Reducing cholesterol levels
Chaga mushrooms contain many antioxidants that reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein (the so-called “bad” cholesterol). High cholesterol levels cause a risk of heart and vascular diseases, so birch mushroom may also be useful in the fight against cardiovascular diseases.
Liver damage
Chaga may treat or slow down certain liver diseases, a 2015 Korean study suggests. It turned out that a concentrated chaga decoction protects liver cells and helps alleviate inflammation that occurs during chronic changes in organ tissue (for example, viral hepatitis, cirrhosis or obesity).
Diabetes
Chaga helps in the treatment of diabetes. This was proven during a study conducted in 2014. Scientists tested the assumption that plant polysaccharides have a beneficial effect on blood sugar levels. It turned out that those contained in chaga have a very strong effect.
Problems with teeth and gums
In dental practice, chaga is often used to treat inflammation of the oral mucosa, gums and teeth: sore spots are lubricated with the decoction, and the teeth are rinsed (at the same time taking the drug orally). Chaga extract has shown itself to be very effective in healing gums after tooth extraction and similar surgical interventions.
Cancer
A 2022 study published in the journal Ethnopharmacology suggests that chaga may have anti-cancer effects. An alcoholic extract of chaga caused apoptosis (programmed cell death) in all samples in a series of test tube studies involving lung cancer cells.
Preventing side effects after taking medications
Drinking chaga tea can prevent the side effects of taking strong medications that are prescribed for serious cases such as chemotherapy, radiation and chronic pain.
Skin diseases
Psoriasis, allergic dermatitis and eczema, irritation and peeling, ulcers and acne - such ailments are successfully treated with chaga tincture or decoction. Treatment that is carried out in combination with therapy for inflammatory processes of the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, gallbladder and liver is especially effective. The number of papillomas and condylomas can also be reduced if you regularly treat the skin with a solution of birch fungus.
Area and distribution features
The medicinal variety of chaga is common in birch groves in the following countries:
- Russia;
- Belarus;
- Ukraine;
- Poland;
- Moldova;
- Lithuania;
- Latvia;
- Finland;
- Korea;
- Kazakhstan;
- USA;
- Canada;
- Japan.
In China and some other countries, attempts are being made to grow the mushroom under artificial conditions.
Subsequently, the resulting raw materials are used to produce drugs for the treatment of a number of diseases. It is difficult to plant and grow chaga on your own plot. Important! Birch chaga is not a separate species of mushroom. In fact, it can settle on alder, maple, rowan, elm and beech.
However, the chaga mushroom is more common on birch. This is due to the fact that on the bark of this tree there are a large number of cuts, stumps, buds and other defects, where the wind can carry spores and mycelium will begin to form.
Chaga is a real parasitic mushroom. It feeds on the sap of the tree on which it grows, without bringing any benefit to it.
After the formation of the mycelium, a fruiting body is formed on the trunk at a height of 2-3 m. Less often, it forms close to the soil. Since birch chaga looks like a large black-brown formation, it is not difficult to notice.
The location of the fruiting body at a considerable height facilitates the spread of spores by the wind. Thus, many trees in birch groves can be infected. More often, spores affect old and weakened birch trees, so it is better to look for a valuable product on them.
This parasitic fungus contributes to the death of the tree. Often fruiting bodies begin to grow on dead birch trees, but cannot exist on them for a long time due to the lack of movement of sap.
Folk tree mushroom
Chaga mushroom - a healing birch killer
Walking through the forest, you can often see black growths of irregular shape on the trunks of snow-white birches - as if someone stuck a lump of black dirt on the tree trunk. This is Chaga, a fungus - a parasite that grows in places where tree bark is damaged. In Russia, it has been used in folk medicine since ancient times, is considered a miracle cure for many diseases, and also serves as a folk tea substitute.
When does chaga birch appear?
The fruiting body of the tinder fungus begins to form in the 3rd year after infection. It doesn't die off every year. Young hyphae subsequently begin to appear on the formed mushroom.
Important! It is recommended to collect chaga in the spring, when birch sap begins to flow and the fruiting body is saturated with useful substances.
The healing properties of chaga collected in summer and autumn are slightly lower, so you should not look for the mushroom at this time. In addition, it is easier to find tinder fungus in the spring, because... it is not hidden by foliage.
Chaga selection, powder preparation and storage
Widely available for purchase online and in natural food stores, chaga is most often sold in powder form for use in teas and infusions. You can buy bottled chaga tinctures and extracts, tea bags, and dried chaga pieces. Of course, no one is stopping you from going to the nearest forest on your own and breaking off a mushroom straight from a birch tree.
The difficulty of using chaga is that doses for single use can vary depending on the brand and the content of birch mushroom in the collection (even of the same brand). Herbal remedies are not strictly regulated in any country in the world, so there are no tests to ensure a standardized dose or even the purity of the product.
Botanical characteristics
The scientific name of birch chaga is Inonotus obliques. Another name for this species is Tinder fungus. A careful study of the description of the fruiting body in most cases is sufficient to determine its type when detected. At the same time, when going on a search, it is better to take with you a picture or photograph of the mushroom, including a cross-section. With their help, it will be easier to recognize the medicinal fruit by its appearance.
