It can be drunk by itself or made into a drink combining different herbal teas, protein sources, coffee, that has immune strengthening properties to it. The out black layer is bitter and has anti-cancer properties about it. The inner layer has immune strengthening properties about it and is sweet. The inner layer is the part to boil for a sweet liquid that tastes similar to vanilla.
Medical studies have been done on the effect of chaga.
Here is one of a substantial number found on pubmed.
Chaga can be found anywhere where there is birch trees.
Last month I set off to Soyo Mountain near the DMZ to find some chaga.
I don't really drink tea (except for lemon iced tea), because I don't like how it taste. Upon seeing the stuff you took from the birch tree as what you called chaga, I became curious of how does it really taste. I wonder if it's really good for people having cancer. I hope it's true. My mom died because of cancer and was not able to try different herbal medicines. Herbal is much safe to try and try, than the prescribed medicines by the doctor. If my mom was alive, I would have let her try the chaga if I can.
ReplyDeleteChaga tastes similar to vanilla with less sweetness. It can be drunk as a tea or used as a base for other drinks such as a smoothie. Some mix it with other teas to make a coffee substitute. I now mix the liquid with other teas and sometimes coffee. Teas and hot drinks I like to drink in the winter time and this winter has been very cold.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your mom. My grandfather died when I was 9 and it is my most painful memory. But it still wouldn't be as painful if one of my parents died.
We are in a time when our bodies are exposed to many chemicals which poison us, hormones which interfere with our growth and sexual development, and additives in food that all together strains our bodies. If we take time to find more natural ways to live are bodies can function more naturally and even heal ourselves from damage. Our bodies are wonderful at that if we give it the attention it needs. Tea is just a component of it, but not the be all end. There are no magic bullets but a bigger picture.
One thing which is often overlooked: the research done with Chaga is performed with highly concentrated extracts not with raw Chaga-straight-from-the-tree.
ReplyDeleteHot water extraction is used to set the anti-cancer components (polysaccharides/beta-glucans, a type of carbo hydrates) free from the indigestible mushroom cells (made from chitine).
So yes! If you buy a good quality Chaga extract capsule (meaning the percentage polysaccharides / beta glucans is mentioned on the label) and you consume enough (meaning 8 - 12 grams per day !) many cancers will slow down and loose the battle. For just immune support take 2-4 capsules a day and the effect will show after about 6-8 weeks.
Tea made from Chaga is good, but again, the longer you have it in the boiling water the more potent the tea becomes because of the released polysaccharides.
But to get to the level of extracts (up to 50% of poly saccharides), that is not do-able with tea.
How do I know all this ? I came across this website with a large section (downloadable) about medicinal mushrooms and herbs. Very informative!! Check out i.p. the 255 page research rapport from the Cancer Research Center UK on Medicinal Mushrooms and their use in cancer treatment.
Highly recommended!!
Oh - the site is this one: http://chaga.us.oriveda.com/resources.php
Found it through Wikipedia - a lot of articles are linking to their library.
I know that extracts are more potent that tisanes but for weekly use I feel chaga tea is a sufficient healthy drink. The extract is made by boiling the mushrooms for hours( I do two hours) and then putting the decoction in alchohol. The reason this is more effective is because the alcohol soaked chaga absorbs into your digestive tract.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd rather get these things from nature than to order supplements online. The claim to fame for Chaga was from Russian peasants boiling the mushrooms for hours to extract the tea. Some drank it as a tea and others made it into an extract. They did it themselves, and I want to do this way because making the medicine and tonics myself brings me an understanding of the natural world that is difficult to quantify and prove in reductionist world view.