The benefits and risks of tea fungus. How to properly prepare kombucha and what contraindications it has?
The drink based on tea fungus, known as kombucha, has many beneficial properties. It helps maintain weight, normalizes the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, and even makes hair silkier and skin velvety. Women in various countries use it as a universal remedy for maintaining beauty. However, kombucha also has contraindications, which mediasole writes.
What is tea fungus
Kombucha is made from black or green tea with added sugar. The drink is rich in vitamins, amino acids, and other health-beneficial substances.
The process of making kombucha can vary, but it usually involves double fermentation, during which a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast in the form of pancakes is placed in sweet tea and left to ferment at room temperature for a period of one to three weeks.
Technically, tea fungus is not a fungus. It is a living culture consisting of several species of yeast and bacteria, designed to create a fermented drink. After fermentation, a pouch resembling a fungus, known as a medusomyces, forms on the surface of the tea.
Health Benefits of Tea Fungus
1. Aids Digestion
The live bacteria and yeast contained in the drink positively affect the digestive system. Some properties of tea fungus are similar to those of other natural fermented products, such as yogurt, kefir, pickles, and sauerkraut.
Kombucha contains hyaluronic acid, mucopolysaccharides, and chondroitin sulfate, and thanks to its enzymes, it helps quickly cope with gastrointestinal diseases: constipation, diarrhea, colitis, enteritis, and dysentery.
Sometimes kombucha is used instead of kvass in okroshka. In Japan and China, chicken eggs are marinated in kombucha.
2. Cancer Protection
Kombucha made from green tea contains the same beneficial substances as regular green tea, such as polyphenols, which act as antioxidants.
Green tea helps lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels, which, in turn, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, those who regularly consume green tea have a lower likelihood of developing prostate, colon, or breast cancer.
3. Strengthens Muscular and Nervous Systems
Kombucha is rich in B vitamins, which help the body resist infections, participate in muscle growth and energy production, and normalize the functioning of the cardiovascular and nervous systems.
4. Improves Skin and Hair Condition
The natural acid in kombucha positively affects appearance. The infusion can be used for cosmetic purposes: added to rejuvenating skin masks or used as a rinse after washing hair to combat dandruff.
Harm of Tea Fungus
Moldy fungi can pose a danger as they produce aflatoxins—toxic substances that negatively affect the liver. Aflatoxins are destroyed only at temperatures of 250-300°C.
Excessive enthusiasm for kombucha due to its high acidity can lead to metabolic acidosis—one of the disturbances in the body's acid-base balance, which negatively impacts the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system.
Moreover, the popular drink contains a small amount of alcohol: from 0.5 to 3 percent. For comparison, the average craft beer contains just under 6 percent alcohol.
People with high stomach acidity, peptic ulcers, kidney and liver dysfunction, low blood pressure, and gout should refrain from consuming kombucha.
Due to the aforementioned negative properties of tea fungus, it is not recommended for people with weakened immune systems, pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as small children.
Those without contraindications can drink up to 120 milliliters of the beverage per day, but it is preferable that it is not too acidic.
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