Chaga: It's the Siberian Gods' Tea Time!


Look, we need something new in life. Maybe an exotic calling from afar, something to awaken us from our daydreams and invite us to explore new horizons. But we are a bit lazy, and wish that we could have all the the nice things neatly squeezed in a little tea cup, legal and non-toxic of course, anything longer than two syllables we consider a tongue-twister really.

 I'm I right? OK, I am. Are you ready? Say:



/!CHA-GA!/




Well done!

 Its stern Latin name, Inonotus Obliquus, as well as how it sucks good life out of a poor white birch as in the picture above tell you that it is something out of ordinary.
Chaga in a much more civilized guise 


This monster of a mushroom grows by extracting nutrition from living trees instead of dead ones like most other mushrooms, and it grows only in the coldest regions of the northern hemisphere. Chaga takes at least five years to mature and attempts to cultivate it have resulted in significantly reduced bio-active constituents. So picture for yourself Chaga hunters roaming and foraging in the frosty woods and mountains of Canada, Russia, Siberia and so on for 'the diamond of the forest,' 'the mushroom of immortality.' 

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird flies as high as 27 km above ground and as fast as 3330km/h on a straight course and is not a suitable vehicle for mushroom hunt, BTW.

Chaga is very rich in antioxidant, betulin, beta-glucan, B vitamins and minerals such as copper, calcium and zinc, as well as other essential enzymes. Below are highlights of its health benefits:
IMMMUNE SYSTEM:
Chaga is an adaptogenic Biological Response Modifier (BRM), meaning it stimulates the body's immune function when necessary and slows it down when it's overactive. Very smart. This helps us deal with the effects of the stress of modern-day living and neutralizes the side effects of pharmaceuticals, not to mention that it compensates the decline of our immune function that comes with age.
All those round and oval friends you are used to popping for headaches or indigestion....

 Its Betulinic acid content is effective against lymphatic disorders, tuberculosis, tumors and has demonstrated anti-HIV properties as well!



Antioxidant Effects:

 Its rich antioxidant content protects our brain cells and liver cells from the damage of free radicals resulting from oxidation. See also Acai for super antioxidant content)
Cardiovascular Health:

 Chaga's betulinic acid can breakdown bad cholesterol in the bloodstream that clogs and narrows arteries, and its beta-glucan can lower cholesterol level.
Canadian Health Food Association includes mushroom in its Top 5 Natural Health Trends for 2017, and their video below features, guess what, Chaga!:



 As in the video, one way to consume Chaga is by making tea with it. it has rather mild flavor unlike may other fungi that have distinct odor and taste. Of course, you can simply pop some capsules too. Be it chunks, powders, liquid extract or capsules of Chaga, we got them all here:

















Popular posts from this blog

The Reason You Should Supplement Your Meal with Multivitamins

Image
Many people take a multi-vitamin every day to help them achieve optimal health, however should everyone take a multi-vitamin? What does the science say about the benefits of taking a multi-vitamin? This article should help you answer those questions for yourself. While the availability of food has increased dramatically, the modern western diet and lifestyle still leaves many people with inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals for health maintenance. Processed foods are a large part of the typical western diet and it is well established that these foods while often higher in calories, are lower in nutritional quality. If processed foods are a big part of your diet, then it is likely that you are deficient in more than one vital nutrient. Those people that do their best to eat a well-rounded, whole foods diet, high in a variety of fruits and vegetables and low in processed foods should be able to achieve nutrient adequacy.  However, other challenges still exist even ...
Read more

What is CoQ 10?

Image
Coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10) is a natural antioxidant synthesized in body cells. It is naturally present only in small amounts in a wide variety of foods, and comes in two forms: ubiquinol, the active antioxidant form, and ubiquinone, the oxidized form, which the body has to convert to ubiquinol. Both types are available in supplements and deliver pretty much the same therapeutic effects: antioxidant, heart protective and migraine prophylactic.  The beneficial effects of CoQ 10 are focused on its vital role in oxygen utilization and energy production, particularly in heart and skeletal muscle cells. A typical North American diet includes approximately 10 mg of CoQ 10 daily, thus taking CoQ 10 supplements is recommended to meet the daily value. Although CoQ 10 can be synthesized in the body, deficiency occurs due to disease, low dietary intake, or CoQ overuse. Symptoms of deficiency include high blood pressure, chest pain and, in severe cases, heart failure.  Benefits of CoQ 10 ...
Read more
Image
NUTRIDOM VITAMIN D3 + K2, D3 EDITORIAL Research into vitamin D3 and K2 has increased in recent years and specifically their synergistic relationship to skeletal and cardiovascular health has caught the attention of health professionals. Vitamin D can be obtained in the diet, but it is most commonly known to be made in the skin when exposed to sunlight. There are two forms of vitamin D, vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), of which the D3 form is generally accepted to be the more bioavailable form of the two and thus is the form you should look for in a supplement. Deficiency in vitamin D has become more common as the evidence of sun damage and skin cancer has resulted in people limiting their skins exposure to the sun. In northern climates where long cold winters keep people inside and covered up, deficiency is even more common. A recent US study reported deficiency rates of 41.6%-86% in a study of over 4000 individuals. The importance of vitamin D in bone...
Read more