Assessing Kombucha: A Systematic Review of Health Effects in Human

Abstract

Objective: To assess the new clinical evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of Kombucha for human health.Background: Kombucha is one of the most popular and rapidly expanding functional beverages globally. It has gathered significant attention, primarily due to its claimed health benefits, such as enhancing the immune system and potentially possessing antidiabetic properties.Methodology: Systematic review was performed following PRISMA 2020 guidelines without a meta-analysis. The aim was to analyze recent literature (within the past six years) on health publications and examine the trails of human benefits on kombucha consumption. Both authors independently conducted a comprehensive review and reached a conclusion. Tools were used to calculate Kappa agreement index between authors and create a PRISMA flowchart to assess study quality.Results: Five significant bibliometric reviews and four new human trials were identified. The initial trial examining the impact of Kombucha on intestinal microbiota showed neutral/negative results in healthy individuals. However, in a second microbiota trial, Kombucha significantly improved symptoms among patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Moreover, two recent clinical trials on diabetes strongly suggest that Kombucha enhances carbohydrate metabolism, indicating a potential antidiabetic effect for diabetic individuals. Nevertheless, it is important to note that these results should be considered a positive preliminary pilot assay due to the limited number of patients.Conclusions: Our research has shown that there is still controversy over the health benefits of Kombucha. Although there have been some limited clinical trials, the results are often contradictory, making it difficult to determine the positive effects of Kombucha on human health. The purpose of this review is to assess the conflicting information on the health benefits of consuming Kombucha.