Normally I'd think this was bunk but there aren't a bunch of weird ingredients in here, it's just lavender, elderberry and raw organic kombucha. It tastes pretty good, not very sweet, slightly effervescent, and the label says 20% RDA of B-12 per bottle. Really? I thought there weren't any vegan food sources of B-12.

[www.synergydrinks.com]

Don't know about the B-12...

Since it has been "reformulated" the exp. dates are very short; In the store where I it is only good for maybe a week. I think I should go back to making it myself again...

Because it is raw perhaps? Real food goes bad pretty quickly in comparison. I know my fresh apple juice etc only lasts a couple of days, even sealed. That cider we got at the store is still fine after 3 weeks! Troubling that, when you think about it.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Because it is raw perhaps? Real food goes bad
> pretty quickly in comparison. I know my fresh
> apple juice etc only lasts a couple of days, even
> sealed. That cider we got at the store is still
> fine after 3 weeks! Troubling that, when you think
> about it.


I don't know...my home brew kombucha will last a good while before it turns to vinegar, lol. If I refrigerate it - it will last longer, as the fermentation slows...

I want to start making it again when I get a chance. I see several youtube vids where folks are using coconut milk and various fruits to flavor it. Yummy!

coco,

I have always assumed that anything fermented will have B vitamins, including 12, 'cos that's what my chemical engineer/home brewer grandaddy taught me. We have since been told that ony "fortified" foods have B-12, and that plant B-12 are analogs that cannot be utilized as B-12 in primates. So, the B-12 in your kombucha is an analog. Presumably. Although it was flagged in analyis as actual B-12. Some hypothesis or other is incorrect, here. Clearly.

When you look up actual research data on the bioavailibility of B-12 from non animal sources, it is controversial(although vegan and veg societies make cautious recommendations based on them, as they should). There is a plain paucity of research on the effects of B-12 analogs on human metabolism. Most of the research is twenty or more years old.

I would drink the kombucha for its other benefits and not as a B-12 source. You can't overdose on B vitamins so you aren't overdoing it if you take a supplement, say, and drink the kombucha.

It is likely a b12 analogue as tamukha says, but it gives you an exact percentage which makes me think they've added a synthethic b12 source.

Interesting Tam, thanks for that. I thought I read though that taking analogues could interfere with absorption of actual B-12? Doesn't matter in the case of the kombucha as I'm not going to grow it myself and certainly not going to regularly spend nearly $4/btl at the store! But I do love my fermenting jar and eat lots of pickles from it when we're making them.

I don't think they've added anything to the brew, the ingredients list is Very short. Just the kombucha, elder and lavender.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2010 02:44PM by coco.

It would be quite irresponsible of them not to list it if there was a synthetic b12 added but unless there going to test each batch of kombucha and print new labels each time according to b12 content then that is illegal also i believe.

I wouldnt worry about the b12 analogues causing any absorption problems with b12, i havent read much credible information on that.

When I was in high school my mom went on a kombucha kick...I remember her making tea every couple of days, dealing with this huge mushroom, spending a fortune on honey! But I never lost the taste for it....even long after she gave it up as just another health fad.

So now I'd love to make it for myself, but how? Do I need a starter mushroom like she had gotten? Is there a (cheap) simple recipe?