康普茶粉丝声称它能增加活力，有助消化。
作者：Janet Helm, R.D.
msnbc.com撰稿人
2010.4.23
今年最热门的是一种凉爽汽水饮料，是有强烈味道和陌生名字的发酵饮料——康普茶。
康普茶是活细菌和酵母制作的神奇混合物，它同去年狂饮石榴和巴西阿萨伊浆果汁一样在追求健康人群中流行。
虽然它不是真正的蘑菇，但有些人管它叫“菇茶”，会在瓶底有些沉淀物。康普茶是最新的长生不老药，引出一系列令人震惊的健康效益的主张，这一切包括从改善消化和免疫性到降低胆固醇和战胜癌症。粉丝们断言它甚至能生发。
几年前开始有保健食品店，现在主流市场遍布全国。在它的冷藏柜中天然食品充满货架，GT’s有机天然康普茶及增效剂，有各种各样的康普茶液。可口可乐公司，拥有的可靠茶（Honest Tea）部分，就有康普茶系列产品，天神调味品（Celestial Seasonings）新近宣布他的风味康普茶系列新饮料生产计划，用功能性成分,包括维生素B、维生素C和螺旋藻来强化。有康普茶马丁尼酒和康普茶冰沙饮。
它的快速普及近乎狂热益生菌和排毒食物，也得益于消费者对传统疗法和中医中药的渴望。当发现名人像瑞茜? 微瑟斯彭(美国女影星)也携带康普茶瓶时，它，这异国情调的酿造物，就注定会流行了。
康普茶的钟情者都称它是神奇滋补药，而有些营养专家警告，它对免疫系统衰弱的人来说极可能是有毒性的。
它是疗病补药？
康普茶的名字源于微生物，在表面形成平坦、薄饼样结构，像蘑菇。这种胶状物，漂浮的薄饼，称为SCOBY（细菌和酵母共生体）。
“母代”培养物，被家庭酿造者用以制造康普茶产生“子代”或是“康普茶婴儿”，送与朋友分享或是在线销售——很像面包师傅渴望得到的面包发面启动物。
这饮料可是销售的新超级果汁，但这种发酵茶实际上已经存在2,000多年了。
康普茶可追溯到古代中国，它作为长生不老药被崇拜。传说这种茶是由一名叫康普（Kombu）的韩国医生带到日本，把带细菌的液体作为疗疾补药赠送给一日本皇帝。
接下来数年，“东北茶”传入俄罗斯、德国、印度和世界其它地区——通过它被传说的治疗特性和有神奇吸引力。
在美国，那里是少的，但康普茶粉丝团在逐步增加，特别是在家酿造自己传代，一旦拥有就能接受。
Brent A. Bauer医生是梅约诊所的内科医生，他对这些主张提出质疑。
“迄今为止，还未见一个主要医学期刊报道一个人体试验，”他说。“这并不意味着康普茶就没有健康效益，这恰好表明，在此刻还没有直接证据报告提出它有效益。”
某些报告提出有些严重并发症与康普茶有关，包括肝损伤、毒性和代谢性酸中毒——在体液中酸水平异常增加。还有些其它问题包括过敏反应和恶心。这饮料是非常酸的，有高水平乳酸和其它酸，所以专家提醒要节制。
疾病控制和预防中心1995年4月公布一个报告，因为严重酸中毒住院的两名妇女的疾病与在家酿造康普茶有关。一名妇女死于心脏骤停和另外一名妇女在她的心脏停止跳动之后得以恢复。
这两名妇女喝的康普茶是从同一“母”膜制作的，每天饮用达两个月。虽然没有直接证据证明与康普茶有关，食品药品管理局警告消费者在制作和饮用康普茶时，应该谨慎从事。
按美国食品药品管理局报告R20;大量饮用康普茶典型消耗（每天4盎司，大约120毫升），健康人就不会引起不良反应，但是，等于那些预先就有健康问题或是饮用超量康普茶的人们来说，被质疑有潜在健康危险，”
“它是新酸奶酪”
关注的重点在于康普茶系家庭酿造茶。因为康普茶菌群是在非无菌条件下培养的，就难免有害菌污染的危险。
面对广泛分布的商业制备的康普茶饮料，让康普茶稍有安全感。但是，每瓶超过3-5美元是物有所值吗？
首先，康普茶不是改换名字的斯奈普饮料。有些人发现它能提神和有活力，而另一些人确不能接受这发酵、酸味和臭味。而且，对天然菌液中垂浮的菌絲也心存疑惑。
康普茶的某些效益并非奇迹，它代表着丰富抗氧化剂茶和益生菌的巧妙结合。
“康普茶人”艾里克尔斯说“它是新的酸奶酪”，喜欢喝许多，他建立了康普茶布鲁克林公司，在纽约地区分布各种瓶装康普茶并销售家庭酿制产品。
“康普茶既不是万能药也不是神奇饮料，但有些人说它能帮助消化和增长活力，”他说。“它只是又一种发酵产品而已，适宜和其它一些发酵食品一起添加到你的饮食之中。”
人们在寻找酸乳、卡菲尔和其它益生菌乳品饮料的健康狂热中，它是又一种新方法。康普茶也提供了益生菌资源，在你的消化道帮助有益微生物刺激增长。康普茶中的红茶和绿茶也提供了一些有益抗氧化物和茶多酚——尽管你得到的如同简单的茶袋。
康普茶含糖，但远没有某些甜茶、果汁饮料、碳酸饮料那样多。一瓶500毫升约含60卡，但是，请注意诡秘标签。一瓶分两次服用，这样你就认为你只是喝了30卡。
夸大其词的效果尚不足有什么严重影响。喝康普茶是因为你喜欢它，不是因为你靠它产生奇迹。
珍妮特海姆（Janet Helm）是芝加哥注册营养学家和营养通讯顾问。她是Nutrition Unplugged创始人。
Trendy fizzy drink is mushrooming
