Why Kombucha?
Have you tasted kombucha yet?
Kombucha is a beverage that possibly originated in China and has been brewed in homes for hundreds of years.
What is kombucha?
Kombucha is a tea brewed from dried tea leaves and herbs and fermented for 7-30 days (depending on the variety) using a living culture of probiotic bacteria, yeast, and evaporated cane sugar. This process gives kombucha its distinctively rich, earthy, citric flavor.
Since alcohol is a natural byproduct of fermentation, kombucha contains trace amounts of alcohol similar to the amount found in unpasteurized fruit juice.
Kombucha is sometimes called “mushroom tea,” but the drink has nothing to do with mushrooms. The nickname comes from the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) that looks like a mushroom floating on top of the tea. The culture is removed and can be used to start a new kombucha brew.
Kombucha has been promoted as having multiple health benefits. One of them is the potentially large amount of glucuronic acid.
The healthy human liver makes glucuronic acid to detoxify the body. In the liver, the glucuronic acid binds up all poisons and toxins–both environmental and metabolic–and rushes them to the excretory system. Once bound by glucuronic acid, these toxins cannot be reabsorbed, so the body is freed of them.
Glucuronic acid is not readily synthesized commercially–another reason for drinking kombucha!
Kombucha also offers health benefits similar to other fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut. Take a look at this:
The tea is rich in probiotics for gut health.
It has an abundance of polyphenols that act as antioxidants and decrease inflammation in the body.
Kombucha contains B vitamins, a handful of essential minerals, and organic acids.
It contains compounds that some studies associate with lowered cholesterol and blood sugar, antimicrobial action, decreased rates of cancer, and improvement of liver and GI function.
Since we believe that food is medicine, we've been promoting the health benefits of foods like kombucha that are rich in probiotics long before they became “fashionable.”
We are excited to offer several flavors of kombucha at Green Ridge Acres Farm Market. Buy it bottled to take home, or try our on-tap kombucha while you are here!