Is it the same to ingest a probiotic pill or to drink alive kombucha?
We often hear this question.
And the answer is- no. It is not the same. The main points to be aware off are the following:
1/ de-activating or freeze-drying the probiotic culture to create a pill
2/ survival rate of the probiotics in the digestive system
1/ active vs de-activated probiotic culture
In the case of a probiotic pill- the probiotic culture is most often being freeze-dried and then made into the dry pill form (with some other additives).
However, the process of reactivation of the culture is crucial.
Will the environment inside the digestive system be friendly enough to re-activate the probiotic back to life? It is a good question that is definitely worth asking.
There might be other probiotic supplements on the market that do not deactivate the culture in the process, for which, this point will not apply.
The culture in alive kombucha does not undergo any radical and shocking processes that might damage the culture. The refrigeration is crucial to slow down (not stop) the continuous fermentation (creation of more culture). The sip of kombucha therefore provides a load of thriving and alive probiotic culture.
2/ Survival rate of the probiotics in the digestive system
The main obstacle to survival of the probiotic inside the digestive system is gastric acidity. And it is a challenge that is faced by all of the probiotic products on the market.
On one hand - the probiotic pills’ culture is grown on a certain lab-made medium. The characteristics of the medium vary from one producer to the next, and might be an important consideration for some when looking for the right type of probiotic product.
However, the conditions of our digestive system are very specific and designed to protect us from intruders. And most probiotics, even if re-activated, might get killed by the normal gastric acidity.
The kombucha acidity drops to around 2.0-3.9 PH in a regular and natural fermentation process. And in the case of unpasteurized 100% kombucha remains in this range, once bottled and refrigerated. (Why am I calling out 100% kombucha here, because on the market today you can also find kombucha soda, which is a totally different story. You can read our article on this subject here...)
The stomach acid registers between PH 1-3.5.
The matching acidity of kombucha and our digestive system is a big part of the success story of the raw kombucha. This might be the biggest point that secures the great survival rate (through digestion) of the raw kombucha's probiotics compared to other probiotic products' with different acidity
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