Kombucha has surged in popularity as a fizzy, tangy, and potentially gut-friendly beverage. But with so many brands and flavors available, how do you choose the best kombucha, especially if you're looking to support weight loss? This guide explores the world of kombucha, highlighting top brands, potential health benefits, and key considerations for making informed choices.
What is Kombucha?
Kombucha is a fermented tea made from a blend of tea (usually black or green), sugar, and a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). The SCOBY transforms the sweet tea through fermentation, creating a drink that's tart, slightly sweet, and naturally effervescent. This process results in a beverage with a unique, layered flavor profile, often described as a fizzy, tangy tea.
The Role of the SCOBY
The SCOBY is essential to kombucha's magic. This jelly-like culture acts as a tiny factory, with the bacteria and yeast working together to convert sweet tea into a naturally fizzy and tart drink. Without a SCOBY, kombucha would simply be sweet tea.
Top Kombucha Brands
Many kombucha brands bring their unique qualities to the mix. Some are fruity, others tea-forward, but all are worth exploring for the right reasons. Here's a breakdown of some of the top contenders:
Health-Ade
Health-Ade sets the standard with its bold, balanced flavors and perfect level of fizz. Whether you're sipping on Passionfruit + Tangerine or the classic Ginger Lemon, each bottle delivers a satisfying flavor experience. Moreover, each bottle of Health-Ade contains 1 billion CFU to help nourish the gut as you consume, boosting both your energy levels and improving your gut microbiome for better gut health. Health-Ade also ensures to include organic acids, like acetic and gluconic to fight harmful bacteria. Health Ade is incredibly transparent about their brewing process, and they let each batch ferment for several weeks. That gives plenty of time for good bacteria to feed, grow and release tons of tongue-tickling carbonation. At under 0.5% alcohol per bottle, it’s also safe for most folks to enjoy. Each bottle contains only around 70 calories, making it a more waist-friendly option than traditional soda.
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GT’s Synergy
GT’s Synergy is a well-recognized kombucha brand with years of experience. They've mastered bold, balanced flavors with just the right fizz. Their GingerAde delivers a sweet-tart punch, while Pomelo Pink Lemonade offers a crisp, citrusy refreshment. SYNERGY is a pioneer in the raw kombucha movement, with a formula honoring heritage techniques dating back to ancient China. You’ll only find organic and minimal ingredients, with an impressive 9 billion living probiotics in each bottle.
KeVita
KeVita is known for its crisp and clean flavors, with Tart Cherry being a standout favorite.
Brew Dr. Kombucha
Brew Dr. brings a chill, no-frills approach to kombucha. The superberry flavor delivers a bright, juicy punch. Brew Dr.’s organic probiotic teas are top-shelf for their gut health benefits and sustainable practices. Made with 100 percent organic ingredients and unique seasonal flavors, the brand makes kombucha sipping both festive and beneficial for our health! In each bottle or can, you’ll find ingredients like immune-boosting elderberry and anti-inflammatory rosemary. Brew Dr. is the first B Corp certified kombucha company that strives to better their environmental impact as it continues to grow. Each bottle of raw, unpasteurized booch contains less than 15 mg caffeine. One area where Brew Dr. excels is accessibility. Brew Dr. actually rotates between white, black and green teas for the majority of their flavors, with only a few options containing tea blends.
Aqua ViTea
Aqua ViTea feels like a nod to kombucha’s earthy roots, but with a playful twist. Blueberry Social is subtly fruity, with just enough tang to keep things interesting.
Better Booch
Better Booch leans into tea-forward flavors, with Tropical Green Tea as a standout. It’s a smooth blend of tropical notes and earthy green tea, making it feel fresh but grounded. Los Angeles brand Better Booch works hard to craft flavorful and nutritious kombuchas, all by hand. To keep the natural culture alive, Better Booch’s formulas are unpasteurized, meaning each drink is filled with live, raw probiotics and enzymes for optimal health benefits. Their BPA-free aluminum cans also better preserve the properties of the kombucha, as canning prevents UV exposure (and is recyclable too!). From cultivation to can, each step of the fermentation, brewing, and packaging process happens locally to ensure the best quality batches.
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Katalyst Kombucha
Katalyst Kombucha keeps things simple but flavorful, and Raspberry Lime is no exception. It’s tart, bright, and a little zippy, making it a fun pick for those who love citrusy drinks.
Goldthread
Goldthread brings a wellness-focused twist to kombucha, with flavors like Green Minerals and Turmeric Radiance.
High Culture
High Culture is for those who want a kombucha experience that’s a little different. Blueberry Rooibos and Blackberry Hibiscus varieties blend fruity and earthy flavors into something unique but approachable.
Bear’s Fruit
For a light sparkling drink that packs in all the benefits of a traditional kombucha, Bear’s Fruit is a great option. This organic and non-GMO beverage is made with Fair Trade certified ingredients like organic sugar, has billions of probiotics per can, and a fresh and crisp aftertaste. Inspired by cocktail flavors, Bear’s Fruit comes in fruity and functional flavors, including strawberry jalapeno and blueberry lavender.
Fermensch
Fermensch’s mission is to make Kombucha accessible through their premium, culinary-inspired brews. Using organic, non-GMO ingredients and traditional fermentation processes yields delicious results for this brew! These probiotic bubbly teas help boost digestion by infusing gut-friendly aids, antioxidants, and B vitamins into the mix. The best-selling Yuzu flavor is a must-try if you love citrus and floral notes.
