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Kombucha Studies and Reports

On this page you can find all about different kombucha studies and reports which I have found all over the web.

• A Myth - Kombucha killed a lady
  

One myth you may have heard about kombucha tea is that it can kill you, a claim made by the FDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others based on a single incident back in 1995 where a woman was admitted to the hospital with severe acidosis and elevated levels of lactic acid in her body, and later died. According to reports, she had been consuming kombucha every day for two months prior to her death.

But if you read the report in closer detail, it clearly states that no direct link was confirmed between kombucha tea and the woman's death. In fact, the report states that she had already been suffering from other underlying health conditions, and that she "took medications for hypertension, anemia, and mild renal insufficiency." An autopsy later showed that her actual cause of death appeared to be "peritonitis with fecal contamination of the peritoneal cavity" (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00039742.htm).

• Kombucha protects liver cells from damage

A 2011 study published in the journal Pathophysiology, for instance, found that kombucha helps protect liver cells from damage (http://www.realnatural.org/2011/12/15/kombucha-protects-the-liver/). And a 2012 study published in the journal Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology found that kombucha has demonstrable "prophylactic and therapeutic properties," including antimicrobial, antibacterial, and anti-fungal effects

• Kombucha stimulates the immune systems of rats that had symptoms that mimicked Parkinson’s disease and other disorders

The evidence for kombucha’s health effects is indeed slim: a 2003 study published in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14631833?dopt=Citation found that it improved and stimulated theimmune systems of rats that had symptoms that mimicked Parkinson’s disease and other disorders.

• Can not be recommended for therapeutic use

A German review of all scientific research on kombucha (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12808367?dopt=Citation) found that it could not be recommended for therapeutic use because the risks outweighed the benefits.

• Lethal in combination with chemotherapy?

Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Cancer Center warns immunosuppressed people—such as patients undergoing chemotherapy—against using kombucha because of the possibility of contamination with a fungus called Aspergillus. A few cases of contamination with anthrax have also led to recommendations to avoid kombucha.

• The same bacteria can be found in yoghurt

Those same live cultures are also found in non-heat-treated kinds of yogurt. Studies into the health benefits of Lactobacillus acidophilus in yogurt are more plentiful, possibly because yogurt has been on the market longer. An American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that women who ate yogurt reduced their chances of yeast infection by two thirds. And a 2000 Tufts University study found that consuming the bacteria helped maintain intestinal-tract health, especially for people with weakened immune systems, through an “immunostimulatory effect” in which the body reacts to the bacteria ingested, bolstering the immune system.

I'll be updating this web page with new studies and reports about Kombucha.