Homemade soda as made by some people claiming that it is a “healthy” alternative to commercial sodas, contains sufficient alcohol to be regulated by the Federal Government, and to be unlawful in the US to give to children.
In fact, sodas made today by fermentation are made by the same processes as wines, hard lemonade, hard cider, and hard rootbeer, and they are made from the SAME KINDS OF INGREDIENTS. A sugary liquid, fermented, with or without the addition of cultured yeasts. It isn’t the cultured yeasts that do it, folks! It is the SUGAR (refined sugar, molasses, agave syrup, honey, fruit sugars from juices, etc) that creates the alcohol.
WATER KEFIR “sodas” are the SAME THING. They are simply fermented sugary foods.
Sugary liquids, fermented, create alcohol. This is irrefutable science here, people. We all know this. Just because you really WANT it to be healthy does not exempt your ferments from the laws of science!
The more sugar, and the longer the ferment, the higher the alcohol content. And there is a reason why modern sodas are carbonated with the addition of pressurized carbon dioxide.
Now, we know, from the great Kombucha debacle of 2010, that if an alcohol containing beverage has carbonation caused by fermentation, and has NOT had pressurized carbon dioxide added, that it is OVER the limit for classification as an alcoholic beverage, and it is therefore illegal to give it to children in the US, and not advised for use by pregnant women, or those with conditions or medications that interact poorly with alcohol.
Let me repeat part of that – If a fermented beverage has carbonation (and you did not add carbon dioxide manually), IT IS ALCOHOLIC, and capable of intoxicating a child, and potentially damaging a child in utero, and it is NOT RECOMMENDED for healing the body!
Normally, carbon dioxide does NOT suspend in a liquid. It bubbles out. It bubbles out of kraut and pickles, because there is no significant alcohol volume to suspend it. As the alcohol content rises, carbon dioxide begins to stay suspended in it (dissolved in it), and does not bubble out as easily.
We also know that Beet Kvass is brewed to an average alcohol content of 11%, often more, and no, I did not misplace a decimal, that is ELEVEN percent. It is done the same way homemade soda is done, and the same way water kefir, and kombucha is done. The more fizzy, the higher the alcohol content. The finer the bubbles, the higher the alcohol content.
Kombucha in the great Kombucha debacle had alcohol levels of 3% and higher (often MUCH higher), and was pulled from the shelves and replaced with artificially carbonated versions. The levels found ranged from enough to cause intoxication in children, to enough to intoxicate an adult, and all had enough to damage intestinal bacteria and intestinal wall cells.
So what are some things you can give your kids, and that you can drink, without fear?
Not all of these are beverages. They address the need for probiotics, a treat, hydration, or a combination or portion of those needs.
- Homemade lemonade. Can it, dress it up, alternative sweeteners, meyer lemons.
- Orangeade from sour oranges.
- Limeade
- Soda stream
- Soda water plus juice concentrate
- Infused water (if you have to… this is a gimmick, you know!)
- Herbal tea – what you lose in probiotics you gain in nutritional or medicinal benefits.
- Smoothies for all the goodness in the world. Can it, thicken with applesauce, pears, peaches, or other fruits that can well. Drop in a spoonful of yogurt when you open it.
- Can add raw milk or raw egg for a real kickin’ probiotic punch.
- Add yogurt or milk kefir to juice – just enough to whiten the juice.
- Coconut milk, pineapple juice, vanilla yogurt, with a crushed strawberry.
- Warm protein drink – Jello, pineapple juice.
- Broth – this one is especially good when you want it for a sick child.
- Jello and hot chocolate
- Raw eggnog.
- Snow ice cream (the kind with raw egg).
Probiotics in fresh fruits and veggies – Fresh fruits and vegetables contain a wide variety of microbes for health. When you lacto-ferment vegetables, it is the probiotics in them that grow in the brine, creating an acid environment.
Probiotics in raw honey. Raw honey is also full of lovely friendly microbes, and a range of other benefits.
Probiotics in yogurt and kefir. We all know that these two foods are loaded with friendly bacteria and yeasts. So is buttermilk and sour cream, and many cheeses.
Sugar in homemade soda. Homemade soda still has a fairly high amount of sugar, or other simple carbohydrate. Fermentation only reduces it somewhat, but does not eliminate it.
Other alcoholic home ferments. The rules for sugary ferments hold for any food with simple carbohydrates, including fruits, fruit juices, potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, and other starchy vegetables.