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Is Kombucha Tea Good For You?

Case reports of people ending up in a coma after drinking kombucha tea.

May 23, 2011 |
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Supplementary Info

Is Kombucha Tea Good For You?, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

Sources Cited

J Intensive Care Med. 2009 May-Jun;24(3):205-7. A case of Kombucha tea toxicity. SungHee Kole A, Jones HD, Christensen R, Gladstein J.

Acknowledgements

Transcript

Tea is healthy; mushrooms are healthy. What if you put them together. Kombucha tea, a fizzy fermented drink—complete, with chunks of slimy fungus. Now if you base your nutritional knowledge on the kind of books you find in healthfood stores, bestsellers like “Kombucha the Magical Fungus,” will tell you that already by the Tsin dynasty it was known and honored as a beverage with magical powers enabling people to live forever. Given the fact that you don’t tend to meet many people from the Tsin dynasty these days, not only may kombucha not give you eternal life, it apparently won’t even grant you a measly 2,000 years.
Never believe anything you read in healthfood stores. But what does the science say? Kombucha tea: Harmful… just harmless… or helpful? Kombucha tea can be harmful. Published last year in the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine, Kombucha may post serious health risks. Consumption of this tea should be discouraged as it may be associated with life-threatening lactic acidosis. This is just the latest in a series of case reports of people ending up in a coma because their blood turned to acid after drinking kombucha. How does it do that? We have no idea. Maybe it’s a magical fungus after all.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

You may also be interested in checking out my associated blog posts: Eating To Extend Our Lifespan,  Soymilk: shake it up!, and  NutritionFacts.org: the first month.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/RobertLajoie/ Robert Lajoie

    Hi Good Doctor…i read the link
    http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/is-kombucha-tea-goodfor-you/
    …Ok It seems some people’s body can’t handle the Therapeutic Kombucha…but the scientific studies I sent you above(link below) seem to indicate a larger truth that IT won’t harm you and be beneficial . i find it odd that your nicely presented report is biased and not balanced..from meeting you in Montreal I found you objective but what I get from your link and the non inclusion of the scientific studies as noble as the one you refer to
    is that you are into shock news rather than balancing the reporting of the studies you select…PLS correct your unbalanced report on Kombucha if you want to be helpfull rather than an alarmist…
    regards
    Robert

    http://www.kombuchakamp.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Possible-Protective-Effect-of-Kombucha-Tea-Ferment-on-Cadmium-Chloride-Induced-Liver-and-Kidney-Damage-in-Irradiated-Rats.pdf

    http://www.kombuchakamp.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Does-kombucha-tea-attenuate-the-hepato-nepherotoxicity-induced-by-a-certain-environmental-pollutant.pdf

    http://www.kombuchakamp.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Protective-effect-of-kombucha-mushroom-KM-tea-on-chromosomal-aberrations.pdf

    http://www.kombuchakamp.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Possible-Protective-Effect-of-Kombucha-Tea-Ferment-on-Cadmium-Chloride-Induced-Liver-and-Kidney-Damage-in-Irradiated-Rats.pdf

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Kombucha may indeed reduce the organ damage of irradiated rats, but not sure the relevance (unless you have a pet rat and your friendly neighborhood nuclear plant melts down?). As a physician I’m kind of a rather limited veterinarian–I only know about one species! But I’m not saying there aren’t benefits to kombucha consumption, I’m just saying that if you look at a systematic review of the clinical evidence the benefits may not outweigh the risks. In fact, why tolerate any significant risks in our diet? That’s why I have a low tolerance for recommending against the consumption of foods shown to have serious adverse effects.

      • http://wholenewmom.com/ Adrienne @ Whole New Mom

        I think it’s a little much to state that, based on 3 adverse reports (with no data about those cases at all) that there is too much risk in drinking kombucha. Maybe the issue lies in proper preparation. There are also rumors stating that lavender and tea tree oil lead to hormonal issues in boys, but that was based on 3 kids as well and wasn’t a study at all. Furthermore, I have heard that reports on PubMed can simply be paid for and put there. So we need to look at “evidence” there with an open, yet questioning, mind. I’d love to hear what you think about my points. Thank you.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mica_m/ mica_m

    So the paper displayed here says ‘A Case Of Kombucha Tea Toxicity’. Was this literally one case? Or are there others? I can’t find much info aside from various references mentioning a single ‘rare case of myositis’ – this does not in anyway imply some kind of serious risk here. We do not know what else was going on with this ‘single case’ – did this person have other health issues? Was they on certain medication (known to cause lactic acidosis)? There can be a number of causes:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001428/

    An awful lot of people drink Kombucha (some on a daily basis). This sounds like a statistical anomaly.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      This was just a case report (which means by definition just one patient is described), but as I noted above, a systematic review concluded the benefits may not outweigh the risks. This was just one of the latest cases. It’s certainly an extremely rare consequence of kombucha consumption, but just like with medications, even though side effects can be rare, one still has to balance the benefits and risks. So I’d much rather see people drink (green or white) tea straight, which has more proven benefits and fewer reported risks.

