Does Kombucha Contain Alcohol?

Does kombucha contain alcohol? Kombucha contains a small amount of alcohol but commercial kombucha is labeled non-alcoholic because it contains less than 0.5% alcohol. This meets the regulations set by the U.S Alcohol and Tax Bureau. Homebrewed kombucha tends to have significantly higher alcohol content and as much as 3% or higher.

Does kombucha contain alcohol?  Photo credit: iStock-Qwart

The people that should avoid drinking homebrewed kombucha tea is pregnant women or women that are breastfeeding. If you are pregnant, it is advisable to avoid drinking alcohol as most doctors would recommend this. Homebrewed tea is unpasteurized and research studies have shown it can possibly raise the risk of a miscarriage.

Some of the health benefits of Kombucha tea are the following:

• It is high in probiotics which is helpful to digestive gut health.
• It has been shown in some animal studies that it can help manage blood sugar levels.
• It has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels in animal research studies.
• There was an animal study that showed that kombucha tea is more effective than black tea and enzyme processed tea at protecting the liver against harmful substances.

There have been some studies that have shown consuming tyramine which is in kombucha can lead to headaches or migraines. If drinking kombucha is giving you a migraine or headache, then it is best to abstain from this.

The Bottom Line is commercial kombucha contains about 0.5% alcohol which is considered non-alcoholic because of how minimal the alcohol content is.

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