Some of Hollywood’s most prominent celebrities make kombucha tea part of their health regimen: According to the website http://www.medpagetoday.com/, consumers include Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Halle Berry, Meg Ryan, Anna Paquin, Cher, Barbara Streisand, Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon.

Kombucha is basically black tea and sugar that’s fermented using a combination bacterial and fungal cultures that form a “mushroom”. The website says that health claims made for the tea, which is said to fight everything from anorexia to wrinkles, are “far reaching” and “implausible.”

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The tea is easily available: There are “home-brew” recipes for making it yourself, but it’s also sold in tea bags, supplement capsules and bottled drinks. But because herbal and dietary supplements aren’t regulated by the U.S Department of Agriculture, or the federal Food and Drug Administration, kombucha consumers put themselves at risk for a variety of conditions. Studies have reported a laundry list of ailments, including hepatitis, vomiting, and hypotension (low blood pressure). The federal Centers for Disease Control, says that drinking 4 ounces of the tea (in other words, a small cup), may not cause adverse health effects—hardly an overwhelming recommendation.

In recent weeks, the Whole Foods chain of supermarkets has taken kombucha drinks from its shelves because they might contain alcohol as a result of the fermentation that’s used to produce the tea. And that can get some stars in trouble. According to http://www.tmz.com/, Lindsay Lohan loves the tea, and she may have drunk enough of it to set off the court-ordered, alcohol-sensing bracelet she was wearing.

Well, it’s possible. If that’s what happened, Lindsay, it’s time to try another tea! (MedPage Today, TMZ)

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