source of acetic acid and lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, which may have probiotic functions, there are no published studies exploring the effect of kombucha consumption on digestive health. 

To put it simply, consuming kombucha tea should not harm your digestive health, but to say that it can work wonders to people with digestive issues may be an overstatement. The quality control of the production process also has huge implications on the microbial compositions in kombucha tea, thus affecting its probiotics content.

2. Has antioxidant properties

In a study that compares kombucha tea made from green and black tea, versus kombucha tea produced from rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) leaves, it was found out that latter possess a good antioxidant property. The antioxidant benefits of kombucha tea is believed to be contributed by both the vitamin C and organic acids , as well as the polyphenols and flavonoids present in the beverage. Nonetheless, such benefits are only observed in animal subjects and its actual benefits on humans are doubtful.

3. Can kombucha tea kill bacteria?

Some studies showed that kombucha tea indeed has antimicrobial properties. One showed that if kombucha tea is brewed specific strains of herbs (L. citriodora and F. vulgare), it conferred strong antimicrobial properties against a range of harmful bacteria and fungi. ). Another study also found that kombucha broth was effective against some bad microorganisms such as Microsporum canis, E. coli,and Salmonella typhi. However, all studies are done in the lab using microorganism culture, so its antimicrobial property in actual humans is uncertain.

4. Even treat diabetes?

In a lab study using diabetic rats, researchers found that kombucha tea not only reverses the cell damages in such rats, it also repairs genetic damages in the pancreas of those rats. Kombucha made from green tea is likely to be even more beneficial, as green tea itself has been shown to reduce blood sugar levels. In fact, a review study of almost 300,000 individuals found that green tea drinkers had an 18% lower risk of developing diabetes.

Other benefits and takeaway

There are many other potential health benefits of kombucha tea, including preventing cancer, lowering blood cholesterol level, and protecting vital organs such as the kidney. However, it is worth noting that many of these studies are either in preliminary phases or using lab rats, which did not involve any human subjects at all. Hence we should take these results with a grain of salt. With that being said, kombucha tea is generally safe and it is not a problem at all to enjoy this amazing beverage.

Is kombucha tea halal?

The general consensus is that kombucha tea is halal, thus suitable for muslim’s comsumption. The amount of alcohol in kombucha tea is so low that it would have no effect on the person drinking it. There is no added alcohol and only naturally occurring alcohol that is common in many fruits. For instance, a ripe banana has naturally more alcohol content than kombucha. Hence, if you, as a muslim, have no issue with eating banana, then drinking kombucha tea should not be an issue. You may read more here.

Other resources:

1. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/8-benefits-of-kombucha-tea#TOC_TITLE_HDR_9

2. https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/bs.afnr.2018.09.001

3. https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/B978-0-12-816842-4.00016-2

4. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/8/1806/htm#B15-nutrients-11-01806

Written by

Ms Joyce Toh