Member-only story
The Nuance
Can Kombucha Make You Sick?
Kombucha is healthy, but you should know what you’re getting into
Every week, the Nuance will go beyond the basics, offering a deep and researched look at the latest science and expert insights on a buzzed-about health topic.
Kombucha is a fermented tea made with a combination of bacteria and yeasts. Its origins are disputed, but some scholarship claims it was first consumed in Northern China around 5,000 years ago. Prized then for its “detoxifying” properties, kombucha may have gotten its current name from a fifth century physician named Kombu who purportedly used it to cure the digestive problems of a Japanese emperor.
Flash forward 1,600 years, and kombucha has become the darling drink of many health-minded Americans. Its bacteria and yeast populations are thought to bolster the health of the gut’s microbiome — the disparate community of microorganisms that dwell in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and appear to play a role in a person’s risk for conditions ranging from autoimmune disorders to depression.
But while many people think of kombucha (and other fermented foods) as “probiotic” — meaning the microorganisms they contain provide some health perk — that term isn’t technically accurate. “You can’t really call it a probiotic because there’s no established health benefit,” says Dr. Emeran Mayer, a professor of medicine and co-director of the Digestive Diseases Research Center at UCLA. “The health claims around kombucha have outpaced the science.”
Unfortunately, science probably won’t catch up any time soon. Studying kombucha is a challenge because, depending on how it’s prepared, the drink can have varying amounts of acidity, effervescence, alcohol, and sugar. Its types and amounts of bacteria and yeast also differ from one preparation to the next. Likewise, the gut’s flora vary from person to person. Predicting how all these variables will interact is a puzzle that experts may never solve, Mayer says.
For the same reasons, it’s tough to gauge how much kombucha is too much. Your gut, your health status, and the type of kombucha you’re chugging are all factors that could determine how you react to the beverage, says Anayansi Escalante-Aburto, a researcher at…