Chaga is a black-brown formation. The inner part is light brown, with light veins. The mushroom grows up to 40 cm in diameter. Its thickness reaches 15-20 cm.
The body of the mushroom has an irregular shape and has a dense spongy structure. Chaga is harder on the outside than on the inside. The threads of the mycelium are rusty-brown in color and penetrate deep into the wood tissue.
Important! How long the tinder fungus grows on the trunk can be determined by its size. The average lifespan of chaga is 15 years.
In birch forests located in areas where winters are relatively mild, Inonotus can live for more than 30 years. The older the chaga, the more nutrients it accumulates in the tissues.
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Chemical composition and healing properties
The tinder fungus is not an edible mushroom and is only suitable for making medicinal drinks and other remedies. The benefits of tinder fungus for the human body are due to the presence of the following biologically active substances:
- formic and oxalic acids;
- phytoncides;
- free phenols;
- fiber;
- squirrel;
- resins;
- polysaccharides;
- alkaloids;
- calloids;
- tannins;
- ash;
- steroid compounds;
- tannins;
- manganese;
- potassium;
- magnesium;
- sodium;
- gland;
- copper;
- melanins, etc.
Since chaga grows on birch, a large amount of glucose accumulates in its tissues. The use of tinder-based products helps normalize the acid-base balance.
In addition, compositions in the preparation of which this mushroom was used have a pronounced diuretic, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory effect. A certain choleretic effect is also noted.
Important! Phytoncides have powerful antibacterial and antifungal effects.
The use of inonotus has a beneficial effect on the state of the cardiovascular system and also helps to normalize metabolism. You can drink chaga for the treatment and prevention of many diseases of the musculoskeletal system, as well as pathologies of the nervous and hematopoietic systems. In addition, this mushroom is recommended to be taken for liver diseases. It is useful to take chaga as part of kidney preparations for severe kidney diseases.
Indications
The use of the fruiting body of Inonotus oblique is justified in many oncological pathologies. It is recommended to use products based on it for malignant tumors of the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and skin. In addition, chaga can be used to treat gynecological pathologies such as:
- cervical erosion;
- myoma;
- inflammation of the ovaries;
- cyst.
Mushroom-based compositions show high effectiveness in the treatment of chronic gastritis, ulcers, gastric atony, polyps and some other pathologies. Chaga stabilizes blood pressure well.
In addition, it is recommended for use when elevated blood glucose levels have been detected for people suffering from diabetes. The mushroom helps eliminate swelling and inflammation.
Contraindications
Despite the huge list of healing properties, tinder fungus cannot always be used.
Important! Due to the high content of biologically active substances, the mushroom should not be consumed during pregnancy and lactation.
In addition, there is a risk of developing allergic reactions in people who have individual intolerance to the substances that make up the fungus. It is not recommended to use the fruiting body for diarrhea of any etiology. It is not advisable to use the product to treat children under 10 years of age.
What to look for when buying chaga
Read the product label. The more information you get, the better. Ideally, the label should indicate the name of the species, Inonotus obliquus, as well as the country of origin. Check to see if any additional ingredients have been added. If they are available and you don't know them or don't understand their properties, talk to your pharmacist.
Check the color. The color of chaga powder can range from bright orange to dark brown. Darker colors indicate that the mushroom was not properly cleaned before grinding, and the darkened surface (sclerotium) can be toxic to humans.
Choose an organic product. Given the lack of testing, all herbal supplements theoretically carry a risk of contamination. To reduce it, choose brands that are organic: USDA organic certification ensures you won't be exposed to pesticides and other chemicals.
special instructions
All the properties of chaga have not yet been fully studied by official medicine. The essence of the special instructions boils down to recommendations regarding the combination of products made on the basis of this fruiting body with medications. Chaga should not be prepared or drunk while undergoing treatment with penicillin or glucose.
It should be borne in mind that drugs based on this fruiting body can cause a number of side effects. They can provoke disturbances in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, drowsiness, nervous agitation and a number of other symptoms.
Chaga preparation
The search for this tree fungus is usually carried out either in late autumn or early spring, when tree foliage does not interfere with the search, and the fungus itself is maximally biologically active.
When searching it is not recommended:
- Collect fruiting bodies too close to cities and big roads - this mushroom absorbs carcinogens like a sponge.
- Cutting fruit bodies from already fallen and dead trees - such specimens are of little use.
- Cut off old fruiting bodies that are too large, deeply black in color and crumble to the touch.
It is difficult to confuse chaga with any other mushroom - other polypores usually have a hemispherical shape, and its attachment to a birch tree and its characteristic black color are an excellent reference point.
Chaga mushroom is a healing killer of birch trees.
The fruiting body is cut off with an ax at the base, the looser and lighter-colored part is cut off. The outer part and the solid middle are used, without wood residues or loose mass. It is believed that fruiting bodies grown only on birch trees have medicinal properties.
The collected chaga is cut into pieces of approximately 10 cm and dried. Best of all - in the attic or other ventilated but shaded place.
Can be dried in special dryers at a temperature of no more than 60 degrees. This mushroom tends to mold quickly, so it should be stored in a tightly closed jar.
The shelf life of dried chaga is about 2 years.
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about Mushrooms and Plants in Your Own Words, Vesti Perm ONLINE, My treasured taiga
