Is kombucha a miracle fungus?

 

Active ingredients of kombucha

It is the interaction of all the vital substances in kombucha tea, produced in the right proportion to each other, which explains its phenomenal effect on all sorts of diseases and complaints.

The following active ingredients have been found in kombucha tea; however, it is believed that it has numerous other ingredients that have so far remained undetected, but, in the interaction of all components, are no less potent in terms of their effect on the body:

-                  vitamins (vitamins B, C, D, K),

-                  folic acid,

-                  iron,

-                  yeast,  

-                  glucuronic acid,

-                  gluconic acid,

-                  dextrorotatory lactic acid,

-                  probiotic lactic acid bacteria,

-                  various enzymes,

-                  antibiotic substances,

-                  organic acids.

 

Vitamin complex

o  Vitamin B1, also called thiamine, regulates our fat and carbohydrate metabolism.

o  Vitamin B2, also called riboflavin, plays an important role in the metabolism; it is especially important in the respiratory metabolism.

o  Vitamins B3 and B6 influence the protein metabolism as well as all sorts of enzyme functions.

o  Vitamin B12, also called ‘cobalamin’, plays a key role in the formation of red blood cells and is involved in cell regeneration as well as cell division and is therefore also crucial for the nervous system (production of neurotransmitters).

o  Vitamins D and K are critical for the healthy development of bones, teeth and skin.

 

Folic acid

Among other things, folic acid affects metabolism and helps in the prevention of atherosclerosis.

Iron

Iron is involved in the formation of blood.

 

Yeast

Countless vital yeasts perform many different tasks in our body; they strengthen the immune system and ensure the purity of the skin. The immune-boosting effect of kombucha has also seen it dubbed as a ‘virus killer’. In 1 ml of kombucha, there is the unbelievable amount of 10 million living and highly potent yeasts.[1]

Glucuronic acid

Glucuronic acid is probably one of the most important acids contained in kombucha tea. The liver has been shown to produce glucuronic acid to bind the body's metabolic toxins and foreign substances such as medication.

Furthermore, glucuronic acid is involved in the formation of other acids in the body which are important for connective tissue, such as hyaluronic acid, which is an important component of connective tissue, inter alia, in the synovial fluid, in the skin (it makes up 55 % of the skin’s substance) and in bones.

Glucuronic acid is also a building block of mucoitin sulfuric acid (responsible for the gastric mucosa and vitreous bodies of the eye) and heparin, a liver-derived substance that delays blood clotting. Last but not least, glucuronic acid is involved in the production of chondroitin, which forms another important component within our joints. Glucuronic acid is believed to be the major reason for kombucha having positive effects on all kinds of joint problems, such as arthritis, arthrosis, gout and rheumatism, and, beyond that, has a positive effect on connective tissue weakness, thrombosis, problems of the vitreous bodies and gastric mucosal problems.

Furthermore, Dr. Valentin Köhler achieved ‘remarkably good healing results’ in cancer, even in the advanced stage of the disease.[2]

Gluconic acid

Gluconic acid is an intermediate product of glucose metabolism and is formed when carbohydrates are broken down in combination with oxygen. Thus, gluconic acid is a component of all living cells; it supports the action of antioxidants, such as vitamin C, OPC, vitamin E, Q10, etc, by acting as a complex-forming agent on iron ions and calcium.

Kombucha researcher Dr. Siegwart Hermann, from the University of Prague, has been able to show in his research that kombucha fungus excels acetic acid bacteria's ability to produce gluconic acid.[3]

Dextrorotatory lactic acid

In addition to glucuronic acid, kombucha also owes its strong antibiotic effect to dextrorotatory lactic acid. Dextrorotatory lactic acid suppresses the spread of putrefactive bacteria in the intestine and thus ensures a healthy intestinal flora.

While it is known that an overacidified body is anything but healthy, this may also involve levorotatory D(-) lactic acid, which contributes to this dangerous acidity. In contrast, kombucha (or microorganisms) produces dextrorotatory lactic acid.

According to Warburg, levorotatory lactic acid is increasingly found in malignant tumours; according to his thesis, the cancer cannot develop if dextrorotatory lactic acid predominates.

