Chaga; 101
Chaga mushroom, also called 'the diamond of the forest' and 'the mushroom of immortality', is a delicious source of vitamins & antioxidants that is relativity easy to find in your own neighbourhood. This mushroom is unique as it grows by extracting nutrients from living trees as opposed to dead ones; resulting in some of the highest antioxidant levels of any fungi. These antioxidants aid in preventing cell damage, which in turn lowers the risk of diseases such as cancer & cardiovascular disease. Chaga mushrooms also contain B vitamins, minerals (like copper, calcium & zinc) as well essential enzymes. We found a huge chunk this past fall (literally fell from the sky onto my foot!) which we’ve been continuously slow infusing in our clay slow cooker every week. 1 nugget lasts a few days, just continue adding filtered water to your slow cooker and scoop out hot chaga tea anytime you feel like a warm cup of healing.
Health benefits;
Chaga is rich in beta-glucans which stimulate the immune system's natural production of antibodies to prevent illness. Regular consumption of foods and teas high in beta-glucans has also been shown to reduce cholesterol levels.
Contains a unique molecule called betulinic acid naturally formed by the Chaga mushroom as it feeds off betulin found in the bark and sap of birch trees. This abundant, naturally occurring triterpene has been shown to be effective against lymphatic disorders and respiratory tract infections, and recent clinical studies suggest that betulinic acid may have anti-tumor properties
Chaga may prevent skin cancer thanks to its anti-melanogenic potential and its effects on tyrosinase activity. Melanoma cancer cells are particualrily aggressive because they expresses high levels the pigmentation enzyme tyrosinase. Tyrosinase expression increases during tumorigenesis and researchers believe that chaga’s anti-tyrosinase activity can help slow skin cancer growth.
Chaga & breast cancer: results from a recent study show that chaga can help suppress tumor growth and causes cancer cell autophagy & down regulates mTOR resulting in lower levels of cancer cell growth and proliferation.
Anti-aging properties of chaga: Sun exposure can speed up the aging of your skin and cause sun spots, chaga mushroom may help slow the aging process by protecting your skin from sun damage. A study published by the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology showed that this fungus can help protect skin cells against oxidative stress-induced damage.
Chaga contains high levels of the antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) which helps to remove free radicals from nearly every cell in the body. SOD is a naturally occurring enzyme in the body that helps to keep us young, healthy, and disease-free. Unfortunately, levels decrease dramatically after age 25, which is a great time to add exogenous SOD in the form of daily chaga tea.
How to Harvest Chaga:
Chaga is found abundantly throughout northern Ontario and is surprisingly easy to forage and harvest. Chaga can be harvested year-round, but is especially suited to foraging in winter as it’s easier to spot a dark piece of chaga growing in a snowy forest. It’s also immune to ice and snow making it one of the only mushrooms harvestable year round. Look for black (from high levels of naturally occurring melanin) wrinkled growths on living birch trees. We only ever harvest from living trees since chaga is only sterile and alive when it’s feeding off a living birch. Once broken open chaga has a distinct orange core that should flake off easily when picked at with a foraging knife. Use hatchet or axe to carefully knock the tough fungus from the trunk. Avoid harvesting chaga smaller than a grapefruit and try to leave one third of the mushroom attached to the tree as it will continue to grow allowing for a future harvest.
To prepare chaga rinse the freshly foraged chaga mushroom in fresh water to remove any debris or insects then break into small chunks with a hatchet to speed drying and prevent mold growth. Dry the chaga in a cool dry location until it is light and bone dry (1 month) or pop into the dehydrator (12 hours usually does the trick for us). Once dried store the chaga in an airtight container to prevent it from absorbing moisture from the air.
Chaga Preparations;
Chaga tea happens to be as delicious as it is nutritious, which is why we constantly have a pot of chaga on the go at the homestead . To brew at home simply take 2 tsps of dried ground chaga mushroom (available at health food stores), or 1 small nugget of wild harvested chaga and slowly heat in 2 litres for up to 24 hours in a pot on the stove. The longer you heat the mushroom the more nutrients you will extract and the better it will taste. We take ours with a little cashew milk + homemade maple or birch syrup.