As a big fan of kombucha and little reliable information online, this article will settle everything there is to know about fluoride in kombucha.
We will cover both store-bought and home-made kombucha.
Leaving no kombucha lover unsatisfied.
However, I do have to mention one very important thing before we start.
After reading many of the other articles about fluoride in kombucha, I do have to say, I’ve never seen so much misleading and confusing information that can hurt your health.
Especially when you consider some bottles of kombucha contain 3X the amount of fluoride found in regular tap water.
Thus, I strongly suggest you dedicate the next 5 minutes to read all the way to the end.
*Click Here To Go Straight To The Searchable Table*
How Does Fluoride Get Into Kombucha?
Spoiler alert, yes there is fluoride in kombucha…
The good news is, with the right information you can pass on the ones with high levels of fluoride and enjoy the ones with low levels of fluoride.
But how does something so toxic like fluoride get into something so beautiful like kombucha?
Basically, fluoride in kombucha comes from two sources: the water and tea leaves used during the brewing process.
Thus, it’s very difficult to say how much fluoride is in either your store-bought or homemade kombucha without knowing the quality of these two ingredients.
Or better yet, testing to see the exact levels of fluoride.
How Much Fluoride Is Too Much?
Now I’m sure you know fluoride is toxic, but it won’t hurt to remind ourselves…
Fluoride is a proven neurotoxin that leads to lower IQ, neurobehavioral defects (ADHD and autism), and general brain damage.1,2,3
Not only that, fluoride’s health effects lead to skeletal fluorosis (a degenerative bone and joint disease), pineal gland calcification, and dental fluorosis (discoloration and damage to enamel in young children).
To add insult to injury, fluoride is non-essential to human growth and development.4
In simple words, there’s a lot to lose and nothing to gain from ingesting fluoride.
Thus, if you’re a health conscious individual, you’ll want to keep your fluoride exposure to as close to 0 as possible.
And with everything you’ll read here, you’ll be able to do exactly that.
While if you’d like to read more about fluoride, refer to what is fluoride.
How Much Fluoride Is In Store-Bought Kombucha?
According to the fluoride test results of 32 different store-bought kombucha bottles, fluoride levels ranged from 0.3 ppm to 1.7 ppm. With an average value of 0.75 ppm. But better than ranges and averages, you’ll be able to search each brand and see how much fluoride is found within.
All of which was accomplished by buying and testing each bottle of kombucha.
With results put into a searchable table for you below. This means kombucha lovers no longer have to be left in the dark or rely on what someone thinks.
Tips On Using The Table
To better help you use the table below, here are a few tips.
1). You can search the exact brand of kombucha you are looking for by entering the brands name in the search bar…
2). You can sort all kombuchas in the table based on high to low or low to high by clicking on “Fluoride Content”…
3). You can even search your favorite flavor and rank fluoride content, to do this search your favorite flavor (ex. ginger) and then click “Fluoride (ppm)” to short…
Table of 32+ Tested Bottles Of Kombuchas (Searchable Table)
This table is continuously updated.
As of now, I’ve been able to get my hands on 32+ bottles of kombucha, however the goal is to test every bottle sold across North America.
If you would like to help the creation of this content, you can support Truth About Fluoride.
With the many ways to support, the easiest way is to share this page with others.
Now without further adieu, here is the information you’ve been waiting for!
How Much Fluoride Is In Homemade Kombucha?
There are two ways you can find this out.
First way is to test for fluoride in your kombucha (link to how I test for fluoride).
The second option is to be aware of how much fluoride the tea and water contains, that you use for brewing (explained below).
The second option is much easier and cheaper to do, while the first option is more accurate.
3 Tips To Avoid Fluoride In Kombucha
What seems like a difficult problem, can actually be solved using 4 simple tips…
1. Store-Bought Kombucha Tip
For those that buy kombucha, it’s simple…
Use the table above to find and buy a kombucha with low levels of fluoride.
There’s really no other way.
Depending on any other tips, will leave you at great risk of ingesting high levels of fluoride.
For example, for the longest time I thought “organic” and “filtered water” on a bottle’s label meant less fluoride.
However, certain brands like RISE use both organic and filtered water, yet their kombucha contains the highest levels of fluoride (organic does not always equal high quality).
In fact, RISE’s “Mint & Chlorophyll” flavor contained 1.7 PPM of fluoride…
That’s 3X what’s found in tap water!
It’s even above the outdated maximum limit of fluoride defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is 1.5 PPM.5
2. Brew With Fluoride-Free Water
The last thing you want to do when brewing, is use tap water that is filled with fluoride.
