Just type in “kombucha” on the internet or listen in on a few wellness conversations and you’ll soon hear the following promise:
“Kombucha helps you lose weight”.
This idea appeals because it links three things that many people are looking for at the same time:
a pleasant drink, a “natural” image and a hope that the scales will tip without revolutionising everything on their plate.
But behind this promise, there are two opposing risks.
The first is to believe that kombucha is a miracle drink that will melt away the pounds no matter what else you do.
The second is to reject it all out of hand and think that kombucha is nothing more than a ‘fashionable tea’ of no interest in weight control.
The reality is somewhere in between.
Kombucha is no substitute for a balanced diet or the advice of a health professional, but it can be an interesting ally in a weight-loss approach when used intelligently, especially when prepared at home with a healthy SCOBY, such as a Natural Probio kombucha culture.
To understand how, we need to look first at what this drink really does, and then at how it fits into our daily lives.
Before talking specifically about kombucha, let’s remember something that marketing sometimes makes us forget:
weight loss depends on a number of factors.
These include:
No single drink can reverse the impact of an unbalanced diet or a highly sedentary lifestyle. Kombucha is no exception.
On the other hand, it can make certain choices easier: reducing high-sugar drinks, setting up new rituals, supporting digestive comfort, making hydration more pleasant. It is these indirect effects that can, over the weeks, contribute to a change in weight.
Kombucha is not a fat-burning drug. It does not mechanically eliminate body fat. What it can do, however, is gently accompany a change in behaviour:
It can therefore be seen as a tool, not a magic solution.
To understand its potential role in weight loss, we need to look at what’s in kombucha, especially when it’s homemade.
Initially, kombucha is made with sweet tea. It’s what happens afterwards that counts.
In the jar :
The final kombucha retains some residual sugar, but this is often considerably less than the sugar content of a conventional soft drink, provided :
With homemade kombucha made from SCOBY Natural Probio, you’ve got control over this parameter. You can taste the kombucha every day and decide:
This ability to adjust means that sugar can be gradually reduced without sacrificing pleasure.
Even when properly fermented, kombucha is still a drink that provides :
It’s not water. So it’s not a question of drinking litres of it and thinking it’s ‘calorie free’. Weight loss also involves moderating quantities, even with drinks that are more interesting than a soft drink.
The idea is to make kombucha:
Kombucha doesn’t make you lose weight “directly”, but it can help in a number of ways.
For many people, part of their daily calorie intake comes from drinks:
These drinks mainly contain sugar or alcohol, sometimes both, without really filling you up. They add to the calories of meals without giving the impression of “eating more”.
Homemade kombucha, sufficiently fermented, can be :
If, day after day, you replace :
you reduce your liquid calorie intake without feeling like you’re depriving yourself.
It is this type of replacement, repeated over several weeks, that can help bring about a gradual change in weight.
A lot of people who start to rebalance their diet are faced with sugar cravings:
At such times, kombucha can play the role of compromise:
Drinking a small glass of homemade kombucha rather than opening a chocolate bar or packet of biscuits won’t ‘solve the root of the sugar problem’, but it is a gentler option that limits the damage.
Especially if the kombucha is prepared with SCOBY Natural Probio and firmness to keep just the right amount of sweetness to curb sugar cravings without turning into a very sweet drink.
Lasting weight loss is often accompanied by improved digestive comfort:
As we saw in another article, kombucha, a fermented drink, can :
Feeling lighter after meals, less bloated, less ‘full’, helps to motivate you to continue with your weight loss programme. There is less temptation to gorge on high-calorie foods to compensate for digestive discomfort.
Kombucha does not cure digestive disorders, but as part of an overall routine, a well-managed homemade kombucha, prepared with a healthy SCOBY Natural Probio, can become one of the elements that make that routine more enjoyable and sustainable over time.
To be honest, we also need to be clear about the limits of kombucha.
Although not as sweet as a soda, kombucha :
If you simply replace water with large glasses of kombucha all day long, without changing anything else, you run the risk of increasing your calorie intake.
If you’re trying to lose weight, kombucha is interesting mainly for what it replaces, not for what it adds.
Not all commercial kombuchas are created equal. Some are:
In these cases, the difference with a soft drink can be quite small in terms of calories. It’s still a ‘gourmet’ drink, sometimes more reasonable than a traditional soda, but not necessarily suitable if the main aim is to significantly reduce your intake.
Homemade kombucha, made from SCOBY Natural Probio, is more interesting because you :
This allows you to create a drinking profile that is consistent with your weight control programme.
A common trap is to say:
“I drink kombucha, so I can afford more desserts or very rich dishes”.
It’s a form of mental compensation. We add a food “perceived as healthy” to reassure ourselves, but we don’t get to the heart of the habits that are causing the problem.
In this case, kombucha does not contribute to weight loss. It simply becomes another layer in an already high-calorie diet.
Let’s move on to some practical proposals.
The simplest strategy is to list your highest calorie drinks for the week:
Then decide to replace one glass a day with a glass of homemade kombucha.
For example:
That’s 7 drinks a week replaced by something less sweet and less alcoholic.
Then, as the weeks go by, you can :
Instead of systematically snacking mid-afternoon or in the evening, you can create a kombucha break ritual.
For example:
This ritual :
Here’s an example of a day where kombucha is incorporated in a consistent way.
Morning:
Lunchtime :
Afternoon:
Evening:
Night :
With this type of organisation, kombucha :
For weight management, homemade kombucha has a number of advantages:
Industrial kombucha can help, but you need :
All this works even better if your kombucha culture is :
This is precisely the role of SCOBY Natural Probio:
With a healthy culture, the link between fermentation time, taste and residual sugar becomes more predictable. So you can :
If you have a history of eating disorders (excessive restriction, compulsions, binges followed by compensations), it is important that kombucha does not become :
In this type of context, any weight loss strategy should be supervised by a professional. Kombucha may be present, but it is not the main tool to be used to combat these difficulties.
In case of :
kombucha, even if it has less sugar than a soft drink, is still a drink with sugar and acids. It’s best to talk to your doctor or dietician if you’re considering regular consumption as part of a weight loss programme.
Kombucha contains :
If your weight loss programme is accompanied by :
kombucha may need to be severely restricted or even avoided. Here again, medical advice is the best guide.
Can you lose weight with kombucha?
An honest answer would be:
Kombucha is neither a medicine nor a gadget. It’s a living fermented beverage that comes into its own when :
If you decide to use it in your weight loss journey, do:
Observe what it really changes in your day: what it replaces, what it helps you manage better, what it does for your digestive comfort. It’s in these details, repeated day after day, that kombucha can become a real slimming ally, not by promising the impossible, but by making the possible more pleasant and more lasting.
