Re: BAD KOMBUCHA ARTICLE...

[Guest guest]

I am not a medical doctor by any means, but when you read articles, you have

to go beyond what is in the printed word and do further research.

Patient 1: <<took medications for hypertension, anemia, and mild renal

insufficiency>> She could have been suffering from renal insufficiency,

which may have been the reason for the metabolic acidosis. Metabolic

acidosis is caused by a DISEASE process.

<<an inability of the kidneys to excrete the dietary hydrogen (H+) load, and

an increase in the generation of H+ that is due to the addition of

H+(lactic acid or ketoacids) or to the loss of bicarbonate (HCO

3-) due to inappropriate wasting by the kidney or the gastrointestinal

tract.>>

The autopsy report found:

<<peritonitis with fecal contamination of the peritoneal cavity, but no

perforation was identified>>

Again, it is important to read the actual words. Because no perforation was

identified does not mean there wasn't a perforation -- only that they were

unable to identify where it was.

A bowel perforation, diagnosed or not, can be fatal. That they found fecal

matter in her peritoneal cavity, where it should never be found, is

suggestive there was some kind of leakage somewhere. It doesn't just get

there by osmosis.

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic312.htm

Patient 2. They really do not give enough history on this woman for the

average reader to make any conclusion as to what caused her problems.

Toxicology reports were negative, although they don't say in the article

what meds she was taking. No sepsis was found. Although she was found to

have acute pulmonary edema, there are many other reasons for pulmonary edema

that, IMO, have nothing to do with KT. The patient fully recovered and was

discharged.

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1955.htm

Finally, the article stated:

<<Although the investigation described in this report did not establish a

causal link between the illness of the two women and their consumption of

Kombucha tea, reasons for the occurrence and severity of the lactic acidosis

in both cases have not been determined.>>

So, regardless of what caused the illness in these two women, a causal link

with drinking KT was never established.

I have been drinking KT for almost a year now. I brew mine 12-14 days,

sometimes longer as I like a much more tart tea than most. I drink at least

16 ounces a day, sometimes more. I give my body what it craves. If I have

16 ounces and I want more later, I have more.

After reading this article and just doing 15 minutes of research on it, I

find it odd that they write it trying to put a connection with these two

ladies' illnesses and KT consumption as that is the only thing they have in

common. There were over 100 other folks in the same town that had KT from

the same " family " of mushrooms and they experienced no ill effects. I would

suspect it was the health history of the individuals that caused their

problems and not the KT.

Oh, and this article is 12 years old. I would think if KT was toxic, there

would be more reported studies, so that is something else you have to take

into consideration.

That's my $0.02 worth.

--

April

The Lotus rises from the mud and dirt

Sweet Lotus Creations

www.sweetlotuscreations.com

Heartland Soapmakers Association

www.heartlandsoapmakers.com

On Wed, Feb 6, 2008 at 12:58 PM, Heinz <luv2scrap@...> wrote:

> I know that there will always be naysayers... but this article scared me

> a bit and I wanted to know what you all thought of it.

>

> http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00039742.htm

>