Kombucha tea has been all the rage for natural health enthusiasts for quite some time now. This fermented beverage is full of living bacteria and offers the same benefits that probiotics have when it comes to repopulating your gut with healthy flora. It has other benefits as well, and most notable of them being relief from the symptoms of many common physical ailments. Not surprisingly, we’re now seeing cannabis extracts added to kombucha teas. It’s quite likely that cannabis kombucha will be equally as popular for these same consumers.
Cannabis kombucha formulations are made by adding cannabis oil to the existing kombucha brew. Let’s start here by having a brief look at how kombucha is made and the benefits. We’ll then move on to how the brew becomes different with cannabis added to it, and then discuss why exactly cannabis kombucha is now becoming wildly popular.
All About the Scoby
Kombucha is made by mixing strains of bacteria and yeast with sugar and leaving them to do their thing in black or green tea. And by do their thing, what we mean is that they ferment to form a solid mass on the top of liquid. This mass is the ‘scoby’, which is an acronym for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.
Vinegar and probiotics are also produced, and the vinegar works to kill off the harmful bacteria while the probiotics enlist the good ones to join their army of helpful bacteria. You’ll ingest copious amounts of these probiotics with every serving of kombucha tea.
Gluconic and acetic acid promote the effective colonization of the bacteria in the beverage, and enzymes and amino acids, polyphenols, and a host of other organic acids add to the collection of ‘good stuff’ found in kombucha.
Kombucha is acknowledged to be helpful for relief of:
- Asthma
- Rheumatism
- Insomnia
- Gout
- Herpes
- Hemorrhoids
- Cataracts
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Skin complexion issues
- Symptoms related to HIV and AIDS
As well as possibly preventing cancer and heart disease, shrinking enlarged prostates, and improving libido for both men and women. These are just some of the benefits people have reported enjoying when drinking kombucha tea regularly.
Adding Cannabis
With all the health benefits obtained from kombucha it makes a whole lot of sense to combine them with the benefits available from cannabis. More specifically, we should say the benefits available from the cannabinoids in cannabis, and THC and CBD most notably. Between both there is the potential for relief from many conditions, plus the ‘buzz’ that recreational users receive from THC.
If drinking your way to a high is preferable to smoking or ingesting your way there, be sure to check out cannabis drinks too.
Cannabis kombucha is indeed a perfect pairing of beneficial constituents from both the scoby that created it and the cannabis infused into it. In addition to the benefits from kombucha listed above, here’s what you can further expect to receive in the way of therapeutic benefits when drinking cannabis kombucha:
- Mild pain relief, and in particular for muscle pain for people with fibromyalgia
- Appetite stimulation
- Depression relief (mood lifting)
- Anxiety relief
- Nausea relief
- Neuropathy relief
- Inflammation relief
- Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) relief
- Epilepsy symptom relief
- And more
There is one thing that’s important to note regarding relief of depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions here. The effectiveness is a product of both the cannabinoids and the probiotic reinforcements provided from the kombucha’s scoby. This is because there is an ever-more definitive connection between gut health and mental health. So much so in fact that some researchers have dubbed the gut to be the ‘2nd brain’.
Again, there is also the mildly intoxicating and pleasantly relaxing high determined by the THC content in a particular strain of marijuana. It is worth noting as well that cannabis kombucha prepared with cannabis strains with a relatively even mix of CBD and THC cannabinoids have an added benefit for recreational users too. Sufficient CBD levels can slow the break down of THC in the liver, meaning individuals can stay high even longer.
Make Your Own Cannabis Kombucha
Making your own cannabis kombucha isn’t particularly difficult, expensive, or time consuming. Check out the basics of how to grow a kombucha scoby, and learn how to do it. Then once you’ve prepared your fermented concoction you can make it into cannabis kombucha very easily. Just add a cannabis capsule or two to the tea and then let it dissolve and mix into the beverage completely over the course of another full day.
After that you should have some cannabis-infused kombucha that’s ready for drinking. Enjoy!
