At the last session I mentioned the drink Kombucha. This is a refreshing, slightly effervescent, non-alcoholic drink made out of fermented black or green tea, which, like other fermented foods, is considered to have health benefits. You might be interested to hear that two recently published studies suggest kombucha may be helpful for blood glucose control and for lowering the glycaemic response to a meal containing carbohydrate in a similar way to vinegar.
In the first study, which was a well controlled randomised crossover study, participants ate a meal high in carbohydrate (jasmine rice) either with unsweetened soda water, artificially sweetened lemonade or kombucha. Both blood glucose and insulin were significantly lower following the meal with kombucha. In the second study a small group of people with Type 2 Diabetes showed improvements in fasting blood glucose after drinking kombucha on a daily basis for a month. The reasos for this positive impact are unclear, however the authors of these studies suggest possible mechanisms include the kombucha microbes, or components in the tea, including polyphenols or organic acids (includeing acetic acid). Such components appear to reduce starch digestion and reduce the absorption of glucose. It was also reported that in animal models, kombucha was associated with improved pancreatic beta-cell regeneration, which is interesting. So its worth trying a glass of kombucha and seeing how you like it!
