Kombucha as Workout Recovery Drink or Weight Loss Aid?

I’m always keeping my eyes peeled for mentions of Kombucha around the net and in the media to see what’s next on the horizon. Lately I’ve been seeing more buzz around Kombucha for weight loss and athletes using Kombucha as a recovery beverage after workouts.

Followers of this blog may remember that we featured some of our athlete friends’ Kombucha drinking habits in a post last spring, so to see more people discovering this wonderful possibility for taking advantage of Kombucha’s gifts is very heartening.

The real question is, while the health benefits of Kombucha include aiding digestion, increasing stamina and boosting energy, can Kombucha Tea also help with losing weight? If you listen to these dietary advisers and other sources like famed Kombucha researcher Michael Roussin, the short answer is absolutely YES!

So, how can Kombucha help with weight loss?

First of all, just like other fermented foods, Kombucha brings billions of self-perpetuating beneficial bacteria to your gut.

These bacteria take up residence in your gut and boost the natural healthful conditions, or help begin the clean up and recovery process, depending on how much distress the digestive system is under.

Once the body is digesting food more efficiently, releasing more vitamins and enzymes that fuel the body and experiencing reduced sugar cravings, it has more natural energy to heal itself and tend to its own needs.

Fat Burning Man Abel James recently addressed this subject. He says that when you drink Kombucha,

…(i)nstantly, you feel ‘different’… Kombucha is packed with probiotics that aid digestion, which in turn speeds fat-burning. You will definitely feel a rush with the first swig.

Abel is definitely on to something. Kombucha also contains all natural alpha-hydroxy, the synthetic version of which is used by both dieters and weight lifters to improve the effectiveness of their regimens.

I should emphasize, once again, that Kombucha is a food not a supplement and delivers (more bioavailable) microdoses of these nutrients, nothing like the massive-dose wasteful supplements favored by some nutritionists.

I haven’t mentioned this before but drinking Kombucha Tea every day helped my husband gradually lose over 40 lbs. This weight loss was spread out over a year and a half and included many other sensible changes to his diet, but he wasn’t obese or even that much overweight when the changes started.

Though he had been drinking Kombucha occasionally (GTs Gingerade addict at one point), he hadn’t made it a daily habit. When I first started developing my Pink Lemonade flavor (strawberry is one of his favorite flavors), his interest perked up.

Over time, he developed a very specific morning regimen, starting with an 8oz glass of Kombucha over ice, followed by a glass of raw milk. Within a few months of starting this daily routine, the weight loss was noticeable.

We don’t have a scale around the house and our gym memberships have long since elapsed in favor of sunshine harvesting exercise, so we don’t know exactly when he lost what, but the changes were visible to everyone who knows him, and those people he hadn’t seen in awhile were amazed to the point that it was a little embarrassing for him (“Was I such a fat a$$!?” he complained).

If he sees this, he’ll make me take it down. “No honey, no need to click on that post!” 😉

Now, the quality and type of the food we ate changed dramatically over this period of time as well, so it is not only the Kombucha and raw milk but the improved dietary choices that we began making that helped as well. But he says those dietary changes were easier to make this time.

Its funny, when the body reattenuates to the appropriate pH, cravings for sugar become more rare. Then, when he felt like a snack, he would reach for a glass of Kombucha instead. Soon the pangs disappeared.

Also, since he wasn’t weighed down by more food, he noticed improved energy and focus.

What about Kombucha Tea as a post workout recovery drink?

I recently came across the websites and podcasts of Liz Wolfe, a nutritional therapist based out of Kansas, who recommends a Paleo style diet to her clients, and writes,

Fermented beverages contain minerals and electrolytes. They were traditionally thought to quench the thirst of physical activity better than water alone.

Liz advocates drinking fermented drinks like Kombucha and kefir post-workout as a healthier alternative to the manufactured commercial sports drinks. I have to agree with her on that one and, if you remember our previous post, some world class athlete type blog buddies of mine agree too as they told us how Kombucha fits in with their work out routines back in April.

Whether one prefers to grab Kombucha at the store or make it at home, Devon, Matt and Jennifer all agree that the key is to get frequent, small doses of Kombucha on a daily basis, or at least whenever they are working out or need more energy.

You don’t have to be a world class athlete to experience positive effects from drinking Kombucha. The anecdotes of middle aged folks attributing improved joint health to daily Kombucha consumption are many.

Is Kombucha Tea some kind of magic bullet to weight loss or easy path to healthy joints?

No way! Diet, exercise, sunshine, fresh air and loving relationships are all necessary for optimum health, in my opinion. I’m no doctor, but that makes sense to me.

What I have heard over the years from you the readers is that Kombucha fits into just about any lifestyle and supports both the good and bad choices we make as best as it can through digestive health, flushing toxins and re-balancing the body. It has a tonifying effect, especially when drunk on a daily basis.

It has changed my family’s lives,
Liz, Abel, Devon, Jennifer & Matt’s lives.

Has it changed yours?