Abstract
Objectives
Determine if a four-week kombucha intervention improves cardiometabolic parameters in human participants.
Methods
25 participants, aged 18–53 with BMIs from 18.6–35.4, consumed four ounces of kombucha daily for four weeks. Blood pressure, body composition, blood glucose, lipid panel, and maximal oxygen uptake were assessed pre- and post-kombucha intervention. Linear Regressions and Paired T-tests were run through Jamovi to determine significance.
Results
The association between kombucha consumption and lipid panel (Triglycerides P = 0.958)(HDL P = 0.894)(LDL P = 0.424)(Total Cholesterol P = 0.373)(Blood Glucose P = 0.583), blood pressure (Systolic P = 0.526)(Diastolic P = 0.707), maximal oxygen uptake (P = 0.881), BMI (P = 0.889), and body fat composition (P = 0.791) were not significant. Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ) provided additional data on participants' dietary intake including added sugar, carbohydrate, protein, fat, dairy, fiber and total calories. FFQ were used to determine if kombucha supplementation would be beneficial even in a diet with excessive or insufficient macronutrient intake. There was a significant decrease in added sugar (P = 0.008), carbohydrate (P = 0.002), protein (P = 0.002), fat (P = 0.003), dairy (P = 0.015), fiber (P = 0.014), and caloric intake (P = 0.002) consumption during the intervention.
Conclusions
Despite various health claims made about kombucha, the kombucha intervention used did not have a significant impact on the cardiometabolic measurements evaluated. Most participants were primarily lean which may explain why no significance was found in these parameters. It appeared that kombucha consumption had a significant effect on reported dietary intake with overall caloric intake (kcal) and macronutrient intake decreasing during the intervention. This may be due to kombucha suppressing appetite or making participants feel fuller due to the fluid volume. This may lead to weight loss over time which in turn would improve cardiometabolic parameters. These findings are valuable to researchers when determining future clinical recommendations for kombucha consumption and exploration of dose-response to kombucha. Further research should have longer interventions and broader ranges of BMI to better determine effects.
Funding Sources
The research was funded by Viterbo University.