In recent weeks, I’ve received a flurry of questions all asking the same thing, “I’ve read there’s fluoride in kombucha. Should I be worried?”
There certainly is fluoride in your kombucha, because there’s fluoride in your tea (there’s also fluoride in your wine and your black pepper). It’s difficult to say just how much fluoride is in your kombucha, because the quantity of fluoride in your brew depends heavily on the quality of your water, the quality of your tea, and other factors surrounding how you brew your kombucha, as you’ll read below.
Should you worry about fluoride in kombucha?
Fluoride that accumulates in tea (and, therefore, your kombucha) is calcium fluoride, a form that is different from the type of fluoride added to municipal water. While your body benefits from fluoride in small amounts, you can consume too much. There have been cases of fluorosis occurring among people who drink excessive amounts of strong, cheap tea (read more here).
Unless you’re drinking several quarts of kombucha made with strong, cheap tea, there’s no need to worry.
Fortunately, those cases are extremely rare and are easily mitigated by consuming modest to moderate amounts of high-quality tea and kombucha made from high-quality tea. Remember, further, that kombucha is made from weak tea, rather than strong, so there will be less fluoride in kombucha than a strong tea of the same volume, as explained in the Big Book of Kombucha.
I don’t worry about relatively small amounts of fluoride in the modest amounts of kombucha my family drinks.
Where does fluoride in kombucha come from?
Fluoride in kombucha comes from two sources: the tea and the water you use to brew your kombucha.
Fluoride in Municipal Water
If your community adds fluoride to its water, and you brew kombucha, without filtering your water, your brew will contain fluoride. If you use spring water or well water, fluoride in your water shouldn’t be a concern unless you live in a fluoride belt with high levels of naturally occurring fluoride. It’s wise to test your water if fluoride levels concern you.
You can filter your water using a gravitational system equipped with a fluoride filter, like this, or by using a water purification system like this.
Fluoride in Tea
The tea plant takes up fluoride and also aluminum from the soil in which it grows, just as rice takes up arsenic and grapes take up lead and fluoride. Fluoride also accumulates in other plants like black pepper and mustard seeds (see it here). All plants take up minerals and heavy metals from the soil.
Much of the fluoride that tea accumulates occurs naturally in soil, and certain regions have higher concentrations of naturally occurring fluoride in their soil and water than others such as Africa, India, Sri Lanka and some parts of China (read it here). Fluoride also accumulates in the soil due to environmental pollution and conventional agricultural practices.
Still Worried? How to Reduce Fluoride in Kombucha
If you’re still concerned about fluoride in your kombucha, but still wish to continue drinking it, there’s a few steps you can take to minimize how much fluoride ends up in your brew.
Brew with Filtered Water
Brew kombucha from filtered water or water that hasn’t been treated with fluoride. If you use a natural spring or well water, you don’t need to do anything, but if you’re on municipal water that’s fluoridated, consider filtering your water.
Both gravitational systems, like point of use filters, and whole house water purification systems like these when equipped with fluoride filters should be effective in mitigating the fluoride from fluoridated water supplies.
Brew with High-Quality Organic Tea
Much of the fluoride that the tea plant takes up and deposits within its leaves comes from inputs used in conventional, but not organic, agriculture. These inputs accumulate in the soil, and are then taken up by the tea plant. Since these inputs are not allowed in organic product, the fluoride content of organic teas is typically lower than that of those grown conventionally.
Further, higher quality teas accumulate less fluoride than low quality teas, there’s such a distinct correlation between tea quality and fluoride content that you can judge the quality of tea by the amount of fluoride it contains (read it here). Excessive consumption of low-quality tea is associated with fluorosis, but it’s not an issue with moderate consumption of high-quality tea (read more here).
Lower quality teas are made from older leaves, with younger leaves used in higher quality teas; further, as tea leaves mature they accumulate more fluoride and they lose antioxidants. By brewing with younger leaves, as found in high-quality teas, you’ll get more antioxidants and less fluoride.
Brew with White, Green or Puerh Tea
White teas, puerh tea and green tea typically have lower levels of fluoride than black tea (more here). Puerh tea, in which tea leaves are fermented before being dried and packed, has some of the lowest levels of fluoride and is unlikely to induce fluorosis (more here and here).
White tea is a particularly good choice (and what I brew with) as it is made from young leaves, has a very high antioxidant content and high antioxidant content is inversely associated with fluoride: that is the more antioxidants in tea, the less fluoride and aluminum.
Steep Your Tea for a Shorter Period of Time
The longer your allow your tea to steep, the more fluoride will accumulate in your infusion (more here and here), with tea steeped over ten minutes having the highest concentration of fluoride and tea steeped two minutes the least.
Incidentally, the longer you allow your tea to steep, the more you lose in terms of its more delicate flavors and the more tea’s bitter tannins will develop so be mindful of your steeping times and temperatures (this guide is a good one).
Drink modest amounts of kombucha
When you can buy kombucha in 16- to 40-oz bottles at the store, you might think that it’s appropriate to drink kombucha all day long, right? It’s a health elixir, isn’t it? A fermented tonic, right?
The thing is, that kombucha isn’t intended as a substitute for water, or something that you guzzle all day long. It’s a tonic, rich in B vitamins and beneficial microbes that’s best consumed in modest to moderate amounts. If you need hydration, choose water.
Drink something else
If you’re still concerned about fluoride and trace amounts of aluminum in your tea and kombucha, consider drinking other cultured drinks that are made without tea like water kefir, beet kvass, probiotic lemonade, or other fermented drinks made with ginger bug or fresh whey.
