Long utilized by native populations for its various healthful properties, Inonotus obliquus, or chaga, is a mass of mycelium or sclerotium resembling burnt charcoal. The sterile conk grows primarily on birch trees and other hardwoods in forests throughout the northern hemisphere. Our organic chaga mushrooms can be decocted into chaga tea and incorporated into broths and soups.
The antioxidant activity of polysaccharides (beta-glucans) contained in chaga help maintain cell integrity and fight free radicals. Chaga is used in traditional Russian Folk Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine to support gastrointestinal health, and as a tonic to support overall health.*
Chaga is a fungus, a parasitic carpophore that looks like the charred remains of burned wood on the side of a birch tree (sometimes growing on Elm and Alder, but Birch is its favorite). It is not the fruiting body of the fungus, but a sclerotia or mass of mycelium. The parasite enters the tree through a 'wound' in the bark of a mature tree. It then grows under the bark until it erupts in a deeply cracked, black charcoal like extension. It usually takes another 5-7 years for it to fully mature, at which point it falls to the forest floor, most times killing the host tree in the process. Chaga has been a part of folk medicine in Russia, Poland, China and numerous Baltic countries for many centuries. It was documented by Chinese herbalist Shen Nong in his herbal texts as early as the first century B.C.E.
Chaga supports immune health to help you stay feeling your best and supports the body’s immune defenses to stay feeling healthy.*
Chaga is typically and historically ingested as a tea, but it also has been made into a tincture, and less commonly into powder that is then used as a tea; Encapsulation seems to be rare. There have been reports of it being the base for liqueurs and as a substitute for hops in beer. In Russia, it can be found as a syrup, a tablet, an aerosol, and even as a suppository. If you are using the cut chaga for the purpose of making a tea, you can re-brew your material a second time without loss to flavor or potency. Our chaga includes the entire sclerotia.
Learn more about our organic chaga on our blog.
Precautions
No known precautions. We recommend that you consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before using herbal products, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, or on any medications.
*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. For educational purposes only.
