Miracle Drink

KOMBUCHA - THE ANCIENT HEALTH DRINK

Does the idea of making a health drink for next to nothing seem like a good idea to you?

Read on …

I would like to tell you about a health drink you can either buy from the health food store, or make in your own home, for just the price of a pot of sweet tea! And here’s the good part ~ the foundation ‘culture’ and the method of making has been passed down from generation to generation ~ in other words its free!

I have been making it for years for my family and cannot speak more highly of this great drink for anyone who has problems or is just under the weather!

• Are you on some heavy medication?
• Or just need to detox your system?
• Could you have better health?
• Need a stronger immune system?
• Want rid of sickness in your body?
• Want to ensure you stay healthy?
• Could do with more energy and vitality?
• Want better skin?
• Have you ‘tummy’ problems?
• Directions for making this are below….

According to webiste information: Some of the conditions that people have found relief from are:
· Various symptoms of Cancer
· Low ‘T’ cell count
· Arthritis
· Candida
· Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
· ME
· Blood Pressure Problems
· Obesity
· Psoriasis
· Eczema
· PMS
· Poor digestion
· Erratic bowel movements
· Migraine relief
· Poor skin tone

As you can see the list is wide and varied.

How does this actually work?

Kombucha works with your body to boost its natural, inbuilt ability to fight sickness and disease as well as bring a healthy balance back to your metabolism and organs.

Called the ‘miracle cure-all’, Kombucha has been made at home for health and vitality by many generations. Kombucha tea is a powerful health drink, which is reported to be the answer to many health problems. Pronounced [Com-boo-cha], It is made and drunk right around the world. It has been a ’secret formula’ for those ‘in the know’ and a lifesaver for many a poor person in the less blessed nations.

Because it has been around for so long, many researchers, chemists and others from the medical profession have spent time investigating the sometimes quite astonishing results from this natural remedy. Even the FDA (food and drug administration) have researched Kombucha, such has been the interest in it.

You have probably heard people say that “anything that is good for you tastes bad.” Well, Kombucha doesn’t fit into that category. It is a very pleasant tasting drink, so much so, that many people use it as a drink for guests and special occasions. Sparkling and a pleasant taste, you can even change the flavour to suit yourself.

Kombucha is made at home or ask at your nearest health food shop [aprox £6 per litre bottle] and really is pretty simple to make. It also doesn’t take up much of your time. I have yet to find anyone who cannot make it.

No matter how bad your situation is, you should consider if this inexpensive, easy to make health drink is for you. You will be able to find in shops, Kombucha made by commercial producers - be careful! Many manufactures of the shop bought Kombucha have to preserve the drink to keep its shelf life - often this involves pasteurisation, which kills a lot of the health giving elements you want to keep, but try it to see if you like the taste.

Like pre-packed frozen dinner, shop-bought Kombucha isn’t as good for you as the one you make yourself. Kombucha is a pleasant tasting, powerfully effective health drink / food supplement which you can make at home for next to nothing. The taste can vary depending on how you make it but the basic recipe, which most people use, will produce a slightly sparkling drink that tastes like an apple cider or dry white wine.

Though there is alcohol in it, it is normally so low that commercial producers can sell Kombucha as “non-alcoholic”. You can expect less than 1% by volume alcohol content.

Sugar is used as part of the recipe but it is not used as a sweetener. The sugar is broken down and converted into different components of the finished drink, so dieters can ‘give it a go’ to assist in the detox process. It has been drunk for many generations. In fact, it has been around so long that we are unable to tell where it was originally discovered or when.

Kombucha is a fermented drink made from sweet tea and a Kombucha mushroom or Kombucha culture as it should more properly be called. The culture is live and is a co-dependant blend of healthy bacteria, yeasts and other micro-organisms. Directions below.

Kombucha is very cheap to make.

You would think that because it is so beneficial, Kombucha would be expensive, but no.

Once you have the equipment and utensils you need, it costs very little.

If fact you can probably make three months supply for the price of a bottle of cough mixture!

Kombucha takes very little time to make. Pressed for time? Don’t worry, it takes about 15 minutes per week to have a personal supply of Kombucha!

Kombucha is so easy to make, it is hard to believe…

Advice from Stella: If you would like to try this and are not sure, I would suggest buying a bottle at first from your local health food shop, its very pleasant to drink, in fact its a bit too nice, you might have to ration the family! Then when you find you could get used to this [!] go about getting a culture from a friendly person who will send you one through the post!