When making kombucha, you’ll want to use the best quality water you can get, and a fluoride water filter (link to filter guide) can provide you exactly that.
By using filtered water instead of tap water, you can eliminate up to 1.0 ppm of fluoride from your brewed kombucha.
It’s also important to mention, not all filters remove fluoride.
So if you have a water filter or plan on getting one, I’ll send you the test results of 33+ water filters I’ve tested. This way you can double check which filters CAN and CAN NOT filter fluoride.
Just enter your email below and I’ll send it to you right away.
Enter your email below to receive fluoride test results on 41+ water filters + my top picks!
You can also use bottled water without fluoride (link to fluoride levels on 114+ brands of bottled water).
But considering you might need lots of water, I’d say your best bet is to go with a reverse osmosis filter.
Which in does reverse osmosis remove fluoride, was shown to reduce fluoride levels from 0.6 ppm to 0.0 ppm.
While for those wondering does boiling water remove fluoride, the unfortunate truth is that boiling water can NOT remove fluoride and might even increase fluoride levels as water evaporates.
In other words, it’s best if you start with fluoride-free water.
3. Use Tea Low In Fluoride
The only way to know which teas are low in fluoride is to test them.
The biggest mistake, in addition to a very dangerous one is to follow general advice that if you buy a certain type of tea, it’ll be low in fluoride.
For example, you’ll often see that organic, white or green tea is low in fluoride.
But this is simply not true…
Even if it’s organic, white or green- it can and probably does contain high levels of fluoride.
For example, it’s well known that on average, white tea contains the least amount of fluoride and black tea contains the highest levels of fluoride.
However, this simply has to do with the fact that tea leaves used for white tea are harvested earlier and have less time to soak in fluoride from the soil.
While black tea is made from mature tea leaves that have had a longer time to soak in fluoride from the soil.
But if the black tea was grown in soil that contained less fluoride, the black tea could have less fluoride than the white tea…
It all depends.
Thus, the only way to truly know, is to test them.
Especially since, most well-known brands don’t even test for fluoride content in their tea.
Thankfully just how you can search the fluoride content of kombucha on this page, at fluoride in tea, you can search 329+ different teas and how much fluoride they contain.
3 Misconceptions About Fluoride In Kombucha
1. Steep Your Tea For Less?
I try not to be a mean guy but this is the lazy man’s solution.
Yes, it’s true… the longer you steep your tea, the more fluoride will come out of the tea leaves.
But we have to remember why we drink tea and use it for brewing kombucha.
Besides it’s amazing taste, it’s rich in many healthy substances (antioxidants, amino acids, polyphenols, and much more).
So with this same logic, the less you steep your tea, the less healthy substances you get.
The good news is there’s a simple fix…
Pick a tea that is low in fluoride.
This will allow you to steep your tea for as long as you’d like (during brewing kombucha or just making normal tea) and only have to worry about how strong you want the taste to be.
2. Buy Organic To Avoid Fluoride?
As mentioned briefly, buying organic does not mean the tea will not contain fluoride.
However, you should still buy organic when possible.
As fluoride based sprays can’t be used for something organic, you’ll have a tea that contains less fluoride then if fluoride based sprays were used.
But the point to keep in mind is that buying organic will not ensure low levels of fluoride, as the biggest factor is the soil and water used to grow the tea plants.
3. All Tea Is Created Equal?
The difference between the types of tea goes beyond their taste.
All types of tea provide health benefits but certain one do more than others.
For example, white tea is made from young tea leaves and on average, contains the highest levels of antioxidants and lowest levels of fluoride.
Oddly enough, a good way to tell the quality of a type of tea is to look at it’s fluoride levels.
Also mentioned in fluoride in tea, the higher the fluoride levels in tea the worse quality it is.
While the lower the levels of fluoride, the higher quality the tea is.
Final Words
The goal is to continue enjoying the great creation of kombucha, while minimizing fluoride exposure.
Hopefully what you read here will help you do exactly that.
Whether store-bought or homemade.
Anyways, that’s all there is to know about fluoride in kombucha, which means it’s time to get get caught up on the other sources of fluoride:
- Fluoride in Coffee (238+ Coffee’s Tested)
- Foods That Contain Fluoride (Search 504+ Foods)
- Drugs That Contain Fluoride (Search ALL 325+ Drugs)
While if you’re looking to go above and beyond, check out the free fluoride detox guide (link to guide).
It’ll help you eliminate all the sources of fluoride you come into contact daily.
Cheers!
References
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(13)70278-3/fulltext
- http://fluoridealert.org/studies/brain03_/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5915186/
- https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3332
- https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutfluoride.pdf?ua=1
