Talk:Kombucha

	This Alternative medicine related article has been awarded BRONZE status for quality. It's getting there, but could be better with improvement. See RationalWiki:Article rating for more information.

E. coli

While there probably are a lot of ways Kombucha can cause problems and the medical literature if full of examples ranging from headaches to death, it's unlikely to be because of E. coli contamination. The little research that has been done specifically on the tea, notes that something in the symbiotic mass of bacteria and yeast has significant antibiotic properties towards many types of bacteria (not acetobacter obviously). I'd guess acidosis from all the vinegar is a more likely culprit for some of the Kombucha related illness in the medical literature but cross contamination by an unfriendly yeast is more likely than bacterial contanimation. In moderate quantities it's probably no more harmful on average to humans than most other fermented foods like kimchi or anything else you'd find on this list: list of fermented foods. ^{— Unsigned, by: 76.187.6.106 / talk / contribs (signed by bot)} 22:08, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

Bias

I am sorry guys, I love to be a skeptic too but this page is pretty biased. I know kombucha is not a wonder cure and nobody will likely experience any noticeable improvement but this article implies that kombucha is unsafe. From a biological perspective it is actually safer than yogurt and kefir because the acid conditions in the culture are rather unfavorable to pathogens. There is als some legitimate scientific evidence of benefit when we look at glucaric acid's effect on the liver. This is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article-

However, a more recent and thorough analysis of a variety of commercial and homebrew versions of kombucha found no evidence of glucuronic acid at all. Instead, the active component is most likely glucaric acid. This compound, also known as D-glucaro-1,4-lactone, helps eliminate the glucuronic acid conjugates produced by the liver. When these conjugates are excreted, normal gut bacteria can break them up using a bacterial form of beta-glucuronidase. Glucaric acid is an inhibitor of this bacterial enzyme, so the waste stored in the glucuronic acid conjugates is properly eliminated the first time, rather than being reabsorbed and detoxified over and over. Thus, glucaric acid probably makes the liver more efficient.[12] ^{— Unsigned, by: 69.118.203.152 / talk / contribs}

Considering the wikipedia article seems to be written by pseudoscientific trolls, I wouldn't cite it with a ten foot pole. That article is a mess. C6541 (talk) 05:15, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

I agree here. Fermentation and rotting is a process used in lots of food. Of course kombucha is just a drink, which you can like or not. But this article at a certain point sounds a bit like it's anti-chemical counterpart which fears any chemical ingredient in food as a toxin. Any kitchen is a laboratory, so any food has it's risks. But there is no proof known that kombucha is more dangerous than any other common food or drink.

The issue, as mentioned in the article, is the polyculture. You could have the same problems with sourdough starter, for example, but bread gets baked. EVDebs (talk) 04:14, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, honestly, this article is silly, and should probably be deleted? There are similar (ridiculous) health claims about sauerkraut and other fermented foods, should there be articles making fun of those too? There are plenty of cases of people getting sick from those, from bad beer, etc etc as well. Kombucha is a traditional fermented beverage just like any other, some people enjoy drinking it, some don't, it's not magic and it's not any more dangerous than any other fermented product just because some people have a really strong negative reaction to the taste. --2600:1700:E151:5AD0:3D84:6F0C:CC24:4150 (talk) 17:11, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

You seemed to have missed the point. This article is in response to groups and individuals who claim Kombucha is more than a simple beverage. So... No, the article will not be deleted. ☭Comrade GC☭^{Ministry of Praise} 17:15, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

Just because there is woo about something does not make that thing dangerous. In fact, given how many people drink kombucha, the fact this article only mentions two people getting seriously sick from it does not make me very convinced. Also, most people buy kombucha in bottles at stores instead of making their own, so the risk ends up being negligible. This article well overplays the risk of drinking kombucha, and a low sugar kombucha is clearly a better dietary choice than a high sugar cola. 2601:547:981:1FB0:9CEA:1E81:6140:A95F (talk) 21:16, 22 April 2021 (UTC)

Taste

This article fails to mention that it tastes like ass soaked in vinegar.

This assessment is offensively biased against those who think it tastes like taint soaked in lemon juice, or Giardia belches with a stomach acid chaser. EVDebs (talk) 02:15, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

I was given some "mushroom tea" of this style to try once... I immediately went in search of a stray cat to lick it's ass to get the taste out of my mouth. That being said, I normally like things that many other people find off-putting (e.g. Gjetost, but never Durian... never). I didn't know it was potentially harmful, but the taste was more than enough to make me steer clear. B4Xiphos (talk) 06:33, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

Non-health reasons for drinking

Yeah, it's made via a weird, potentially dangerous process, but this article just seems scathing with bias against... Fermented tea? I mean, at the end of the day, it's just tea. It might be tea with some small health risks, but everyone I know who drinks this does so because they like it as a beverage, not for alternative medicine reasons.^{— Unsigned, by: 70.210.147.51 / talk / contribs}

On talk pages, please sign your comments using four tildes (~~~~) or by clicking on the sign button: on the toolbar above the edit panel. (You can indent successive talk page comments using one more colon (:) for each line.) Thank you.--JorisEnter (talk) 18:45, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

The "dangers" seem a little overblown, IMHO. The key to super-safe kombucha fermentation apparently is proper monitoring of pH (needs to be within a certain range), clean and sanitary procedures, and watching for mold. (Low pH is one of the reasons why its difficult for pathogens to inhabit beer, along with the obvious pathogen-killing ethanol.) Given that it has been homebrewed successfully for centuries, that anthrax / E.Coli statement seems weird... although it does seem slightly more possible to screw up kombucha fermentation compared to other fermented foods. Still, anyone who can, say, brew a beer well at home (meaning they know all about cleanliness and pH and have good food-grade sanitizers already) probably can make a kombucha with no worries, and even a naive approach probably will work okay (most of the time). The health benefit bullshit is still mostly bullshit though. Soundwave106 (talk) 18:01, 30 January 2020 (UTC)

I do admit, it is a decent beverage. Yes, I have tried it before. It's quite strange, but I felt no effect from it. I'm a biologist... and a madman. (talk)_

I'm a fan of it. It has a nice bite to it, which not many foods or drinks have. An ordinary human man (talk) 13:26, 16 January 2019 (UTC)