Also: Children might be put off by the appearance so just be careful about that part.

Nobody charges anything other than postage, its a tradition, so you can ‘get brewing’ soonest! You can make your very own Kombucha tea at home with very little money, time or effort. It is simple to make and very rewarding.

Without modern equipment or facilities people have been able to make this enriching brew for generations, so you should have no problem. You can do it by following this simple method, easy, easy, easy…

You will need:

• A suitable brewing container, about 5 litre / 1 gallon capacity (wide neck containers, bowls or jars - for the air supply)
• A piece of muslin, kitchen towel or some other piece of clean porous material. A size that will cover the top of the brewing container with some overlap.
• A large elastic band to hold the material on the container.
• A thermometer (optional)
• 4 litres (plus a glass) of water (boiled and cooled or filtered)
• Tea (6 teaspoons loose or 6 tea bags), black, green or a mixture of both.
• 320g refined white sugar (ordinary household sugar).
• A healthy Kombucha culture ( call me )
• 400ml of ready brewed Kombucha or 60ml (4 tablespoons) distilled vinegar (white, apple, cider or white wine vinegar). If you are using vinegar, it must be distilled - not live, brewed or fermented.
• Suitable bottles (4 litres worth)
• A kitchen measuring jug

Note: Cleanliness is very important - hands, equipment etc. And the first thing you should do is to clean everything that you are going to use.

Make your nutrient (sweet tea) solution:

This is the liquid that feeds the culture and is turned into the finished Kombucha tea.

To make the nutrient, take approx. 1 litre of water. The water should either be filtered or should already have been boiled for at least 5 minutes.

Bring the water to the boil in a kettle, stainless steel or heat-resistant glass household cooking pot.

After boiling, add the sugar and tea, stir it till the sugar dissolves, then leave off the boil to infuse for about 15 minutes.

Put the other 3 litres, and the extra glass of cool water into your brewing container/s.

When the 15 minutes are up, strain out the loose tea (if used) or remove the tea bags; then add the sweet tea to the rest of the water in the brewing container.

The 4 litres of nutrient needs to be between 20°C - 30°C, this is where the thermometer comes in useful. You might be able to judge this yourself, it’s about room temperature - tepid. Just make sure that it’s not too hot, otherwise you could kill your new culture very quickly.

Adding the culture: Once at the right temperature, pop the culture in the liquid. It may float or sink, it doesn’t matter which, it will work just the same. Then add the 400ml of finished Kombucha or 60ml of distilled vinegar if you don’t have any Kombucha tea.

Time to brew: That’s it. Just cover the top of the container with your muslin or kitchen towel and use the elastic band to hold it in place. The brew needs air but definitely not insects, plant or mould spores

Move the container to a suitable location. Somewhere that it can be left undisturbed for about a week. It should be at a constant(ish) temperature 20°C - 30°C, away from tobacco smoke, strong smells and not in the kitchen if there is a lot of grease in the air from frying food.
You could possibly use your living room (providing no-one smokes) or an airing cupboard. If you do put your brew into a cupboard please bear in mind it needs a pretty constant temperature, so if your airing cupboard goes cold at night this will inhibit the growth. I use a heat mat from a beer brewing company ordered on line.

1. It needs to be left undisturbed the whole time so, don’t put it on top of your stack of towels or bed linen.

2. The culture needs air, so leave the door ajar.

5 days later…

After 5 days, it is time to taste!

By now, you should have a new lighter coloured culture forming on top of your old one and the tea might be nearly be ready. Exciting!

Press down lightly on the newly formed culture with the back of a spoon so that you can get a sample of the tea. Or slide a plastic straw carefully down the side of he new culture and sample a little (be careful about back flow).

Taste it…

What you are looking for is a slightly sharp (acidic), not sweet taste. If it is not quite there yet then put the cover back on and leave it for another day before tasting again. The length of brewing time can vary quite a lot but, it is normally between 5 days to 2 weeks though, it can take longer under certain circumstances, cooler climate conditions.

I know it is difficult to tell what the right taste is when you first begin but you will get the hang of it quickly. Once you have the right taste, it is time to bottle your lovely, healthy Kombucha tea.

Bottling:

Get yourself some suitable clean bottles.

