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Sunday, July 1, 2012

#Krazy About Kombucha



Mother Nature ruined my weekend.  I'm lucky that during this heat wave that I have electricity though. Four years ago (when I started this blog actually) I was finishing up my dietetic internship with the University of Maryland.  A storm hit, and well, D.C. and the greater metro area was baking in 100+ degree temperatures.


Hopefully, you'll be enjoying a short week with the 4th of July on Wednesday.  I recently discovered Luna Kombucha at Celebrate Local over in Easton here in Columbus.  It's probably the best I've ever had.  I once drank Synergy Kombucha that I'm pretty sure was sitting too long in the grocery store as it was waaay to vinegary.


It was perfect.  Refreshing (I drank the 22 oz bottle), not sugary, and I didn't die (epic).


But what the heck am I talking about?  MSNBC had an article written by a Chicago based RD.
Kombucha is basically a lightly fermented tea that has probiotic bacteria, a small amount of alcohol from this process, and some vitamins/minerals.  You can also make your own which I'm on the fence about
mainly because of contamination in your kitchen/'brewing' area.  However, it's been popular in major cities amongst foodies where they share the SCOBY or the main fermentation strain, it's similar to those friendship breads you or your mother made during the '70s.


Kombucha Brooklyn has probably the coolest site based on it and you can make your own by ordering from them.


According to Janet Helm from the MSNBC article:
"Some call it “mushroom tea,” although there are no real mushrooms in it, just some slimy sludge floating near the bottom of the bottle. Kombucha (pronounced kom-BOO-cha) is the latest elixir to elicit claims of a stunning array of health benefits, everything from improving digestion and immunity to lowering cholesterol and fighting cancer. It’ll even grow hair, fans claim."


I did a search on the CDC of some of the bad.  Overall, if you buy it from a company, there is little risk of adverse effects (assuming you don't leave it in your fridge for 6 months.  


But in my case, just another refreshing way to beat the heat.