Try kombucha as a fermented beverage

Drink kombucha as an alternative to soda or sweetened beverages. Choose brands with lower sugar content (under 5g per serving) and verify they contain live cultures.

Why It Works

Kombucha is fermented with a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts), producing a fizzy, slightly acidic drink containing organic acids, B vitamins, and live microorganisms. It provides a more gut-friendly alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages.

Tips

• Clinical evidence for kombucha specifically is limited — most human gut health claims are extrapolated from general fermented food research
• Sugar content varies enormously between brands — some contain as much sugar as soda
• Unpasteurized varieties contain live cultures; pasteurized shelf-stable versions do not
• GT's, Health-Ade, and Brew Dr. are popular brands with live cultures