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Remedy
If you’re on the hunt for a drink that will successfully replace sugary soft drinks and juices, Remedy is a good choice. Brewed the old-school way, you’ll see and feel the live mother floating around this drink, making it the real (and raw) deal! The brewing process happens in a warm environment, with Remedy’s tests showing that the live cultures fully survive through their full shelf life. This beverage is easy to drink and has great flavor.
Humm Kombucha
Humm Kombucha’s goal is to energize and inspire. On the path to becoming B Corp certified, Humm puts their sustainability efforts at the forefront. The company reduces their water usage by 30% for every gallon of kombucha they brew. These kombuchas are made with uniquely familiar flavors, like cherry cola and pineapple chili, with each can only 35 calories. The added vitamin B-12 provides a boost of energy alongside beneficial gut benefits, and makes a great non-alcoholic alternative if you’re booze-free! With varieties that contain zero added sugar, Humm kombucha boasts the addition of B12 vitamins. What makes Humm better for the waistband is the addition of five sugar-free options on top of their existing 12 flavors. At only 35 calories per can, Humm’s sugar free kombucha remains raw and unpasteurized throughout the brewing process. Each batch boasts only around 14 milligrams of caffeine, or less than half the amount in a cup of green tea. It’s also far less acidic and sweet than the other options, making it a healthful and hydrating option that tastes more like a sparkling CBD drink rather than a fermented beverage.
Koe
For those who aren’t a fan of the vinegary aftertaste that a lot of kombuchas have, Koe is the drink for you. With all the same gut-health benefits as traditional kombucha but without the sour taste, Koe is fruity, bubbly, and refreshing! Completely vegan and gluten-free, Koe also includes vitamin C in their brew and a bit of green tea extract for extra antioxidant and immune-boosting properties. Koe prioritizes making their kombucha as affordable as possible for easier and accessible consumption for all.
Kombucha and Weight Loss: What to Consider
Kombucha alone isn't a magic bullet for weight loss. "I wouldn’t expect to see weight loss If you’re just drinking kombucha and not making other diet and exercise changes," says Zumpano. "It’s not that easy. We might wish that is it, but it’s just not.” However, it can be a positive addition to a weight-loss plan, especially as a replacement for sugary sodas.
Key Factors for Weight Loss
- Sugar Content: Some kombucha varieties are more sweetened than others. Choose options with lower amounts of added sugar.
- Calories: Be mindful of the calorie content, as it can vary between brands and flavors.
- Metabolism Boost: The caffeine in kombucha may help rev your metabolism to burn more calories.
Potential Health Benefits of Kombucha
Kombucha offers several potential health benefits, primarily due to its probiotic content and other beneficial compounds.
Gut Health
Kombucha can help feed and increase good, healthy gut bacteria, which can help decrease any bad bacteria. Maintaining that balance can have positive benefits on your digestive system and overall health and longevity. The fermentation process of making kombucha produces probiotics which can help promote a balanced gut microbiota in the body, improving overall gut health and digestion. You might find that kombucha has a slight vinegary aftertaste due to the presence of acetic acid (found in vinegar) which has antimicrobial properties that can prevent harmful bacteria from growing in the gut.
Inflammation Reduction
Kombucha is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols that protect your body from damage, which can help limit chronic inflammation. Polyphenols are known to act as strong antioxidants in the body and decrease inflammation, which is the root cause of many diseases and conditions. And the fermentation process actually increases the amount of polyphenols.
Immune System Support
Kombucha contains hefty amounts of B vitamins, which are key to keeping your immune system humming along. The fermented tea is also high in acetic, glucuronic, and D-Saccharic acids, which can be antimicrobial.
Other Potential Benefits
- Cancer Prevention: Antioxidants in kombucha may offer some protection against cell damage that can lead to cancer.
- Detoxification: Enzymes and acids in kombucha can assist your liver in eliminating undesired compounds.
- Heart Health: Kombucha may increase "good" HDL cholesterol and decrease "bad" LDL cholesterol. It has also been shown to limit plaque buildup in arteries.
Risks and Precautions
While kombucha offers potential benefits, it's important to be aware of potential risks:
- Overconsumption: Drinking too much kombucha could potentially lead to reactions like headache, nausea, GI distress, or going into ketoacidosis.
- Homemade Kombucha: Lead toxicity is possible if homemade kombuchas are fermented in clay vessels or other containers that leach lead into the finished beverage. Sanitation can also be an issue, as the drink can become tainted if it’s contaminated with undesirable fungi and overproduction of yeast.
- Certain Populations: If you’re pregnant or have a compromised immune system, it’s probably best to find another drink of choice. Kombucha is generally not recommended for young children, either.
- Interactions with Medications: It is important to note kombucha can interact with diabetes medication, although worth noting, from studies on animal models, and can have hypo (low) glycemic, or low blood glucose effects, depending on the ingredients, person, and medication interaction. It can also interact with antabuse medication.
How Much Kombucha is Safe to Drink?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that drinking approximately 4 ounces (oz) of kombucha per day “may not cause adverse effects in healthy persons.” Most kombucha bottles sold at the store are more than 4 oz, so check recommended serving sizes before consuming an entire container. If you’re new to kombucha, it’s best to start slow. Limiting the portion size will also help keep added sugars in check.
Expert Opinions
Certified Nutrition Consultant Lila Volkas notes that the amount of caffeine in a bottle of kombucha can vary between different companies and even different batches.
Before consuming bottles of kombucha, Richard advised to meet with a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) to figure out the root cause of what may be contributing to elevated fat accumulation or high triglycerides.