Kombucha fans claim it gives energy, aids digestion
By Janet Helm, R.D.
msnbc.com contributor
updated 4/23/2010 9:09:03 AM ET
This year's hottest cool beverage is a fizzy, fermented drink with a tangy taste and a strange name.
Kombucha is a mysterious concoction made of live bacteria and yeast and it's becoming all the rage among the same health-seeking crowd that just last year was guzzling pomegranate and a?ai berry juices.
Some call it “mushroom tea,” although there are no real mushrooms in it, just some slimy sludge floating near the bottom of the bottle. Kombucha (pronounced kom-BOO-cha) is the latest elixir to elicit claims of a stunning array of health benefits, everything from improving digestion and immunity to lowering cholesterol and fighting cancer. It’ll even grow hair, fans claim.
What started in health food stores a few years back is now in mainstream markets across the country. Whole Foods dedicates shelves in its refrigerator cases for GT’s Organic Raw Kombucha and Synergy, the juice varieties of the tea. Coca-Cola Co. owns part of Honest Tea which has a line of Kombucha products, and Celestial Seasonings recently announced its plans to introduce a new line of flavored kombucha beverages that are fortified with functional ingredients, including B vitamins, vitamin C and spirulina. There are kombucha martinis and kombucha smoothies.
Its growing popularity taps into the probiotic and detox diet crazes, along with consumers' thirst for traditional remedies and Chinese medicine. When celebrities like Reese Witherspoon were spotting carrying bottles of kombucha, it was inevitable that the exotic brew's popularity would, well, mushroom.
Kombucha lovers call it a wonder tonic, while some nutrition experts warn that too much can be toxic for people with weak immune systems.
Healing tonic?
Kombucha gets its name from the microorganisms that mingle on top and form a flat, pancake-like structure that resembles a mushroom. The gelatinous, floating pancake is known as a SCOBY (for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast).
