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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.

Here are the top 8 health benefits of kombucha, based on scientific evidence.
Is a potential source of 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, then allowing it to ferment for a week or more (1Trusted Source).

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 (2Trusted Source).

A large number of bacteria also grow in the mixture. Although there’s still no evidence for the probiotic benefits of kombucha, it contains several species of lactic-acid bacteria which may have a probiotic function. (3Trusted Source).

Probiotics provide your gut with healthy bacteria. These bacteria can improve many aspects of health, including digestion, inflammation, and even weight loss (4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source).

For this reason, adding beverages like kombucha to your diet might improve your health in many ways.

Kombucha is a type of tea that has been fermented. This makes it a good source of probiotics, which have many health benefits.

2. May provide the benefits of green tea

Green tea is one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.

This is because green tea contains many bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, which function as powerful antioxidants in the body (7Trusted Source).

Kombucha made from green tea contains many of the same plant compounds and presumably boasts some of the same benefits (8Trusted Source).

Studies show that drinking green tea regularly or taking supplements containing green tea extract can increase the number of calories you burn, reduce belly fat, improve cholesterol levels, help with blood sugar control, and more (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

Studies also show that green tea drinkers have a reduced risk of prostate, breast, and colon cancers (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).

Summary

Kombucha made from green tea may offer many of the same health benefits as green tea itself, such as weight loss and blood sugar management.

3. Contains antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances that fight free radicals, reactive molecules that can damage your cells (16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source).

Many scientists believe that antioxidants from foods and beverages are better for your health than antioxidant supplements (18Trusted Source).

Kombucha, especially when made with green tea, appears to have antioxidant effects on your liver.

Rat studies consistently find that drinking kombucha regularly reduces liver toxicity caused by toxic chemicals, sometimes by at least 70% (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source, 22Trusted Source).

While no human studies exist on this topic, it seems like a promising research area for people with liver disease.

Summary

Kombucha is rich in antioxidants, and studies have shown that it protects rats’ liver from toxicity.

4. Can kill 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 (23Trusted Source).

Kombucha made from black or green tea appears to have strong antibacterial properties, particularly against infection-causing bacteria and Candida yeasts (24Trusted Source).

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

The health relevance of these antimicrobial properties is unclear.

Summary

Kombucha is rich in tea polyphenols and acetic acid, which have both been shown to suppress the growth of undesirable bacteria and yeasts.

5. May reduce heart disease risk

Heart disease is the world’s leading cause of death (25).

Rat studies show that kombucha can greatly improve two markers of heart disease, “bad” LDL and “good” HDL cholesterol, in as few as 30 days (26Trusted Source, 27Trusted Source).

Even more importantly, tea (especially green tea) protects LDL cholesterol particles from oxidation, which is thought to contribute to heart disease (28Trusted Source, 29, 30Trusted Source).

In fact, green tea drinkers have up to a 31% lower risk of developing heart disease, a benefit that may also apply to kombucha (31Trusted Source, 32Trusted Source, 33Trusted Source).

Summary

Kombucha has been shown to improve bad (LDL) and good (HDL) cholesterol levels in rats. It may also protect against heart disease.

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6. May help manage type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes affects over 450 million people worldwide. It’s characterized by high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance (34Trusted Source).

A study in diabetic rats found that kombucha slowed down the digestion of carbs, which reduced blood sugar levels. It also improved liver and kidney function (26Trusted Source).

Kombucha made from green tea is likely to be even more beneficial, as green tea itself has been shown to reduce blood sugar levels (35Trusted Source).

In fact, a literature review of almost 300,000 individuals found that green tea drinkers had an 18% lower risk of developing diabetes (36Trusted Source).

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

Summary

Kombucha improved several markers of diabetes in rats, including blood sugar levels.