Chaga mushroom
Other Names : inonotus obliquus, Hua Jie Kong Jun, Bai Hua Rong, 桦褐孔菌, 白桦茸
is a medicinal mushroom that grows in northern Europe, Siberia, Asia and North America. It grows for seven years inside the bark of wounded or mature birch trees, and it expresses itself outside the bark in the form of a blossom that looks like burnt coal and feels like cork. The chaga mushroom is a polypore, which puts it in a category of mushrooms that are mostly edible and always non-poisonous.
Special Precautions of Chaga mushroom
- Any source of beta glucan when consumed excessively can cause severe fall of blood pressure. Beta-glucan reacts with pattern recognition receptor (PRR) of macrophages to produce nitric oxide (NO). In appropriate quantities, NO induces favourable cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. In excess, it damages tissue and DNA. In high concentration it may causes septic shock. Even when administered in moderate quantities, increased formation of NO results in vasodilation and fall in blood pressure. Although none of the above adverse effects in humans have been reported, it is nonetheless conceivable. Patients on hypertensive drugs should therefore be more alert when consuming chaga, constantly looking out for symptoms of postural hypotension.
- Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs(NSAIDs), in particular Indomethacin, should not be consumed concurrently with Chaga (beta-glucan). Yoshioka et al, found in a 1998 experiment that that the combination of beta-glucan and indomethacin induced lethal toxicity in mice. Other studies have shown that indomethacin is also an immuno-modulator that augments macrophage, T cell and natural killer (NK) cell activity and regulates cytokine syntheses of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 and interferon-gamma. In Yoshioka’s experiment, indomethacin appeared to behave not as an inhibitor but amplifier of inflammatory reactions. Due to competitive interaction, the combination induces lethality by compromising the cytokine systems leading to systemic inflammatory response and eventual death. Although there is great genetic semblance between man and mice, there is again yet to be a single reported case of such tragedy in humans.
- Consuming chaga may enhance the effects of anti-coagulant and/or anti-platelet medications such as aspirin, Plavix (clopidogrel) and warfarin thereby raising the risk of bleeding and bruising. Hyun KW et al., in 2005, isolated and characterized a novel platelet aggregation inhibitory peptide from Chaga with the highest platelet aggregation inhibitory activity (81.2%) achieved under ethanol extraction.
- Chaga also exacerbates the effects of diabetes medicines like insulin and metformin, raising the risk for hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar levels. Tau Hu et al., in 2012, isolated and purified hypoglycemic functional polysaccharides from Chaga harvested from ChangBai Mountains of China and confirmed their anti-hyperglycemic activities. Diabetic patients using chaga should bode well to note the symptoms of hypoglycemia including tremor, hunger, confusion, dizziness, feeling weak or anxious, and difficulty speaking..
The benefits of Chaga mushroom are
There is currently a lack of clinical trials testing the effects of chaga. However, some preliminary research suggests that chaga may offer certain health benefits. For instance, a number of studies on cell cultures show that chaga possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune-stimulating properties.
Here's a look at several findings from the available research on chaga's health benefits:
- Chaga and Inflammatory Bowel Disease : Chaga may help treat inflammatory bowel disease (such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease), according to a 2007 study published in Biofactors.In tests on cells obtained from 20 healthy volunteers and 20 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, scientists found that treating the cells with chaga extract helped reduce oxidative stress (a destructive biological process thought to contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel disease).
- Chaga and Diabetes : Chaga shows promise as a treatment for diabetes, suggests a 2008 study from the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. In experiments on diabetic mice, researchers found that chaga helped reduce blood sugar levels and lower cholesterol.
- Chaga and Cancer : A 2008 study from the World Journal of Gastroenterology indicates that chaga may offer some anti-cancer benefits. In tests on cells taken from human liver tumors, researchers observed that chaga extract inhibited cancer cell growth. According to the study's authors, this finding suggests that chaga shows promise in the treatment of liver cancer. Betulinic acid is a natural product with a potent antitumor activity for a variety of cancers. This anticancer property is linked to its ability to induce cancer cell death by triggering the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. A 2014 report from the Netherlands deduced yet an additional pathway, lysosomal membrane permeabilization, that effectively destroyed glioblastoma cells in vitro. To quote John Pezzuto of the University of Chicago "the cytotoxic activity of the Betulinic acid is one of the most promising discoveries amongst 2500 plant extracts studied."
- Chaga has shown much promise as an immune system modulator.
- Source of Beta glucan : Beta-glucans may have no direct cytotoxic effects but are highly sought after for their immunological properties. Beta-glucans, ubiquitously found in fungal cell walls, have been implicated in the initiation of anti-microbial immune response. They are also known biologic response modifiers that functions as immuno-stimulants modulating both innate and adaptive responses as well as enhancing phagocytosis against infectious diseases and cancers.
- Source of Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD)
Consuming Chaga
Chaga is wild-crated and not cultivated which means you will only find the actual mushroom in a forest area. It is important to know your mushrooms when picking them because some mushrooms are not safe or legal to eat. Chaga is both. It is available in the form of capsules, as an extract and in cut, dried pieces at health food stores and natural marts. The extracts and capsules are usually added into a beverage and the cut, dried pieces are brewed to make a tea.
Brewed into a tea, it can be sipped three times a day for ailments such as chronic inflammation. As a tea it is also useful for eliminating stomach ailments. There is a protein in mushrooms called chitin that breaks down cholesterol thereby cleaning the arteries and improving heart health. Chaga is rich in this protein and in super oxide dismutase (SOD). SOD is a powerful enzyme; it works as an anti-oxidant that repairs cell damage from free radicals. SOD is an extremely important enzyme in that it keeps the body`s cells young and supple. Chaga has more SOD than fish oils, barley grass and vitamins E and C. This ingredient has been claimed as an aid in eliminating immune system diseases like cancer.
Chaga has a bitter flavor, and some creative ways have been used to get it down. Some people soak dried pieces in vodka as a stomach soother. Others soak it for 6-8 hours, dry it, grind it into powder and use small amounts in a cup of hot liquid. Some recipes call for simmering the chaga for several hours, straining it and adding ginger ale, to taste, to it for flavor. With the mushroom extract, ten drops to a cup of water can be sufficient as a tonic. Capsules and extracts offer instructions on the bottle. The choices make this rare mushroom easily accessible.
However, for the purist, nothing but the cap of the raw mushroom, as opposed to extracts or capsules, will do. The cap is the exposed corky exterior that protrudes from the hide of the birch tree. Within the cap there is a softer yellowish fungal substance and with it more usefulness for chaga is found. This substance often needs to be drilled to separate it from the dry, hard cork. But, the Siberians and Russians have accomplished the separation by first soaking pieces of the cap for up to 4 hours in boiled then cooled water. Afterwards, the fungus is scraped. Sterilized water is poured over the scrapings and they are soaked for another 48 hours. Finally, this mixture is also filtered and it is combined with the water from the first boiling. This infusion can be kept for several days and is used as a tonic for various ailments.
Try making some Chaga tea or putting some Chaga in your next elixir to see what it does for your health.