Quick Resources for Reducing Fluoride in Kombucha
Remove fluoride from your water by using a water filtration system with a fluoride filter like this gravitational system or this whole house water purification system.
Use high-quality loose-leaf tea made from young leaves like white tea (check out a source here).
Steep your tea for a shorter amount of time, I use this programmable electric tea maker which always brews tea at the right temperature and for the right amount of time, or you can use a the timer on your phone to keep an eye on the time and avoid oversteeping.
Drink modest amounts of kombucha, a few ounces each day, and balance that with plenty of water, herbal teas, and other probiotic beverages.
Thea Haemmerle says
Hello! So glad I found your site. I would LOVE to make my own kombucha but had some very bad thyroid reactions to both black and green tea…my t4 PLUMMETED with not other change in diet other than drinking store bought kombucha. I love seeing you use white tea! I have been looking all over for a SCOBY with white tea, but no one seems to sell one. How would I go about starting a brew with white tea? Thanks in advance!!
Jenny says
Thea,
If tea exacerbates your thyroid problems, I would strongly recommend you consider another ferment. There’s tepache, water kefir and kvass, too.
Michael says
Another great way to lower your fluoride intake and still enjoy as much kombucha as you like is to use organic Yerba Mate tea. It’s a completely different plant (I actually think it’s a tree) and has very low levels of fluoride. It’s very healthy, has crazy amounts of nutrients, and (of course) caffeine. It’s been referred to as having the “strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea, and the euphoria of chocolate.” It was very simple for me to make the switch. My SCOBY did great! And it’s delicious with lemon and/or ginger in the second ferment!
Brittany Ruiz says
To say that it’s if you use filtered water for your self brew and fluoride will not be in there is not totally accurate. I have a Reverse Osmosis filter and the odds of fluoride in concentrated amounts ending up on Kombucha are high. In fact, per recent labs Kombucha ended up having the same amount that was filtered out from the water after it was brewed per glass. So the concern I have is that self brews can have an extremely toxic amount if more than a glass a week or month is consumed. We really need to see how we can buy tea leaves with ZERO contamination from fluoride.
Nicole says
Thank you for sharing! Much appreciated. I had read about fluoride in kombucha and was concerned. I knew there was a balanced approach to making and drinking kombucha and your articulated that perfectly.
Joeann Parziale says
We have well water and when all my sons were born Peditrician said that I had to get prescription vitimans for them with flouride because we had well water and they needed it for their teeth!! HOW TRUE IS THIS I WONDER???
Jenny says
Hi Joeann,
If you live in a fluoride belt, you well water was likely high in naturally occurring fluoride. If you don’t live in a fluoride belt, it was likely low in fluoride, though there’s no way to know for certain without testing it.
My oldest son’s teeth are in impeccable condition, my youngest son has no teeth yet, and he has never lived in an area with fluoridated water, nor have we lived in a fluoride belt. There’s more to tooth health than fluoride, though it certainly plays a role.
Mary Alberts says
You had said “Both gravitational systems, like point of use filters, and whole house water purification systems like these should be effective in mitigating the fluoride from fluoridated water supplies.” However, these types of filters do not reduce fluoride. Special filters are needed for fluoride reduction.
Jenny says
Hi Mary,
Perhaps give the post another read. It’s easy to miss things! But I recommend buying fluoride filters at least twice.
Nancy Needham says
Jenny,
I love reading your posts, but today I came across a statement that concerns me-you stated that “if you use spring water, or well water fluoride should not be a concern”
This is not true-I know of many sources of well water in particular that contain naturally occurring fluoride. In fact in Ontario (where I’m from) the local health unit often tests well water to determine fluoride levels.
Jenny says
Hi Nancy,
You’re right, and I’ll make an edit. If you live in a fluoride belt, it’s possible that your well or spring water will be high in naturally occurring fluoride, and it’s wise to test your water if fluoride levels concern you.
Paula says
Thanks Jenny. Good info to have as I am just now getting started with drinking kombucha.
Jenny says
Awesome! Glad it’s helpful.
Donna Allgaier-Lamberti says
Thank you for this info. I have Hasimotos’ and know that flouride is counterindicated. I had never thought about here being flouride in my tea or Komcucha. Wuld you consier organic Earl Gray tea being a low quality or a high quality tea? Is there any chance you can list brands and qualify them?
Jenny says
Hi Donna,
Earl Grey tea is a black tea so it’s likely to have more fluoride than other types of tea, like white tea. Organic teas tend to have less than nonorganic teas, because fluoride-containing agricultural inputs aren’t used in organic production. I buy and use Earl Grey tea from Mountain Rose Herbs, and would consider it a high quality tea. I’m not prepared or qualified to give a brand-by-brand list of fluoride content, also fluoride content, even in a single brand, may fluctuate depending on how many places they source their tea from (whether its from a fluoride belt or not) and, presumably, from season to season.
One thing to consider is that, the research shows fluoride is a problem in strong, cheap black tea drunk in large amounts over time, but not in high-quality teas, steeped for a short period of time and drunk in modest to moderate amounts. But, if you (or your health care provider) is concerned about even the tiniest amount of fluoride, then perhaps consider cutting back on your tea intake.
I’ll also say that while people seem to be particularly concerned about fluoride in tea, they tend to be unaware of (or ignore) fluoride content of other foods: black pepper, mustard seed, basil, parsley. Most of the fluoride you consume will be excreted, but some of it will accumulate in your teeth and bones, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
What’s right for you, though, is really up to you and your health care provider.