It's alive, but in order to be a probiotic it needs to be healthful to the body. So I'm coming around to understanding the appearance of Saccharomyces as the probiotic most commonly referred to in KT, which can survive in a low PH environment. I would like to know if it survives shelf life and gut transit to become healthful, and just what research has been done to determine the health benefits on healthy adults? I recently noticed NASA wants to bring KT to the moon due in part to it's probiotic benefit, but I've not
GT lists two Saccharomyces strains: cerevisiae and boulardii.
High Country lists as their probiotics
Gluconacetobacter Obediens - The cellulose that holds together a SCOBY
Dekkera Anomala - This is a yeast in the genus Brettanomyces and I've read it can possibly spoil wine
Dekkera Bruxellensis - The flavor center of Brettanomyces
Z. Kombuchaensis - I believe this is also Saccharomyces
Saccharomyces is extremely common yeast and competes with Dekkera bruxellensis. Dekkera proliferates in an environment rich in nitrates and can cause off flavors. Since I've had some off flavors, I've gone back and noticed I do have nitrates I should probably filter out of my water, just to be sure. I also realized the off flavors intensified in secondary batches flavored with strawberries, which are also high in nitrates. Probably a coincidence, but I'm keeping an eye on it nonetheless.
Anyway, I've searched and searched and searched and I found a lot of interesting information, but I couldn't find information on these yeast strains "as" probiotics or their positive affects on the body. So my question is now changing to "what are the benefits of the above on a healthy adult?" In short, why are they considered probiotics? There is information on Saccharomyces and its affects on kids with diarrhea, but that's all I could turn up.
It was brought to my attention that the faq page for búcha kombucha, a popular live kombucha, had this to say on the subject
"What is meant by probiotics?
Probiotics refers to those live, active microorganisms that confer a health benefit on the host, such as those found in yogurt. Although unproven scientifically, many believe that some kombucha culture microorganisms can be regarded as such" (
http://www.mybucha.com/about-us/faq/).
I like the idea of probiotics, but I'm just not sure a couple strains out of a countless variety with different properties are going to deliver a whole lot of benefit, unless they just so happen to be what my gut needs. Like you, Sdaji, I also drink KT for the acids. Well, that and the flavor.
Any more information on probiotics is welcome. This has been an interesting investigation.