Diets
Fermented drinks (kefir, kombucha)
Across 336 answers, 2.4% gave the top answer (a 10/10 or “changed my life”) and 25% said it helped a lot or more.
All answers · 336 answers
- Life-changing
- Big help
- Slight help
- Did nothing
- Made it worse
Have you tried it?
Only answer if you've tried Fermented drinks (kefir, kombucha). What did it do for you?
What is it?
Fermented drinks are made with bacteria and yeasts that transform some of their sugars. Milk kefir is tart and resembles a drinkable yogurt; water kefir is another type. Kombucha starts with sweetened tea and is usually tangy and fizzy. People drink them for the taste, to vary their usual drinks or because they hope to support digestion.
Fermentation does not guarantee that a drink will agree with you or treat a digestive condition. Products differ in remaining sugar, microorganisms and other ingredients. Kombucha is not nutritionally interchangeable with milk kefir, and fermentation does not substantiate detox claims.
All answers
336 answers in total: 326 from surveys and 10 from this site.
- Life-changing: 2.4%, 8 votes
- Big help: 23%, 77 votes
- Slight help: 45%, 152 votes
- Did nothing: 29%, 99 votes
- Made it worse: 0%, 0 votes
By questionnaire
On this site · 10 answers
Surveys with all five answers · 326 answers from Nootroflix (2022)
- Life-changing
- Big help
- Slight help
- Did nothing
- Made it worse
Survey answers are converted to these five answers. Each share above counts only the questionnaires that offered that answer, because not every survey offered all five. In Nootroflix (2022), a 10 out of 10 rating counts as “changed my life”.
What does it take?
Bought products need their storage instructions followed and ingredients checked. Making them at home adds cleaning, culture maintenance and attention to each batch. It requires reliable food-safety guidance and suitable containers, not simply leaving a jar to ferment.
Home batches can become contaminated. Kombucha can contain alcohol and caffeine; avoid it during pregnancy, breastfeeding or when your immune system is weakened. Milk kefir remains unsuitable for someone with a milk allergy despite fermentation. Proper storage does not make every drink suitable for every person.
Why do people quit?
Not everyone enjoys the sour taste. Price, bottles taking up refrigerator space and the maintenance of a home culture can all become tiresome. The habit may fade once the novelty does.
Gas or stomach discomfort can also make you stop, despite feeling you ought to continue with something sold as good for your gut. You do not need to endure symptoms to get used to it. Stop if it disagrees with you, and get persistent symptoms assessed rather than experimenting with stronger fermentation.
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Know someone who's tried Fermented drinks (kefir, kombucha)?
Every answer makes this page more accurate. Share it with people who've tried Fermented drinks (kefir, kombucha), whether it changed their life or did nothing for them.
Self-reported experiences, not medical advice. High scores mean people reported strong positive effects. They do not mean something is safe, effective long-term, or appropriate for you. Self-reports can miss delayed harms, dependence, withdrawal, side effects, and selection bias. Don't start or stop a medication because of a chart.
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