The Chaga Mushroom

The Chaga Mushroom

Chaga is valuable mushroom for health I wanted to introduce some of the ways in which it can be identified and used to help keep yourself in optimum health.

Where Chaga Grows

North Americans for centuries have highly prized chaga for its great medicinal and curative powers. Those of us who know its value seek it out when traveling in the northern forest.

Chaga is a parasitic carpophore that enters a wound on a mature tree, usually birch. The chaga grows under the bark and erupts into a grotesque black charcoal-like conk on the tree trunk The Chaga conk grows with the birch tree for five to seven years during which time it absorbs nutrients and phytochemicals from the wood. When the chaga conk flower ripens it falls to the forest floor. Usually the host tree then dies, completing a 20 year cycle.

It is estimated that only about 0.025% of trees, only a few of every ten thousand, will grow a chaga conk. This makes the chaga mushroom somewhat rare even in its prime northern range.

Identifying Chaga Mushrooms

The Chaga mushroom is a fungi that grows on the wounds of birches. Both paper birch and yellow birch seems to be its favorite.

The outside of this easy to identify mushroom somewhat resembles the charred remains of burnt wood, being black and crumbly.

Of irregular shape, the inside of a chaga is the color of rusted iron or yellowish with white or cream colored veins. It is corky of texture and tends to become lighter in color closest to the tree.

Chaga is known as a polypore fungus, which means it has pores instead of gills. The chaga mushroom does not hold a great deal of water as does other types of mushrooms. As the chaga conk grows its outside dries out, turns black, and cracks

The chaga mushroom is commonly known as the true “tinder fungus” for its use in building fires. In fact, chaga is the true tinder fungus, as opposed to the false tinder fungus which is shelf-like in shape and does not crumble.

Wilderness Medicinal Mushroom

Fire making aside, the chaga mushroom is also well known for its huge load of immune stimulating phytochemicals and betulin that can be consumed as a tea. Some of these compounds are derived from the birch tree and bark it consumes and concentrates in its flesh.

The chaga fungus has some of the highest amounts of anti-oxidants of any substance consumed by man. Siberian folk medicine and modern uses of a tea made from Chaga fungus include:

• boosting the immune system
• treating stomach diseases
• Intestinal worms
• Liver and heart ailments
• Cancers including those of the breast, liver, uterine, and gastric
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• anti-tumor activity
• The active compound inotodiol which works against influenza A and B viruses and cancer cells.
• Activity against HIV-1
• As an anti-inflammatory

Some experts claim the Chaga is the best anti-cancer mushroom of all.

Properties and Ingredients of Chaga include:

• Polysaccharides that enhance the immune system; treat cancer, live, HIV virus and other bacterial and viral infections.
• Betulinic acid to counter viral infections and tumors
• Triterpenes to lower cholesterol, improve circulation, detoxify the liver, treat hepatitis, bronchitis, asthma, and coughs.
• Germanium (a free-radical scavenger) to cleanse the blood, normalize blood pressure, and prevent tumors.
• Other nucleosides, phytonutrients, minerals, and amino acids including saponin, magnesium, chromium, iron, kalium, beta-glucan, inotodiol, isoprenoid, and others.

Some northern peoples are said to drink Chaga tea on a regular basis as Westerners do coffee and suffer very low cancer rates because of it. Chaga is a bit on the bitter side, rather like coffee, and cork-like in texture.

With an item from nature’s free pharmacy that is this valuable to my health I make sure my chaga stocks are always full and take an extra hit when the opportunity presents itself. I don’t mind chewing on a bit of cork-like chaga conk since it is giving me a great boost of immune stimulating phytochemicals.

Russian Chaga Tea

This is perhaps the most written about method of making tea from chaga mushrooms:

1. Shred the inner part of the Chaga mushroom.
2. Soften in cold water for four hours.
3. Filter with a coffee filter and save the liquid and the softened Chaga separately.
4. Pour water heated to a temperature of about 50C (122F) over the softened chaga in a ratio of 5-parts water to 1-part fungus.
5. Let stand at room temperature for 48-hours.
6. Filter the new mixture and add this water to that prepared in step 3.
7. Use this batch within four days, drinking 3-glasses at eight hour intervals each day. After four days make a new batch of chaga tea.

. Chaga Liqueur

1. Put 3 tablespoons of milled chaga into .5 liter vodka.
2. Let sit for two weeks in a cool dark place.
3. Filter.

Chaga liqueur dosage is 3-tablespoons three to six times per day.

Lazy Man’s Chaga Tea

Why go through all the bother of breaking off the hard black coating from the chaga mushrooms. Simply throw that in the pot too!

1. Harvest chaga and allow to dry.
2. Bring two gallons of water to a boil and drop in several handfuls of unprocessed chaga, black parts and all.
3. Let steep for 48-hours.
4. Strain into bottles and store in refrigerator.

Chaga Warning

As with anything so good for your health, there is a great deal of hype about chaga. Exaggerated claims and expensive products manufactured from chaga are put out with the hope of luring your hard earned dollars in exhange for questionable products. For all you know, those chaga products hawked on the internet and elsewhere may be of dubious quality at best.

This site is not intended, in any way shape or form to constitute, nor should it be considered, medical advice. The information contained on this website, does not serve or purport to serve as a substitution for the medical advice of a qualified practitioner, clinician, or qualified health care provider. The information in and through this website is general in nature. the information on this website can be improved or updated without notice. I am under no obligation to update this website, so information in the website may be out of date. I do not warranty the accuracy or completeness on this website. Use of the information on this website is entirely at your own risk. Please do further research for yourself.