With clean hands, or two big spoons, take the two cultures out (the new ‘baby’ and the original ‘mother’) and place them on a clean plate.

Pour some of your Kombucha tea using a funnel, pour it into the waiting bottles - right to the brim, no air gaps, using a funnel enables you to keep the residue at the bottom undisturbed, its a bit muddy looking. Using a jug I find disturbs this unwanted part - it clouds the results.

Put the top on and stick a label on the bottle with the date, or if like our family don’t bother as it will be drunk very quickly!

Remember to save some tea for your next batch - about 10%. I use the ‘muddy’ residue for this.

There you go! Your prepared, brewed and bottled home made Kombucha tea.

You want to keep these bottles at room temperature for at least 5 days. [I find that the culture starts to grow inside if I do this - like a jellyfish! So I put it in the fridge, and it becomes clearer and fizzy anyway. ]

The reason for this is twofold:

1. It allows a build up of CO2 (gas) that makes the drink fizzy.
2. It allows the tea to mature and develop a more mellow taste.

After 5 days you can move your bottles to the fridge or somewhere else cool / cold, then drink your cold, fizzy Kombucha

Continuing to brew…
The best way to look after your culture and maintain a constant supply of Kombucha Tea is to make your new batch immediately you have bottled the previous one.

Before pouring I make the tea and leave it to brew, so that as soon as the previous batch is bottled, I can get cracking with the next batch.

That’s it! Now you now know how to brew your own Kombucha tea.

Here is a picture of three ‘culture’ when lifted out of the brew onto a plate.

Phone me for a culture - Stella on 01603 879 126 - or surf the net for a person near you to maybe help with advice also.

Website to visit - copy and paste -

http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/fermenting/kombucha.shtml

Teccy stuf here >>>

Though, it may appear complicated at first, Kombucha is actually very easy to make. We should clear up the confusion and difference between Kombucha Tea and the Kombucha Culture before going much further.

Kombucha tea

Kombucha, or Kombucha tea is the actual health drink, which we make from sweet tea and a Kombucha culture. It is known by a number of different names around the world including - Cainii Kvass, Kombuchakvass, Tea wine and Teekvass.

Kombucha culture

The Kombucha culture is the live substance which is put into the sweet tea to ferment and convert it into Kombucha tea. The culture is probably best known as a Kombucha mushroom, though this is an incorrect definition.

The Kombucha culture has been known as a mushroom, a lichen and many other things but the best and most accurate definition we have today is a “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast”.

This is just a scientific term for a co-dependant live mix of bacteria and yeast. That definition sounds a little complicated, though it is where we get the more friendly term “SCOBY” from.

The culture has been given many names, Günther W. Frank, in his book - “Kombucha, Health beverage and natural remedy from the Far East” lists 70 different names for the culture including - Combucha, Brinum-Ssene (Latin for miracle fungus), Champignon miracle and tea fungus.

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Kombucha drinkers around the world have reported a massive list of ailments and sicknesses which have responded positively to drinking Kombucha on a regular basis. This is how the name “Miracle Fungus” or “Cure-all” has been birthed.

The secret of Kombucha is not that it ‘cures’ a multitude of illnesses but, that it boosts your body’s own system to fight those sicknesses.

It does have various components, which on their own fight problems, but its probioitic properties are what make Kombucha tea so extraordinary.

Kombucha tea is probiotic, detoxifying and energising. It helps build up immune systems, fights yeast infections and helps joint problems.
Why do people drink Kombucha tea?
Many people who regularly drink Kombucha tea have found tremendous relief from a very wide range of diseases and ailments.

Some of the reported benefits really are quite staggering. This is because of Kombucha’s ability to work ‘with’ your body and boost your own natural defence system.

It is extraordinary how people talk about this amazing yet very pleasant drink.

I suppose that when you find relief from these sorts of problems you are going to be very happy, but when you find out how cheap and easy it is too, well…

Wouldn’t you like to claim your health back too and do all those things you enjoyed but couldn’t do anymore?

Keep well and increase your energy levels.

Of course, many people who drink Kombucha are not sick at all but they want to stay that way.

If you are generally healthy and drink Kombucha then you will probably notice an increase in energy levels and more concentration. I am not talking about the sort of energy that you can get from some of the modern fizzy red ‘buzz’ drink.

