7 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Kombucha

Kombucha may provide similar benefits to green tea and protect against conditions like diabetes and cancer. It also contains probiotics, which can benefit your gut microbiome.

People have consumed kombucha, a type of fermented tea, for thousands of years. Not only does it have the same health benefits as tea — it’s also rich in beneficial probiotics.

Kombucha also contains antioxidants, can kill harmful bacteria, and may help fight several diseases.

 

1. Kombucha contains probiotics
Kombucha is thought to originate in China or Japan.

It’s made by adding specific strains of bacteria, yeast, and sugar to black or green tea and then allowing it to ferment for a week or more.

During this process, bacteria and yeast form a mushroom-like film on the surface of the liquid. This is why kombucha is also known as “mushroom tea.”

This blob is a living symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, or a SCOBY, and can be used to ferment new kombucha.

The fermentation process produces acetic acid (also found in vinegar) and several other acidic compounds, trace levels of alcohol, and gases that make it carbonated.

A large number of bacteria also grow in the mixture. Kombucha contains several species of lactic acid bacteria that may haveTrusted Source a probiotic function.

Probiotics provide your gut with healthy bacteria. These bacteria may improveTrusted Source many aspects of health, including digestion, inflammation, and even weight loss.

2. Kombucha may provide the benefits of green tea
Green tea contains many bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants in the body.

Kombucha made from green tea contains many of the same plant compounds and presumably boasts some of the same benefits.

Studies show that drinking green tea regularly or taking supplements containingTrusted Source green tea extract can increase the number of calories you burn, reduce belly fat, improve cholesterol levels, help with blood sugar control, and more.

Studies also show that green tea drinkers have a reduced risk of prostateTrusted Source, breastTrusted Source, and colonTrusted Source cancers.

3. Kombucha may benefit liver health
Antioxidants are substances that fight free radicals, reactive molecules that can damage your cells. Kombucha, especially when made with green tea, appears to have antioxidant effects on your liver.

Rat studies have foundTrusted Source that drinking kombucha regularly reduces liver toxicity caused by toxic chemicals. While no human studies exist on this topic, it seems like a promising research area for people with liver disease.

4. Kombucha may kill harmful bacteria
One of the main substances produced during the fermentation of kombucha is acetic acid, which is also abundant in vinegar.

Like the polyphenols in tea, acetic acid can kill many potentially harmful microorganisms.

Kombucha made from black or green tea has strongTrusted Source antibacterial properties, particularly against infection-causing bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella typhi.

These antimicrobial effects suppress the growth of undesirable bacteria and yeasts in test tube studies, but they do not affect the beneficial, probiotic bacteria and yeasts involved in kombucha fermentation.

5. Kombucha may reduce heart disease risk
Heart disease is the world’s leading causeTrusted Source of death.

Rat studies show thatTrusted Source kombucha can greatly improve two markers of heart disease, “bad” LDL and “good” HDL cholesterol, in as few as 30 days.

Even more importantly, tea (especially green tea) protectsTrusted Source LDL cholesterol particles from oxidation, which is thought to contribute to heart disease.

In fact, green tea drinkers have a lowerTrusted SourceTrusted SourceriskTrusted Source of developing heart disease, a benefit that may also apply to kombucha.

 

6. Kombucha may help manage type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes affects over 462 million peopleTrusted Source worldwide. It’s characterized by high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.

A 2012 studyTrusted Source in diabetic rats found that kombucha slowed down the digestion of carbs, which reduced blood sugar levels. It also improved liver and kidney function.

In a 2023 pilot studyTrusted Source, participants who consumed kombucha (240 mL/day for 4 weeks) had lower fasting blood sugar levels than baseline, while the placebo group did not.

A 2023 randomized controlled trialTrusted Source found that kombucha lowered the blood sugar response to high glycemic index meals in healthy adults.

Further human studies are needed to investigate the benefits of kombucha for blood sugar management.

7. Kombucha may help protect against cancer
Cancer is one of the world’s leading causesTrusted Source of death. It’s characterized by cell mutation and uncontrolled cell growth.

In test-tube studies, kombucha helped prevent the growth and spread of cancerous cells, possibly due to its high concentration of tea polyphenols and antioxidants.

How the anticancer properties of tea polyphenols work isn’t well understood. It’s thought thatTrusted Source the polyphenols block gene mutation and the growth of cancer cells while also promoting cancer cell death.

For this reason, it isn’t surprising that tea drinkers are less likelyTrusted Source to develop various types of cancer.

However, whether kombucha has anticancer effects on people hasn’t been confirmed. Further studies are needed.