Chaga Mushroom History
Wild Chaga grows naturally in the vast forests of Russia, northern China and northern climatic zones in general where birch make up the primary tree species. It is a sclerotium, a hardened mass of mycelium with an amorphous shape. A tree pathogen, Chaga consumes the birch trees on which it grows.
For hundreds of years Chaga has been wildcrafted and utilized by the people of northern Europe and Russia. In Siberian folklore, Chaga is considered the “King of the Mushrooms.” Chaga was listed in the earliest text on Chinese medicine: the fabled Shennong Ben Cao Jing.
Chaga Mushroom Uses
Birch trees contain precursor compounds such as the triterpenoid betulin. Chaga draws betulin and other precursors directly from the birch tree and turns them into inotodiol, trametenolic acid and betulinic acid. Chaga needs the tree-bound precursors to synthesize the triterpenoids for which it is famous. Chaga is traditionally used for stomach illnesses and is anti-tumor.
Chaga Mushroom’s Nutrients
- Data from research conducted at facilities all over the world indicates that chaga contains a full assortment of nutrients including:
- Antioxidants: Chaga is second only to cacao in antioxidants of any whole food or herb in the world (excluding powders)
- Polysaccharides (beta glucans, protein-bound xylogalactoglucans, etc.)
- Superoxide dismutase
- Melanin: Chaga is the best source of this nutrient found in Nature
- Triterpenes
- Betulin, betulinic acid, and lupeol
- Trace Minerals: Contains antimony, barium, bismuth, boron, chromium, copper, germanium, manganese, selenium, and zinc
- Major Minerals: Contains calcium, cesium (highly alkaline), iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, rubidium (highly alkaline), silicon, and sulfur
- Vitamins B2, D2