The “mother” culture that homebrewers use to make kombucha produce “daughter” or “kombucha babies” that are shared with friends or sold online — much like bread bakers pass along their coveted sour dough starters.
The drink may be the new super-juice on the block, but this fermented tea has actually been around for more than 2,000 years.
Kombucha can be traced back to ancient China where it was worshipped as a remedy for immortality. According to lore, the tea was introduced to Japan by a Korean physician named Dr. Kombu who gave the bacteria-laden liquid to a Japanese emperor as a healing tonic.
Throughout the years, the “Manchurian tea” made its way into Russia, Germany, India and other parts of the world — propelled by its purported curative properties and mystical appeal.
In the U.S., there’s been a small, but growing group of kombucha devotees, particularly people who brew their own batches at home, which was once the only way you could imbibe.
Dr. Brent A. Bauer, an internist with the Mayo Clinic, doubts the claims.
“To date, there hasn’t been a single human trial reported in a major medical journal,” he said. “This doesn’t mean that kombucha tea can’t possibly have health benefits, it just means that at this time, there’s no direct evidence that it provides the benefits it’s reported to have.”
Some reports have linked kombucha with serious complications, including liver damage, toxicity and metabolic acidosis — an abnormal increase of acid levels in body fluids. Other problems can include allergic reactions and nausea. The drink is fairly acidic with high levels of lactic acid and other acids, so experts advise moderation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report in April 1995 that linked homebrewed kombucha with the illness of two women who were hospitalized with severe acidosis. One woman died of cardiac arrest and the other was revived after her heart stopped.
Both women had been drinking kombucha tea made from the same “mother” mushroom daily for two months. Even though no direct link to the tea was proven, the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to use caution when making and drinking the tea.
“Drinking this tea in quantities typically consumed (about 4 ounces daily) may not cause adverse effects in healthy persons; however, the potential health risks are unknown for those with preexisting health problems or those who drink excessive quantities of the tea,” according to the FDA report.
‘It's the new yogurt’
Most of the concerns linked to kombucha have involved the homebrewed tea. Because a bunch of bacteria is being incubated in possibly nonsterile conditions, there’s a risk of contamination with harmful germs.
The wider availability of commercially prepared kombucha makes drinking the tea a bit safer. Still, is it worth it to fork over $3 to $5 per bottle?
First, kombucha is an acquired taste. It’s not simply Snapple with a new name. Some people find it refreshing and invigorating, others can’t get past the sour, vinegary taste and the compost smell. Also, the floating strings of bacteria in the raw varieties take some getting used to.
While kombucha may not be the miracle that some claim, it does represent an intriguing marriage of antioxidant-rich tea and probiotics.
“It’s the new yogurt,” said Eric “Kombuchman” Childs, who loved the drink so much he created Kombucha Brooklyn, a company that distributes bottled versions of the tea in the New York area and sells homebrewing kits.
“Kombucha is not a cure-all or a magical drink, but some people say it helps with digestion and energy,” he said. “It’s just another fermented product to add to your diet in moderation along with other fermented foods.”
It is a new way to get the beneficial bugs that people are looking for in yogurt, kefir and other probiotic dairy drinks. Kombucha also provides a source of prebiotics, which helps fuel the growth of helpful microorganisms in your digestive track. The black and green tea in kombucha also offers some beneficial antioxidants and polyphenols — although you could get the same with a simple tea bag.
The drinks do contain sugar, but not nearly as much as some sweetened teas, fruit drinks and sodas. One 16-ounce bottle contains about 60 calories — but please note the sneaky labeling. One bottle provides two servings, so you may think you’re only drinking 30 calories.
But don’t be heavily swayed by the over-the-top claims. Drink it because you like it, not because you’re counting on it to work wonders.
Janet Helm is a Chicago-based registered dietitian and nutrition communications consultant. She is the author of Nutrition Unplugged.
