Kombucha While On GAPS, A Stage One Food

At the 2017 Weston A. Price Conference, six Certified GAPS Practitioners, and one layperson, had a meeting with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride regarding many specifics on the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) Protocol. Kombucha, as well as many other topics, were discussed to determine more specific parameters. Certified GAPS Practitioners Monica Corrado, Laura Villanti, Kim Schuette, Amy Mihaly, Lisa Middlecamp-Lowder, Becky Plotner and her husband, Kevin Plotner discussed Kombucha specifically. 

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Kombucha will ferment quicker in a warmer climate than in a colder climate. 

Each person is marked with their initial: DN depicts Dr. Natasha, M depicts Monica Corrado, L depicts Laura Villanti and B depicts Becky Plotner.

DN: Kombucha, I changed my mind on Kombucha. We can start it from the beginning.

M: Some people are highly reactive to Kombucha.

L: For some.

DN: Yes, for some, yeah, it can be tried. Kefir is for yeast.

M: That’s it, if people are going to have problems, it’s on kefir and on Kombucha, the yeast.

DM: The die off.

B: We have 26 gallons of Kombucha brewing at our house at all times. It covers the whole bottom of the closet.

DN: And you use the sugar?

B: We do one cup of sugar, one cup of starter, 6-8 organic black tea bags (brewed in water then cooled) and fill the gallon with water, just in the pickle jar I get from the restaurant, let that sit for a month, month and a half. Before it’s apple cider vinegar tasting, if it’s apple cider vinegar tasting it totally rips up my stomach.

DN: It’s too strong.

B: Yes, so it’s not sweet, not apple cider vinegar, but right in the middle. Then if we flavor it with something non sweet, like ginger, lemon lime, lemon basil, lemon cream, which is just lemon and homemade vanilla, that we can drink right away. But if we do grape juice, or something sweet, we let it go 5 or 7 more days.

DN: So, a glass like this, how much Kombucha and how much would be the other stuff?

B: If we’re doing something like ginger, I juice the ginger in my juicer and then I just cover the bottom. If you do more than that, it’s fire hot.

DN: Yes. Yes.

B: If it’s something like lemon/lime I do in a quart, I will squeeze four lime and two or three lemons and then pour the Kombucha over top.

DN: Ohhhhhhh

B: If it’s a juice, like a Concord grape juice, organic juice, or any other juice like that, whatever size the vessel, I’ll fill it a third of the way, like where your water is with the juice, then pour Kombucha up to the top, then let that sit for another five, seven, 12 days. Is that right?

DN: You don’t find it very strong?

L: I do about 1/8th of grape juice and then let it sit another five to seven days and it gets a little bit of fermentation.

DN: We have a lot of berries on our farm. We have two, three freezers full of berries. So what I do, I make like a compote where I have a big pan, 6 liters. Berries go in there, blackberries, loganberries, usually. Fill it up with water, bring it up to boil, don’t boil, just bring it up to boil. Then it cools down, I strain it, add honey to taste, so it tastes nice, not too sweet, but nice. Then I have a jug with a SCOBY sitting there. I take probably half of the liquid out of there and replace that with this compote. So my Kombucha lives on honey and berry juice, this compote. A day and that goes fizzy, it’s fantastic. It’s delicious, it’s fizzy. It’s the best refreshing drink.

B: So this way that I described of doing the Kombucha, with the sugar and the SCOBY, is still OK? If it’s fermented long enough.

DN: It’s still ok. But people say you can’t make Kombucha with honey – nonsense.

*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, CGP, D.PSc. who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. She works as a Certified GAPS Practitioner who sees clients in her office, Skype and phone. She has been published in Wise Traditions, spoken at two Weston A. Price Conferences, Certified GAPS Practitioner Trainings, has been on many radio shows, television shows and writes for Nourishing Plot. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia, through food, she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. She is a Chapter Leader for The Weston A. Price Foundation. becky.nourishingplot@hotmail.com

“GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The right of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.