While dextrorotatory L(+) lactic acid is a natural component of the human body, for example, during carbohydrate metabolism, levorotatory lactic acid is a foreign substance.

Dextrorotatory lactic acid is body-specific, can therefore be optimally utilised by the body and makes a significant contribution to the health of our intestinal flora – an excess of levorotatory lactic acid, however, leads to disorders in the body and diseases; even the WHO recommends a maximum intake of 100 mg levorotatory lactic acid/kg of body weight per day.

The statement by leading scientists that 80 % of all degenerative diseases are caused by the disturbance of intestinal flora is worthy of note!

Probiotic lactic acid bacteria

The good, dextrorotatory lactic acid, which intensively produces kombucha, ensures a healthy intestinal flora. The resulting good microorganisms (probiotic lactic acid bacteria) in turn produce innumerable nutrients which are indispensable for our health, such as folic acid, biotin, nicotinic acid, vitamin K, vitamin B12 and many others (principle of probiotic products).

Healthy intestinal flora is vital; it is not for nothing that the following guiding principle is held by naturopaths and non-medical practitioners: ‘Death is in the gut’. A functioning, healthy intestinal flora consists of countless, vital bacterial strains that live in balance with each other. It is essential for a functioning immune system, and metabolism can only work if the intestinal flora is healthy. Thus, the intake of important nutrients, such as vitamins, takes place primarily with the support of the colon bacteria. On the other hand, the malignant invaders, such as the pathogenic, bad bacteria (such as the dreaded Candida albicans), are successfully repulsed by the good gut bacteria that kombucha promotes. The bad bacteria can only multiply if the good microorganisms are inferior in number.

Regular consumption of kombucha tea is therefore a guarantee that this cannot occur!

Various enzymes: enzymes are biocatalysts that perform vital tasks in collaboration with numerous biochemical processes throughout our bodies. In short: no life is possible without enzymes! Listing the functions of enzymes could fill whole libraries; the most important tasks are:

-        digestion,

-        strengthening the immune system,

-        regulation of the metabolism,

-        detoxification of the body,

-        reduction of inflammation,

-        wound healing,

-        antiviral and antibacterial effect,

-        delay of biological ageing,

-        prevention of diseases such as cardiovascular degeneration.

The enzymes which have been discovered in kombucha to date are amylase, invertase, catalase, lab enzyme, sucrase and the proteolytic enzyme.

Antibiotic substances

As already mentioned, 80 % of all bacteria are now resistant to the antibiotic ‘penicillin’, i.e. it does not affect them. This is without question due to the nonsensical use of antibiotics in animal husbandry and the tendency of many doctors to prescribe antibiotics far too readily for all kinds of conditions.

If, one day, we are indeed infected by a dangerous bacterium, it often turns out that the frequent use of antibiotics has gradually developed a resistance and that we are defenceless and helpless.

It is all the more interesting to look for alternatives from nature, which have comparable bactericidal effects and much fewer side effects. However, if one considers that penicillin, the best-known antibiotic in the world, is extracted from a fungus, it should not surprise us that the kombucha fungus has an antibiotic effect.

The application possibilities of kombucha have undergone thorough scientific study; numerous Russian scientists (Sakarjan, Danielova, Naumova, Sukiasyan, Barbanicik, Ermoleva, Konovalov, Litvinov, Zakman, and others[4]) have demonstrated the antibiotic effect of kombucha. The growth-promoting and antibiotic effects of kombucha tea were thoroughly studied and described by the researchers Sakarjan and Danielova. Konovalov, Litvinov and Zakmann (1959) in a report on the important antimicrobial properties of kombucha in a Moscow journal (Bot. Journal).

The antibiotic components in kombucha are not comparable with those of conventional antibiotics and are completely harmless even when used continuously.[5]

Organic acids

In addition to gluconic acid and dextrorotatory lactic acid, kombucha produces many other acids such as tannins, citric acid, oxalic acid, carbonic acid, 14 different amino acids, succinic acid, malonic acid, malic acid and others.

The interaction of these acids, which are produced in the right proportion to each other, has a positive effect on our health; citric acid provides the fresh taste, while the carbonation creates a tingling, invigorating sensation that we know from lemonade.