By Sadiqua Hamdan

What is the first thing that comes to your mind after reading these ingredients: purified water, 100% organic black tea and Kombucha culture? If you're like me, you put the bottle back on the shelf and thought, "I'm pretty sure I have enough black tea at home" and continued shopping.

Pronounced (kum-boo-cha), I read that the kombucha culture is nothing more than yeast (shaped like a thick pancake) and placed in a pot with green or black tea and sugar. After a week, the fermentation turns the sugar into organic acids.  

Organic acids help flush out toxins and help prevent illness. Fermented products also have amino acids, enzymes and vitamins.

As I slowly grew to like it, I did see an immediate boost of energy and better digestion of my food. My friends swore it cured their hangovers. Drinking kombucha means you're drinking millions of microorganisms (similar to what's in yogurt). These bacteria are called probiotics and help maintain a balanced digestive tract.  Pasteurization wipes out the good AND bad bacteria. That is why it's recommended to drink raw kombucha.

I've tried several brands of kombucha, but love Kombucha Gold Essence. Unlike the others, it doesn't require refrigeration. It's concentrated and can be mixed with anything you want (I prefer plain or fizzy water). It's also less expensive in the long run.