A double benefit that comes from its richness in probiotics…
It is not from today but is coming back into fashion. Sparkling, this drink is a kind of fermented tea which is already believed to have benefits for lowering blood sugar levels. Its benefits do not stop there according to the work of American researchers published in the journal PLOS Genetics on March 28, 2024. “The popularity of this drink has increased in part due to its purported health benefits against metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity, however its claims have not been rigorously tested. Its health benefits are believed to are conferred by its probiotic microbes (it contains “good” bacteria and fermented yeasts added to water and sugar, editor’s note) which could be capable of colonizing the human intestine and modifying its physiology. But the mechanisms by “How probiotics impact physiology are largely unknown” remind the authors in the preamble.
“A marked reduction in fat levels”
For their research carried out in the laboratory, the researchers used an animal model, the “nematode Caenorhabditis elegans” worm (measuring approximately one millimeter and transparent). This worm consumes bacteria as its main food source. Researchers fed worms of this type with yeast and bacteria associated with tea kombucha (the famous drink) and then observed that these colonized the intestines of the worms “robustly”creating metabolic changes similar to those that occur during a fast and “leading to a marked reduction in fat levels in the intestine” according to their conclusions. “The metabolic response of the host (the worm, editor’s note) requires an increase in proteins which break down lipids, associated with a reduction in a protein that builds triglycerideswhich reflects the events that occur during the fast” explain the authors. Overall, the drink reduced the fat reserves – lipids and triglycerides – of the worms.
“Our results provide mechanistic insight into how probiotics in kombucha tea reshape host metabolism and the impact of this popular beverage on human metabolism, which could inform the use of kombucha in complementary health care approaches in the future” the authors concluded.