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Keep the carbonation

Kombucha is a naturally fermented tea that you can buy, ready brewed, in individual servings. Through the fermentation process, some of the carbohydrates contained within the tea are converted into carbon dioxide. So kombucha delivers the same carbonated blast that soda does.

It tastes tart (from the fermentation) and sweet (from the addition of fruit juice or sugar). If you’re a sweet-and-sour fan, kombucha may be your new favourite drink.

Reduce the sugar

Kombucha contains only a fraction of the sugar and calories of most other soft drinks. How much depends on whether you choose fruit juice–sweetened kombucha, which falls on the low end of the scale, or sugar-sweetened, which falls on the high end. But either way, kombucha beats competing drinks hands down. Just look at the numbers:

• 20 ounces of most soft drinks contains 68 grams of sugar (16 teaspoons!) and 272 calories
• 20 ounces of sugar-sweetened kombucha contains 33 grams of sugar (8 teaspoons) and 132 calories
• 20 ounces of fruit juice–sweetened kombucha has just 8 grams of sugar (2 teaspoons) and 32 calories

Replace your daily 20-ounce soft drink for 20 ounces of low-sugar kombucha and you’ll lose a whopping 20 pounds over the course of a year!

Support your gut

Not only can kombucha help you cut calories, but it may have health benefits. Because it’s fermented, kombucha contains live beneficial bacteria called probiotics—the same bacteria that make yogurt good for you. (Look for unpasteurized or “raw” kombucha; heat destroys probiotics.) Studies have shown that probiotics such as acidophilus:

• Support the health of the gastro-intestinal tract
• Aid digestion
• Help alleviate diarrhoea and constipation

Be kombucha-smart

Susan Beck, Ph.D., L. Ac., CNS, a certified nutrition specialist with a focus on oncology, has only two cautions about drinking kombucha. First, don’t make your own; there have been several incidences of food poisoning linked to home-brewed kombucha. Secondly, don’t believe manufacturers’ claims that kombucha can cure cancer. “I have never seen any research that substantiates any of the cancer claims made for kombucha,” says Beck.