Kombucha tea

I followed up a reference on drinking tea to dissolve kidney stones and came to the following about kombucha.

(quote) This 2000 year old tea is made using a extraordinary mushroom* that is placed into a batch of regular sugary tea. The tea then begins to ferment and in about 7 days it is ready to drink. During that same 7 day period a second mushroom grows within the tea, this new mushroom is used to make your next batch of tea. Each time you make a batch of tea a new mushroom is produced. Because of this quick reproductive cycle of the Kombucha you can make an endless supply of this incredible tea for FREE ! (unquote)

If anyone has a comment about making kombucha tea or use of tea to dissolve kidney stones, I would be interested to read it. bookburn

Reply to
bookburn
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I've had it, it's good, don't know why they call it a "mushroom." Don't know if it "dissolves kidney stones" but it perked me up.

Reply to
Bonky

Welp, I broke out my copy of Back to Eden to see what it said about kidney stones just for you so here goes (and it was actually cool that by total chance it offers a tea) I'm going to paraphrase to shorten it a bit:

Prevention: high intake of fluids. 2-4 quarts a day. Kidney stones are made up of calcium oxalate eat a diet low in them, avoid items high in oxelates such as: spinach, parsley, beets, beet greens, swiss chard, asparagus, okra, collards, celery, leeks, and sweet potatoes. berries, highest of all fruits is rhubarb. almonds, cashews, peanuts and peanut butter. Ovaltine and cocoa as should dark tea, coffee, and dark colas.

Once formed: A tea made of wild carrot seeds, valerian, and pepermint. mix together and use a teaspoon to a cup of boiling water, steep for

30 mins. Take one half cupful every hour until pain is relieved. Queen of the meadow, peach leaves, or cleavers may also be used.

Also for pain a hot bath (100f and increased up to 112) while keeping head and neck cool with a sponge. Standing up and sponging down if getting weak then back in to tub. He also mentions hot compresses on the back in the kidney region for pain.

Now my usual disclaimer. I am not a true adherent to this type of thing. I find a lot of old remedies have a lot of merit and natural cures are sometimes better than medicines or good in conjunction with. I find it more academically interesting than a life choice personally.

- Dominic

Reply to
Dominic T.

Purely anecdotal, of course, but... an otherwise absurdly healthy aged aunt of mine was hospitalized with thrombocytopenia (easy bruising) and other, more serious ailments that escape me just now. The diagnostician, who knew her well, was nonplussed until she mentioned that she'd started drinking kombucha daily a few months prior. He ordered her off it instanter, and she soon recovered completely.

YMMV-

DM

Reply to
DogMa

Thanks for your commentary. I've been drinking lemon juice daily, after having my kidney stone identified as the typical calcium type. Lemon could be added to tea, I suppose. The pages I've read suggest drinking lots of water, avoiding some foods, as you say, and adding a few others. Tea is often mentioned as a substitute for other drinks, especially sodas.

Kombucha does get some positive health benefits, a few warnings, but no special links to dissolving kidney stones, as far as I can tell. bookburn

Reply to
bookburn

Yipes! I read that the "mushroom" formed during kombucha preparation is susceptible of being invaded by unfriendly fungae and bacteria unless care is taken; plus the brewing is capable of causing chemicals to leach out of non-glass containers. bookburn

Reply to
bookburn

Still seems to imply that kombucha itself is harmless, as few things are when employed immoderately or by susceptible persons.

-DM

Reply to
DogMa

That's why it is the one bottled "tea" I enjoy. I figure the folks who brew it have to be pretty careful or else they would have some scary litigation coming their way. But, who knows what effect the pasteurization has on any of the good bits. Anything that requires me to grow a potentially harmful fungus/bacteria in a non-lab setting involving a large pickle jar and a tea towel is not for me. Waaaaay too many variables and downsides for a potentially small upside. But that's just me. :)

- Dominic

Reply to
Dominic T.

Does that inate wariness also exclude enjoying pu erh tea, Roquefort cheese, salami, gravad lax, sour dough bread, and home brewed beer?

Nigel at Teacraft

Reply to
Nigel

I've been doing that for many years with no ill effects... Kefir, Mead, Beer, Yoghurt, and now I've been researching Kombucha to start kitchen production as well. While I know there was a little tongue in cheek in your response, you have to be pretty, um.... unsophisticated, to not follow common sense sanitary protocols to end with a harmful result. Even bad batches of beer won't kill you, just taste nasty.

Frankly I've seen people eat things that I wouldn't go near with a ten foot pole, but I've never had a problem with any of the fermented foodstuffs I've made. Just my $0.03 (due to the weak US dollar).

Reply to
Warren

Look, I'm a fermentation fan myself, and I don't want to cause undue anxiety, but the fact that you don't get immediately sick from these things is only part of the story. There are fermentation byproducts that raise your chance of eventually getting cancer. Certainly not in all fermentation, but the potential danger is not to be dismissed airily. I'd love to call this off-topic, but it does happen in tea manufacture sometimes.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

I think a Kombucha discussion is on topic. But while I am familiar with the esters, etc, that are produced in fermentation, when we're talking Kombucha and other home fermented products, the levels are so low that it's practically immaterial. And it's not like I distill my kombucha to concentrate them, or drink gallons per day. While I understand your concern, it doesn't seem like it's a big deal (to me at least). Especially when there are populations of people who live to insane ages while drinking kombucha daily, and haven't shown any increase in cancer. They even credit their longevity to the consumption of kombucha and kefir (though I can't say there is any definitive proof of that relationship).

Reply to
Warren

I wasn't thinking of Kombucha when I wrote that. Probably I should have been more specific, but my impulse was to write "real tea", which sounded kind of haughty, so I just wrote "tea". What I was really thinking of was post-fermented teas: Pu'ers, Lu'Ans, and all the other less famous ones.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

I'd be fascinated to know what data support that unconcern. Fungal metabolites are, AFAIK, among the most dangerous (i.e., toxic and common) biochemicals known. Esters, most terpenes, etc. are largely OK. But delayed lethality from mere specks of things like amanita cyclic peptides is well known. The aflatoxins and kin are both severe acute toxins and proven carcinogens in microgram daily doses. I'm with Lew - not to be fearful, but neither to minimize both known and unknown risks.

-DM

Reply to
DogMa

Well, honestly it's anecdotal. People have been drinking and eating kefir, yoghurt, kombucha, tea, cheese, etc for millennia with no adverse affects...

Reply to
Warren

millennia ago people had a shorter lifespan

yogurt/milk fermentation is bacterial afaik, not sure what toxic byproducts there are...

aflatoxins are cancerigens and cause liver cancer tea sitting around for years and years in some corner has the potential of acquiring a nasty fungus

Reply to
SN

I think it's more than anecdotal. Activities people have been engaged in for millennia have lots of negative (and positive) effects on their longevity. But Rick Chappell actually knows something about this. You there, Rick?

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

Except that they're all dead, except for a very small minority with a few decades left.

Hey - I'm a big fan of fermented foods - and why hasn't surstromming been mentioned? I just object to blanket assumption of safety because things have a cultural legacy or are "natural" - whatever that means. A significant fraction of the world's population will have their lives shortened by eating meat, peanuts, eggs, etc. - some from intrinsic issues like cholesterol, and others from molds and bacteria. We're all gonna go sometime; might as well enjoy the ride w/o needless superstition.

-DM (throwing unrefined sea salt over left shoulder)

Reply to
DogMa

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