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Recovering Alcoholics Should Avoid Kombucha Tea

Jul. 30, 2014 9:07 AM ETBICX
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Recovering alcoholics should not drink fermented tea drink kombucha, which contains trace amounts of alcohol, as their personal commitment to physical and psychological recovery, advised a report on Vice.com.

To avoid raising eyebrows at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, recovering alcoholics are better off without kombucha, which contains about .5 percent alcohol, the report said.

"For some AA members- who range widely in history, experience, exposure, and reaction to alcohol-even that .5 percent can be unthinkable," it stated.

An AA sponsor interviewed for the report also noted that knowing that kombucha should be totally banned from any of their meetings even if the beverage contains a very small level of alcohol. Allowing kombucha in AA meetings will send the wrong message to recovering alcoholics, the report said.

"People are very susceptible to the power of suggestion," a spokesperson for AA told Vice.com. "If it's suggested that there is alcohol in this beverage, and they drink it and they're OK, then they could drink something else and be OK, and that can be really dangerous."

The report said that kombucha, a fermented tea drink dubbed as "mushroom tea" or "elixir of life" and touted for its myriad health benefits, could serve as a "gateway" drink for alcoholics.

Kombucha makers have been regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) since 2010. Under TTB regulations, kombucha producers are required to submit their manufacturing formula and process so that the bureau can make their recommendations on how they could classify and label their products.

According to Chapter 51 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of 1986, drinks with 0.5 percent or more alcohol are classified as alcohol beverages.

"We expect most, if not all, kombucha products will be classified as either beer or wine," the TTB said.

"Our Start Fresh Program teaches addicts how to avoid triggers. Ingesting anything with alcohol content, no matter how little, would not be a part of our program," said BioCorRx Inc. (OTCQB: BICX) chief operating officer Brady Grainer in an interview. BioCorRx, Inc. is a Santa Ana-based addiction rehabilitation company that has created the Start Fresh Program which includes an innovative biodegradable naltrexone implant product that helps alcoholics stay off alcohol coupled with a life coaching program.

BioCorRx, Inc. believes that the key to successful alcoholism treatment and rehabilitation is addressing the triggers that set off alcoholics to drink. This involves targeting alcoholism at its source-within the brain's pleasure center-with the naltrexone implant to curb the alcoholic's physical cravings, and helping addicts plan for a life without substance abuse through psycho-social coaching.

A great number of alcoholics across the U.S., including Growing Pains actor Jeremy Miller, have seen tremendous success in their recovery with BioCorRx, Inc.'s Start Fresh Program. Miller is now an active advocate and life coach of BioCorRx, Inc.'s Start Fresh Program.

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