The "Blob"

A couple of my clients just asked me about Kombucha mushroom. I guess I have earned a reputation for having a good bs detector by now, go figure. They wanted my take on it.

I haven't heard folks promoting it down here for quite a while, though I do see products on the shelves of Whole Foods with Kombucha in em. The liquid under that pink mass made me shiver the one time I tried it...and not in a good way.

Damned thing doubles its size in 8 days so you've got to create a co-dependent family of like minded folks who also jump on the bandwagon of "Isn't this a great home science project?!" to give your babies to or be constantly flushin your little gems down the lu. I have this vision of the Kombucha passin through the chemicals that treat the sewage at Hyperion, breeding and doubling all the while on into the sea, becoming a gigantic colony that then oozes up on to land and eats us all in the end. This stuff is soooo creepy. My clients have been up on their land in Washington for a few months and some locals up there are raving about it as though it's the new cure all.

It certainly ain't new, and it ain't a cure all. It ain't a 'shroom either. It's a colony of yeast and bacteria, might have mild anti-bacterial properties, but why take those if you don't have an active infection unless you're trying to build a resistance to antibiotics? Generally not considered a smart idea. It is not the fountain of youth as it is purported to be. It is not anti-aging, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-HIV etc. Nope, nyet. It is a colony that can also invite other colonies to join it, little white or black pimples growing within and around it some of which might be quite toxic for you. DO NOT GROW THIS STUFF! Period, end of story. Do not be fooled into buyin the hype.


Their sincere inquiry got me over to one of my favorite sites, Fungi Perfecti, to get Paul Stamets' take on it, since he's Mr. Mycologist personified. The above link gives you his whole take on it, but this'll do for starters:

"Another factor, beyond contamination, is that the extreme acidic nature of the broth has the potential to cause acidosis—a condition where the blood can not adjust its pH. This is one of the suspect causes being investigated with a woman in Iowa who died from drinking Kombucha (See Newsweek, April 25th, 1995, pg. 6). Ironically, the same acidic conditions that prevent bacterial contamination may give rise to its own toxic side-effects.
High acidity of the broth aside, I have seen several of my vessels spontaneously contaminate with molds. Of most concern are the species of Aspergillus I have found floating around with Kombucha. I fear that amateurs could think that by merely pulling out the Aspergillus colonies with a fork, that the culture would be de-contaminated, a dangerous, even deadly presupposition.
The water-soluble toxins of Aspergillus can be highly carcinogenic. Several species are known killers. Since the public can not be expected to distinguish a clean fermented culture from one which is not, I fear that the unreserved use of this tea will result, has resulted in illness, if not death. (See Newsweek, April 25th, 1995, pg. 6.)"

Here's Andrew Weil's view as well. Though I don't take all his recommendations to heart, he does know something about herbs and alternative meds, so, IMO he's is worth a quick read on the topic. Those two were all I needed to convince me to steer clear of that pink placenta looking gelatinous mass, since I'd already gotten my own shivering reaction long ago when I first tried the foul tasting stuff.

While re-visiting Fungi Perfecti I was reminded of why I like Paul Stamets and his work with mushrooms so much. Few years back when I was goin thru 'the change' as they politely call menopause, I got the flu from a client during peak season. I've always had a strong immune system, and, luckily never ever caught anything during flu season. It really bummed me out to have to take a very expensive unpaid vacation just to lay around miserable during the holidays till I knew I was no longer symptomatic or possibly contagious.

Next year I tried the flu shot. Yuk Felt lugie and groggie for 3 days after that shot and it turned out to be one of those years when the virus had mutated by the time it got here from the Asian strains used to create the vaccine. I got the flu again, only this time a bigger hit and it went bacterial, coughing greenish brown mucous, double YUK. I had to take a full round of antibiotics to knock those opportunistic little secondary invaders out. Darn and double darn.

That's when I discovered Paul's site and mushrooms. I use some version of tonic mushroom formula starting in the fall and thru my birthday in February every year now. Sometimes Reishi, sometimes a combination.

This year a client brought me some Turkey tail that some friends of his are selling to try, I'm on my second bottle. I change out what I'm taking so my body doesn't become adapted to one thing and get a less effective response. Sometimes, in a pinch if I've run out of Paul's product, I use one of Ron Teaguarden's reishi formulas, they're not cheap but he tries to get clean products and he's local.

My thinking on this that this way I'm building my immune system in a more comprehensive way to defend against a variety of possible invaders, rather than simply one strain of one virus that is far more adaptable than the vaccine produced can protect you from.

I haven't been sick in years, not because folks haven't offered me many subsequent opportunities, even though I ask folks not to come into my office sick. Placebo or effective substances, decide for yourself. I think they're a powerful natural immune building support and am quite grateful for the likes of Paul and his family for growing and selling these products.
Check out his TED presentation,"6 Ways That Mushrooms Can Save The World" and you'll see that his love of shrooms and what he knows they can do for the biosphere; the regeneration of old growth forests, processing of toxic waste, generation of energy, is pretty cosmic.

Heck he even figured out how to use them as a non toxic substance, not only to kill carpenter ants, fire ants and termites invading the wood in houses, but once innoculated, the carpenter ants and termites can't re-invade. Brilliant, inspiring presentation.