Alert the Risk of Drinking Kombucha Tea

Medical Video: Kombucha tea dangers

Have you heard of Kombucha tea before? There are various types of tea available, from tea made from leaves, flowers, to mushrooms, like this one kombucha tea.

What is Kombucha Tea?

Kombucha tea is a fermented tea solution with sugar which is then added to the microbial starter, namely bacteria Acetobacter xylinum and some yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Zygosaccharomyces bailii, and Candida sp. As a result of the fermentation process, kombucha tea contains various substances such as acetic acid, folate, essential amino acids, vitamin B, vitamin C, and alcohol.

Many call kombucha tea a mushroom tea because it is allowed to "mushroom" first in the manufacturing process. The time needed for fermentation of this tea is around 8 to 12 days at a temperature of 18 to 2 degrees Celsius, but in environments with higher temperatures, fermentation will take place faster. The duration of fermentation will affect the physical quality, content, and taste of tea. In kombucha tea 400 ml contains a total energy of 60 calories.

Benefits of drinking kombucha tea

Many opinions say that kombucha tea has many benefits, such as for digestion, decreases the risk of atherosclerosis, and helps remove toxins from the body. Most of the benefits of kombucha tea are obtained from the results of research conducted on animals. From studies carried out on animals, it was seen that kombucha tea had various health effects, namely as an antioxidant, antibacterial, improving intestinal microflora, and could increase the body's resistance and reduce blood pressure.

In addition to research conducted on animals, several groups that consume kombucha routinely claim that kombucha tea has a good impact on health, such as being able to improve the immune system, prevent cancer, and improve the functioning of the digestive system and liver. Kombucha tea also contains probiotic bacteria, which are good bacteria to boost the immune system. However, to maintain the function of probiotic bacteria, kombucha tea should go through a pasteurization process or a heating process to eliminate other bad bacteria.

The negative impact of consuming kombucha tea

Although some groups say kombucha tea has a good effect on health, on the other hand, drinking this tea turns out to cause less impact on the body such as stomach ache after drinking it, infection, and allergies. The bacteria in kombucha tea can cause infection in people with low body resistance. In healthy people, consuming kombucha tea causes stomach ache, bacterial infections in kombucha tea, allergies, yellowing of the skin surface, nausea, vomiting, headaches. Whereas in sensitive people and low body defense systems, such as those with HIV / AIDS, consuming kombucha tea will further reduce their body defenses due to bacterial infection.

There have been reports that in Iran there are 20 people affected by anthrax due to drinking kombucha tea. Even in 1995 the Center for Disease Control issued a statement that kombucha tea was the cause of the metabolic acidosis that occurred in this group of women. Metabolic acidosis is a condition in which blood contains too much acid, because it consumes too many acidic foods, such as kombucha tea.

In addition, the use of kombucha tea must be observed and monitored for patients with certain diseases, such as people with diabetes, alcoholism, and irritable bowel syndrome. In diabetics, consuming kombucha tea can affect blood sugar, causing a decrease in blood sugar levels in the body (hypoglycemia). This tea is also not suitable if consumed by people who are experiencing diarrhea and sufferers irritable bowel syndrome, because this tea contains quite a lot of caffeine and this can aggravate the symptoms.

How to consume safe kombucha tea?

Although there are already those that prove the benefits of kombucha tea for the body, the cleanliness and quality of tea must be maintained so as not to cause adverse effects, such as poisoning or infection due to bacteria. Preferably, kombucha tea goes through the process of pasteurization or heating to eliminate the bad bacteria contained in it. In addition, further scientific research is needed to prove the benefits of consuming kombucha tea.