BOTTOMS UP TO THE NEWEST HEALTH CRAZE!

With better health being on every one's mind these days, including my own, the market has become flooded with all sorts of drinks, powders, vitamins, etc... that claim new and improved well being, energy, immune builders, and more.

It seems that the newest and most popular antioxidant rich, exotic sounding "health food" out there at the moment actually comes in a bottle! Kombucha tea is flying off the shelves of all health food stores with it's claims of providing better health and improved energy. This drink, which actually is a "mushroom" tea that derived from a region in Russia, where studies show that people there live far longer and have much better health due to this tea's benefits, claims to detoxify your liver, give great energy boosts,and improve your overall sense of well being. Although it is is reported to have a slightly sour, vinegery taste, it is naturally fizzy (but not carbonated) and some say it is "refreshing" and "clean" tasting. Another enticing claim is that the bacteria found in this tea is a form of probiotic bacteria, similar to what you would find in yogurt, which helps maintain intestinal health as well as overall immune system health. HMMMM!!!!

We have all been there, done that with chai tea, yerba mate, the grassy tasting South American tea that is drunk from a gourd and through a straw, and roiboos, the antioxident rich (claims reported) tea from South Africa that is made from a red bush native to the cape region. We, or I should say, a large number of us "overly" health concious folks continue to try new and reportdly "better" health remedies no matter what the cost in hopes to revive our innerbeing (or live longer)!!

Kombucha is a form of tea that is fermented using colonies of bacteria and yeast, which results in production of various vitamins, amino acids, and mild acids including acetic acid found in vinegar. It is said too that you might even find bits or "chunks" of it in your drink, but not to worry, those are some of the strands of the live cultures dancing around.

Many health food stores carry this tea now, and one popular version of it is available at Whole Foods and is called GT's Synergy, which is 95% kombucha, but also 5% juice, and 60 calories per bottle. This particular brand also has about 8-14 mg of caffeine - and most kombucha has a lot less than traditional teas - which is considerably less than most bottled teas.

I don't know about you, but I am rushing right out to find some of this "miracle" tea so I too can live to be 120!!!! Theres is ALWAYS something, isn't there!!!!!

Erin

Erin