Re: good vs. evil OR kombucha vs. fluoride

May 10, 2005

Thank you for your post. I too am aware of the fluoride issue in tea

and I believe it comes from the massive herbicide and pesticide use

needed to keep this plant in production on a corporate-farm level

ie:profitable. I will look for supporting documentation on this, but

I do remember thinking to myself that I had better start locating

organic sources. Boy, are they ever hard to find!

Please let me know what you learn - I have a gut feeling this will

be important info.

Cheers and thx,

*S*

> Hi all;

>

> I am a little confused. I know that tea has high amounts of

fluoride,

> which we should avoid if possible, as it can contribute to

skeletal

> fluorosis if one drinks enough of it. Osteoarthritis runs in my

family

> of tea drinkers, and I have lower back pain already. I wish to

avoid

> anything that might make it worse.

>

> Fluoride = Bad (see http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/).

>

> However, Sally's books recommend kombucha (made with tea) as an

> especially good tonic.

>

> Kombucha = Good. (see

http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/kvass.htm)

>

> So how does the balance work out? Does the goodness of the

Kombucha

> cancel the evils of Fluoride?

>

> I have heard that organic tea has less fluoride than

conventionally

> grown tea. I have searched google and have not found a reference

to

> support this. *Does anybody have one? *

> I am particularly interested in fluoride of organic oolong and

green

> teas, not that there are many organic teas out there to choose

from

> (expensive Rishi tea comes to mind).

>

> Best,

>

May 10, 2005

,

I had the same concern about the fluoride in Kombucha about a year

ago. The only really relevant info. I found was a quote from Sally on

the WAPF site (http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/kvass.htm).

relevant part of the particle:

" Researchers looking at the toxic effects of fluoride have recently

raised concerns about kombucha because most commercial tea is very

high in fluoride. Fortunately, kombucha made with organic tea contains

very little fluoride. We had fluoride levels tested in organic black

tea and in the kombucha made with the tea. The levels in the tea were

only slightly higher than those in the filtered water from which it

was made and actually slightly lower in the kombucha than in the black

tea. These results suggest that the process of fermentation actually

removes some of the fluoride from the tea and may explain why the

kombucha " mushroom " eventually gets black. These older, darkened

" mushrooms " can be replaced with the newer, cleaner " babies " that grow

underneath the original " mushroom " during the fermentation process. "

<me agagin here> Otherwise I found that non-organic tea has lots of

fluoride -I think- from conventional agricultural sprays and

irrigation with fluoridated water. That last part was my guess from

reading a lot - I didn't find any one good quote or reference for that

either. I even found one manufacturer of ORGANIC tea including the

claim of " high in fluoride " as a healthful aspect of their tea... go

figure.

Hope someone else has more concrete information! In the meantime, I

make my Kombucha with organic tea. (BTW one popular web site on KT

says NOT to use organic tea because it encourages mold... " can't win

for losing " here. I have never had a problem with mold.)

All the best,

Jan

> Does the goodness of the Kombucha

> cancel the evils of Fluoride?

>

> I have heard that organic tea has less fluoride than conventionally

> grown tea. I have searched google and have not found a reference to

> support this. *Does anybody have one? *

May 10, 2005

>! In the meantime, I

>make my Kombucha with organic tea. (BTW one popular web site on KT

>says NOT to use organic tea because it encourages mold... " can't win

>for losing " here. I have never had a problem with mold.)

Where do you get your organic black tea?

I had been wondering about the fluoride levels in tea, as well. I read that

tea plants take up fluoride from the soil. If so, this may be naturally

occurring calcium fluoride, which is the form that does strengthen bones

and teeth, and not sodium fluoride, the toxic byproduct of manufacturing

that was foisted upon the American public in the middle of the last century.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Canfield

-God grades on the cross, not on the curve. -Anonymous

3:36: " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that

believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. "

May 10, 2005

> Where do you get your organic black tea?

I get organic tea from the Frontier Natural Product Co-op

(http://frontiercoop.com/). Their organic English Breakfast tea is

$12/lb wholesale or $25.70/lb retail (same tea, same item number

1078...). My local organic buying club charges the wholesale price +

10%. I also like their organic Gunpowder green tea (#2873). Even

though I like Frontier's products, I think their retail prices are

really steep.

My guess is that " if " organic tea is more likely to cause mold, it's

because it is not irradiated. (The Laurel Farms directions on how to

make Kombucha state that organic tea can cause mold:

http://www.laurelfarms.com/ipix/printerfriendly_kt_instructions.htm

Look in the the picture of the " pot " in the step where you add tea.) I

don't agree - I use organic tea and have never had moldy Kombucha.

> tea plants take up fluoride from the soil. If so, this may be

> naturally

> occurring calcium fluoride, which is the form that does strengthen

> bones

> and teeth, and not sodium fluoride, the toxic byproduct of

> manufacturing

Good to know. I can live with a little fluoride, esp. if it's in a

natural form.

Someone else had a concern about the caffeine in Kombucha. From

personal experience (I haven't read this anywhere) I think the

original caffeine in the tea is converted to something else or

absorbed by the Kombucha 'mushroom'. I can drink KT at night and still

sleep. If you're very caffeine sensitive, you can eliminate most of it

if you steep the tea for 30 seconds in very hot water, throw that

water away, then steep the tea for 'real'. Caffeine is very water

soluble so most of it leaches into the water at the beginning of

brewing.

If it's hard to find organic black tea, how hard is it to find organic

decaffeinated black tea?

All the best!

Jan

May 10, 2005

I've tried pre-steeping tea a few times while making Kombucha, but my

Kombucha never turned out. I used ph strips to check the ph levels, but they

never got into the " good " range when I pre-steeped the tea. I too remembered

reading something about the caffeine being converted/consumed by the

mushroom.

Dan

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Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 17:09:24 -0000

From: " alangaud " <alangaud@...>

Subject: Re: good vs. evil OR kombucha vs. fluoride