      • j j

        how do you feel about kefir? safe? there are several vegan options of kefir available.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/RobertLajoie/ Robert Lajoie

    Thanks for comments Doctor..Granted …Foods have risks..and if you Got AIDS you need to be careful about what you drink…carefully made Kombucha is a health drink that is therapeutic and needs to be consumed with the understanding of possible side effects…The Kombucha I drink has been very helpful for me as my digestive system not so great…but caution in consumption quantity at start if Novice is needed especially if you have AIDS…as outlined in you toxicity study link above.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/ethan/ Ethan

    What about the beneficial pro-biotic organisms and EGCG in kombucha? If someone is able to balance their pH by consuming more alkaline foods, wouldn’t its consumption be justified?

  • Soniin

    I make and drink kombucha on a daily basis and give away the scobies to friends to start their own batches.  I think this article and doctor are ridiculous to suggest it is harmful.  As usual, anything rich in life and probiotics, are deemed harmful by the medical association, who would rather dispense drugs than actually give something helpful to a person.  BUT, Do no harm…. what a crock of ****

    • Toxins

      In the words of Jeff Novick

      “While Kombucha tea is widely promoted to have miraculous medicinal
      properties, there is no evidence that Kombucha tea is effective for any
      of the reasons it is promoted for.

      What is being sold as Kombucha today is a colony of numerous species
      of fungi and bacteria living together, which permeate the tea. The
      precise composition of any sample of Kombucha depends to a great extent
      on what was floating around in your kitchen when you grew it or the
      kitchen (room) where it was grown.

      The most common microorganisms found in Kombucha tea include species
      of Brettanomyces, Zygosaccharomyces, Saccharomyces, Candida, Torula,
      Acetobacter, and Pichia. However, some analyzed specimens have been
      found to contain completely different organisms, and there is no
      guarantee that they will be harmless.

      In addition, there are case reports, which suggest that Kombucha
      preparations can cause such problems as nausea, jaundice, shortness of
      breath, throat tightness, headache, dizziness, liver inflammation, and
      even unconsciousness.

      Mayser P, Fromme S, Leitzmann C, et al. The yeast spectrum of the ‘tea fungus Kombucha’. Mycoses. 1995;38:289-295.

      Food and Drug Administration. FDA cautions consumers on “Kombucha
      Mushroom Tea” {News release}. Washington, DC: US Department of Health
      and Human Services, Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration,
      March 23, 1995

      CDC. Anticholinergic poisoning associated with an herbal tea — New York City, 1994. MMWR 1995;44:193-5.

      Srinivasan R, Smolinske S, Greenbaum D. Probable gastrointestinal
      toxicity of Kombucha tea: is this beverage healthy or harmful? J Gen
      Intern Med. 1997;12:643-644.

      Unexplained severe illness possibly associated with consumption of
      Kombucha tea—Iowa, 1995. From the Centers for Disease Control and
      Prevention. JAMA. 1996;275:96-98.

      Perron AD, Patterson JA, Yanofsky NN. Kombucha “mushroom” hepatotoxicity. Ann Emerg Med. 1995;26:660-66

      Sadjadi J. Cutaneous anthrax associated with the Kombucha “mushroom” in Iran [letter]. JAMA. 1998;280:1567-1568.
      ”

  • Mirna

    Doctor G, I love your site, but I read that Kombucha naturally produces B12 (among other things). Is this true, because I’m ready to send a sample of my own brew to get it tested. If true, this is fantastic news!

    Also, the animal tests don’t mean anything to me…I’m not a rat, pig, rabbit or dog and all those tests proved it to be unsafe. As an example; there are a number of toxic things my dog can’t eat, but onions and almonds are safe for humans. :)

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/ Michael Greger M.D.

      I am not aware of any data suggesting kombucha can be relied on as a source of vitamin B12. Here’s what I would suggest: Safest Source of B12

  • dohduh

    What about the Cornell study? Sorry to use a commercial site, but this was the only version I could find that was more than an abstract. Granted it is from 2000, but the death of the woman often referenced was in 1995.

    http://www.happyherbalist.com/analysis_of_kt_cornell.htm

    • Toxins

      Because something has antimicrobial properties does not necessarily mean it is healthy for you, as we can see with alcohol. The study Dr. Greger presented is independent of this antimicrobial property so it shouldn’t matter as there is no dispute.

  • olothstar

    What about water kefir ? i have been making my own kefir with water kefir grains since i turned vegan to help get the probiotic i used to get in my yogurt. i don’t see any serious studies about it; have you come across any ?

    thanks for all your great work !

  • Occams_Razor

    This is fun learning at its best. I am still attempting to learn about vitamins, with a bit of fence-sitting about giving them up. Made easier, for the nonce, by me not having the money for them, after taking them for 35 years. I am totally NOT on the fence about eating a plant diet!

    This one may be more heartening. I learned to make some pretty good kombucha tea a few years ago. Mmm, cold, fizzy, tasty, they said it was good for me, what’s not to like? Especially when I am *not* one of those health food fanatics – there’s always one in every online board – who drink quarts of kombucha daily or, I sh*t you not, the broad on Marie Oser’s soy board who described her diet of soy this for breakfast, soy milk that, soy theotherthing for lunch, soy yogurt, soy this for dinner…. barf. Nut.

    But maybe I can relax and stop making it. Making it was waaay cheaper than the $4 (I sh*t you not) pints in the health food stores. [Spoken in a Dr. Greger voice] Not making it would be… even cheaper.

    Still makes one long for ca. 1967 Mad Magazine’s ideal business street. The health food store’s sign said: “We don’t overcharge for stuff just because it’s good for you!”

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