Kombucha Tea
Scientific research and clinical experience shows that without healthy gut flora, the digestive system cannot work effecively. Gut flora, that is made up of probiotic bacteria, protects our digestive system and enables efficient digestion of food. So how can we ensure that we have enough healthy bacteria in our guts?
Taking probiotics, having enough fibre in the diet, and eating and drinking fermented foods, which contain probiotics, is a great way to increase the amount of healthy bacteria in your gut!
Some of the beneficial effects of probiotics include;
- Improving the intestinal tract health
- Enhancing the immune system function
- Synthesising and enhancing the availability of nutrients
- Reducing symptoms of lactose intolerance
- Decreasing the prevalence of allergy in susceptible individuals
- Reducing the risk of certain cancers
Recent scientific research has supported all of these findings, and indicates that probiotics are a part of a healthy diet (Parvez, Malik, Kang & Kim, 2006).
Fermented food and drinks are normally consumed in the form of yogurt, fermented milks and/or fermented vegetables. Kombucha Tea is an example of a fermented drink that is packed with probiotics!
Kombucha Tea is a fermented beverage, which is made by fermenting a tea with a kombucha mushroom. In addition to all the benefits of probiotic rich foods, kombucha tea has also been found to antioxidant and hypocholesterolaemic effects (Yang et al., 2009).
In the below video Dorota shares the recipe for kombucha tea and demonstrates how to prepare it.
For more information on fermented foods, check out the Trupp Cooking School website for the Cooking Class schedule, where you will find the “The lost art of fermentation” class.
References
Parvez, S. Malik, K.A., Kang, S A., & Kim, H-Y. (2006). Probiotics and their fermented food products are beneficial for health. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 100(6), pp.1171-1185.
Yang, Z.W., Ji, B.P., Zhou, F., Li, B., Luo, Y., & Li, T. (2009). Hypocholesterolaemic and antioxidant effects of kombucha tea in high cholesterol fed mice. Journal of science of Food and Agriculture, 89(1), pp. 150-156.