What's for Dinner?

[sad_winslow]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Kombucha is fermented, and tastes like it. If you enjoy things like kimchi, real sauerkraut, etc., then you will probably also enjoy the tang of kombucha. Most people I know drink it because it's good for them, not because they genuinely like the flavor.

I think that it's probably sad to drink it if you don't like the flavor because it's not really that great for you in particular, although it's pretty likely not bad for you. Any magical health benefits ascribed to it are pretty much either outrageously overblown or outright false, so if you don't like the "unique" taste it seems silly to drink it. The "probiotic" nature of the unpasteurized stuff is maybe equivalent to that of yogurt, and how beneficial that is exactly is still kind of up in the air, even. Yogurt is good for you not necessarily because of the microorganisms directly, but rather what they've done to the milk sugars they're fed, not to mention the resulting dietary and lifestyle changes in people who decide it's time to eat more yogurt. Kombucha has also got some B vitamin content, which you can get from pretty much anything in a balanced diet, and any excess above what your body can use at the moment is just excreted in urine.

Otherwise, what you're pretty much doing is drinking sweet tea that's had the sugar converted to vinegar and fizz.

I like the taste, myself, though. Vinegary and acidic, a little fizz, earthy funk, I can dig it. I'm a sucker for fermented things in general, though, and I really like sour beers. Kombucha, I've found, is sort of like the non-alcoholic (mostly, there's still a fraction of a %) hippy version of a lambic.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by sad_winslow

The "probiotic" nature of the unpasteurized stuff is maybe equivalent to that of yogurt, and how beneficial that is exactly is still kind of up in the air, even.

This is not true, but you couldn't have known that you were accidentally diving into a conversation with a probiotic obsessive. Truly fresh kombucha that has been fermented for 24+ hours (which is not necessarily true for something you get from the store that calls itself kombucha, and certainly not "kombucha tea" which is like "cheese product,") has trillions of CFU of both beneficial bacteria and yeasts. Your average store yogurt has only about 5 billion CFU per serving, and what's more, it is artificially seeded with only 2-4 species of bacteria and no yeast, compared to literally hundreds of species in the kombucha mother which have evolved together into a balanced colony.

I'll grant you that store-bought yogurt is as probiotically useful as store-bought "kombucha tea." But real, fermented yogurt and kombucha are both entirely different things, and exponentially more potent.

As a favor to everyone else here, I'll leave the rant about the many proven health benefits for another time.

[sad_winslow]

My point was that kombucha is ascribed magical healing properties that it doesn't have. It's not going to cure cancer, relieve gout, make arthritis go away, fix autism, stop heart attacks, replace vaccines, cure the common cold, make your immune system invincible, keep you alive until you're 120, cure HIV, or a dozen other things kombucha(or latest fad) is claimed to do. Whether there's a hundred or a hundred billion fungal/bacterial colonies isn't terribly important. A hundred billion multiplied by zero ability to cure cancer is still zero. That's what I was driving at.

I would never argue that probiotics overall aren't generally healthful. There's a pretty decent amount of evidence piling up for fermented, live-culture products being generally good for digestion and helping with conditions in which there is a gut flora imbalance, which is nice. But don't take up chain smoking thinking that it'll balance out the risk of cancer, and don't give up the chemo once you've got the cancer, either; nor should you throw away the ibuprofen and expect to be running marathons on those worn-out joints just because of some bacteria-rich spoiled fungus tea. And if you've got HIV/AIDS, my god, don't go near the stuff; for the immunocompromised, if pouring live microorganisms into your face doesn't at least sound like a bad idea, Darwin might have some words for you.

It's also worth noting that drinking too much kombucha can actually lead to some gastric problems, as it's really quite acidic, being loaded with vinegar and carbonic acid. It can erode the teeth, throat, and stomach lining, leading to ulcers, and has been implicated in cases of severe lactic acidosis. I'd argue that while it may not be quite as microbially loaded as kombucha, yogurt is a more gentle way to treat one's insides, and comes in a nice fat-and-protein buffer solution. Arguably tastes better, too.