Kombucha can actually help your body to extract more energy from the food you eat.

Better mood

One of the other great effects that Kombucha drinkers have found is that they very often are in a better ‘mood’. This increase in the feeling of well being is much welcomed by everyone.

Probiotic effects

We have all heard how taking too many antibiotics is bad for your immune system - it actually lowers your resistance to disease.

Kombucha is probiotic, this means that it actually strengthens your immune system and your ability to fight sickness before it can take hold.

Probiotics can also help your immune system fight sickness that is already present in your body. And there is no damage to your system

Detoxification

With modern living comes poor diet and an increase in harmful substances in our bodies.

You might have heard about people going on a “de-tox” diet.

This is when they eat food which will drive out impurities from their bodies.

A great idea but, how many people do it regularly?

Kombucha is a powerful detoxifier so, regular drinking of it keeps your body continually detoxifying.

Of course this doesn’t mean that you can just eat what you want and not worry about what goes in your body. But it does mean that you rid more impurities out of your system, giving your body a ‘fighting chance’.

Many times you just feel ’sluggish’ or ‘just not right’ it is because of the toxins in your body - get rid of them and improve your health.

It reaches the parts other supplements cannot reach!! Due to the nature of Kombucha, many people find that they can get relief from a very wide and varied range of sicknesses that they couldn’t achieve with anything else.

Kombucha brings a balance to many aspects of your body, and therefore creates a beneficial environment for the natural healing process.

Research has been carried out for many years into what exactly is in this drink. Based on research old and new, I can tell you of some of the known active components in Kombucha Tea.

Lactic Acid: Found in Kombucha in its most potent form L-lactic(+). Lactic acid is essential for the digestive system. Interestingly, it is not found in the tissues of people with cancer, and its lack has been established as indicating susceptibility to cancer.

Acetic Acid: Its main function is to inhibit harmful bacteria. Acetic acid is used as a preservative because of this action. It is also what gives Kombucha that ‘kick’ to its smell and taste.

Malic Acid: Is also used in the body’s detoxification process.

Oxalic Acid: Encourages the cellular production of energy and is a natural preservative.

Gluconic Acid: Is effective against many yeast infections such as candidiasis and thrush.

Butyric Acid: Is produced by the yeasts and when working with gluconic acid, helps combat yeast infections such as candida.

Nucleic Acids: Work with the body aiding healthy cell regeneration.

Amino Acids: A group of acids which are the building blocks of protein. Your muscular system is made of proteins. As a group they have many benefits including building cells and repairing tissue, they also form antibodies to combat invading bacteria & viruses.

Enzymes: Are proteins that act as catalysts, speeding the rate at which biochemical reactions proceed. Therefore they boost the actions of other health giving components within the Kombucha and your body.

Kombucha also contains vitamin groups B and C, beneficial yeasts and bacteria.

But then, as one Kombucha drinker so beautifully put it:

“Its overall effect - an extended feeling of well-being - cannot be fully explained by the individual ingredients alone. Kombucha is certainly more than the sum of its parts”.

Another feature of Kombucha is that, biochemically speaking, it is an adaptogen, that is a substance which has no harmful effects, but which works on a wide variety of conditions by normalising the metabolism of the body, and bringing it back into balance.

So, for example, if you have high blood pressure, an adaptogen substance will lower it, and if you have low blood pressure, it will raise it. Kombucha’s adaptogen effect is seen mostly through its effect on the liver, the blood and the digestive system, where it normalises the acidity or pH.

“One of the main reasons why Kombucha seems to be efficacious against such a wide spectrum of diseases is that it does not have any specific action on particular illnesses, but rather its systemic detoxification of the whole body through glucuronic acid has an overall beneficial effect that invigorates the entire person…….. The following effects may be observed in those who drink the beverage on a daily basis: regulation of intestinal flora, cellular strengthening, detoxification of the entire organism, dross elimination, metabolic harmonization, a general antibiotic effect, a balancing of the blood pH.”
The History and Spread of Kombucha
By James Roche

Location: Reepham in Norfolk, East Anglia, is about 20 minutes from the outskirts of Norwich. Appointments are made by telephone: 01603 879126

The cost of the Kombucha Culture is usually just the postage, let me know if you want one.

If unable to answer the phone I will ask you to leave a message speaking slowly and clearly, and give your contact number so I can return your call as soon as is possible.