“I think there’s a ‘health halo’ around kombucha,” said H oward Telford, head of soft drinks research for E uromonitor International, a global market research provider. Advertised as “probiotic,” the drink taps into interest in the microbiome, and how our diets can affect the microbial communities in our gut, and even our emotions. Eating foods rich in probiotics is thought by some to increase one’s “good” bacteria and balance out the “bad.”

Does kombucha do anything?

If only the tea leaves could say. Just one study looked at the health benefits in humans, according to a review of the available literature published in the journal A nnals of Epidemiology. Notably, 24 adults with non-insulin dependent diabetes consumed kombucha for three months, and their mean blood sugar levels reportedly stabilized to within normal ranges. But the study was not controlled or randomized, and the authors of the review noted that many of kombucha’s claims — like benefits involving rheumatism, gout, hemorrhoids and nervousness — were based on anecdotal and unverified findings.

Cellular or animal research indicates the tea may have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Like dark chocolate and olive oil, the tea itself is high in polyphenols, or antioxidants. “The antioxidants that come from the tea on their own have a lot of health benefits,” said R ahaf Al Bochi, spokeswoman for the A cademy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

But kombucha is unlike fermented milk products, such as yogurt, which have long been considered to have benefits for digestive and overall health. The bacteria in kombucha have not been confirmed to be probiotic. “We don’t know if it does anything,” said F ranck Carbonero , a microbiome scientist at Washington State University-Spokane, in regards to health benefits. Some kombucha brands add probiotics to their tea.