But broadly, if drinking a little kombucha keeps a person from eating big macs and drinking cokes and motivates them to adjust their lifestyle to fit what they think a "kombucha drinker" consumes, then yeah, they're going to start feeling better physically. The same is going to happen if they start eating, say, oatmeal for breakfast instead of a hot pocket and a red bull.

I am overall very much an advocate of eating "whole" type foods, including fermented stuff. I can't get enough of (real, sour-type) pickled cucumbers and other vegetables, sauerkraut, sour beer, miso and other fermented bean pastes, yogurt, kefir, kimchee, kombucha, fermented chile pastes, on and on... I also once ate stinky tofu, and that's a story for another post. But I don't think that any of it is magical medicine, and I don't think anyone else should, either.

so I wasn't really asking about kombucha to bust anyone's chops or anything. I was more just wondering if anyone was drinking it and had any opinions the.. "unique" flavor, found a brand they like/hate, or started brewing a variety that they particularly love or hate. But you couldn't have known that you were accidentally diving into a conversation with a real scientist.

Citations available upon request.

(Also, I am so very going to try your way of cooking a duck. That looks amazing, and I've never actually cooked a duck before.)

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

This is not true, but you couldn't have known that you were accidentally diving into a conversation with a probiotic obsessive. Truly fresh kombucha that has been fermented for 24+ hours (which is not necessarily true for something you get from the store that calls itself kombucha, and certainly not "kombucha tea" which is like "cheese product,") has trillions of CFU of both beneficial bacteria and yeasts. Your average store yogurt has only about 5 billion CFU per serving, and what's more, it is artificially seeded with only 2-4 species of bacteria and no yeast, compared to literally hundreds of species in the kombucha mother which have evolved together into a balanced colony.

I'll grant you that store-bought yogurt is as probiotically useful as store-bought "kombucha tea." But real, fermented yogurt and kombucha are both entirely different things, and exponentially more potent.

As a favor to everyone else here, I'll leave the rant about the many proven health benefits for another time.

[footfootfoot]

Beer and pistachios.

[BigV]

ribeye steak with yellow onions and wild mushrooms sauteed in red wine with a side of tri-color quinoa (really. brown, less brown and more brown. *snicker*)

[Gravdigr]

Ground venison casserole.

[bbro]

Garlic Noodles and Shrimp. I have to cook a piece of Chicken breast for lunch the next two days, though. Not sure how I am going to cook it - probably just saute it or something

[Gravdigr]

Beer and weed. Weed and beer.

[DanaC]

I've had a salmony day today. For breakfast (as in first meal, actually eaten a little after lunchtime...) I had toast with smoked salmon pate and for tea (dinner) I had baked salmon with potatoes and peas.

[bbro]

Christmas dinner for one. First time in my life alone, think I did pretty good in not wallowing

[orthodoc]

Ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing (none of which I will be eating); scallops, small tuna steak for me. Plus a heaping side dish of family strife and rage, with possibly a police visit for dessert if things really get energetic.

[classicman]

Good for you bbro. Looks fantastic. I had some overdone ham & pineapple stuffing on Christmas day. It was marginal, at best. AND I had to drive so I couldn't really drink either.

[sad_winslow]

Sorry if I upset anyone with my last bit of babbling, folks. Happy new year to everyone.

New Year's dinner today was in the style of the old country: sauerkraut with sausages (kielbasa and hot dogs), mashed potatos, potato-onion pierogies, and pickles.

I had a good time new year's eve, as well: after the ball dropped, I appeared out of nowhere with a bottle of whiskey, took a healthy belt, and recited auld lang syne in the proper dialect. The Californians asked me if I could turn on my subtitles.

[xoxoxoBruce]

No way, it takes a lot more than that to upsets these hardened troops.

[bbro]

Thanks classic - the gravy was way too salty, but I think I did really well on the roast.

Today will be chicken thighs and cauliflower covered in cheese or turkey soup depending on the thawing situation