Chaga mushroom: effect and application of the Finnish forest mushroom

The Chaga mushroom is a mushroom from Northern Europe. In folk medicine, it is used to heal diseases – but how does it really work?

The Chaga mushroom grows in the birch forests near the northern Wendekreis. According to traditional applications of folk medicine there, the tea helps with gastrointestinal complaints and is intended to strengthen the immune system.

The full healing effect appears to have only mushrooms that grow on birch trunks. The mushroom probably needs the nutrient -rich birch juice for its healing forces. As a result, the Caga mushroom is not available indefinitely.

Medical research is still at the beginning to examine the health -promoting effect. Among other things, the medicinal mushroom could play a role in accompanying cancer therapy.

The Chaga mushroom comes from the regions on the northern Wendekreis and is considered a medicinal mushroom there. However, only the mushrooms that awake in birch trunks: there is probably a connection between the fungus and the nutrients in the birch juice. By growing up with the wood of his host tree, the Chaga mushroom can withdraw nutrients.

The Chaga mushroom (Inonotus Obliguus) is rich:

• Secondary plant substances that include natural aroma and dyes such as flavonoids and numerous bioactive polyphenols such as tannic acid.

• Betulic acid that the Chaga mushroom gains from the birch. According to the German Pharmacist newspaper, Betulin can be used in pure form to naturally treat skin wounds.

• various sugar compounds, the polysaccharides.

Effects of the Chaga mushroom

It has not yet been scientifically proven whether the Chaga mushroom really works as well as folk medicine survives. So far, only laboratory tests or tests have been carried out on animals – but the results give an idea of ​​the medical potential.

The Chaga mushroom should

1) Strengthen the body’s defense:

• In laboratory tests, the mushroom turned out to be effective, both against bacteria and against viruses. Studies from 2021 suggest that the Chaga mushroom could also be effective against coronaviruses.
• In another study, it was successfully used in chronically inflamed pancreas.
• The treatment for inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract or an irritable bowel is handed down from folk medicine.

2) protect the liver:

• Some study results allow the Chaga fungus to strengthen the liver.

3) lower the blood sugar:

• A study points out that the body forms more insulin again by the Chaga mushroom.

• Danger! If you suffer from diabetes, you should therefore obtain medical advice before using the Chaga fungus.

4) Strengthen endurance and mental performance:

• Some attempts suggest that. However, there are not enough comparative studies to confirm the statement.

5) relieve pain:

• Research results allow the conclusion that the combinations of active ingredients in the chaga fungus reduce the sensation of pain.

Doct: Interior advises to caution: If you take medication for blood thinning, you should not use the Chaga mushroom-because it can slow down blood clotting.

Chaga mushroom in cancer therapy

According to tradition, ulcers, probably cancer, were treated with the Chaga mushroom in the 12th century. A prince from Kyiv is said to have conquered his ulcer on his lips.

The American Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center dealt in detail how to use the Chaga fungus against diseases. On its website, the institute reports several studies that examine how the Chaga fungus acts on tumors.

• In the laboratory, the mushroom was successfully tested, among other things, on breast cancer tumor cells. Tests on mice confirmed the results.
• Studies also show success in colon cancer.
• The Chaga mushroom relieves pain. Therefore, researchers investigate: inside how the fungus could treat side effects of cancer.

Chaga mushroom tea: How to prepare it

The Chaga mushroom has a firm, dark bark and can be over a meter wide. As a rule, it is dried after harvesting and cut into pieces.

You can cook a tea from these fungal pieces:

1. Add three to four pieces (about ten grams) of the dried Chaga mushroom in a saucepan and add 400 milliliters of water.
2. Check everything up briefly.
3. Then rely down the temperature of the stove until the water is only slightly simmering.
4. Leave the pot on the stove for another ten minutes until the water turns dark.
5. Now pour everything through a sieve and drink the brew as a tea.

Danger! Do not use more than the recommended amount of the Chaga mushroom for the recipe. The fungus contains oxalic acid, which can damage the kidneys in large quantities.

You can use the mushroom pieces several times:

• After boiling them, put them again in a glass with water and keep them in the fridge. So you can pick up the pieces for a few days.
• Just cook this water with you next time.
• You can reuse the pieces until they no longer color the boiled water dark brown.

You can find dried chaga mushrooms in well-stocked herbal shops or health food stores. You can also order them online, for example at Amazon.

Is the Chaga mushroom also in Germany?

The chaga mushrooms examined in studies come from birch forests, which extend from Finland and Siberia across the entire northern hemisphere to Canada and Mongolia. The mushroom has to grow at the tree trunk for at least five years before it is carefully harvested by hand.

The mushroom is also growing in our Central European climate-the Chaga mushroom is called “Slate Schiller Porling” with a German name. However, no healing effect could be demonstrated on the local varieties. This rarely makes the Chaga fungus from the far north:

• Scientists: Inside, report that the natural occurrence of the Chaga mushroom is almost exhausted.

• Research is therefore testing methods to breed Chaga mushrooms for medical purposes and maintain their active ingredients.

Chaga mushroom: Caution when shopping

Sometimes Chaga mushrooms are traded, which have no healing properties. Either the mushroom grew on trees other than birches or comes from plantations in warmer regions.

There are also ground chaga powder to buy, loose or in capsules. However, caution is advised here:

• It is not proven whether the powder works as well as the mushroom. There are currently no studies that show that.

• The powder in the packs can be contaminated: the freshly harvested mushroom has to dry carefully, otherwise mold can easily spread. Mold spores could trigger nausea or even damage the kidneys.

In addition, the Chaga mushroom has had long transport routes until it arrives in Germany:

• Wildly collected Chaga mushrooms mostly come from Siberia, Lapland or even Mongolia.

• Other mushrooms come from Asian plantations, during the transport of which more CO2 is emitted.

Alternatives to the Chaga mushroom

There are also domestic home remedies against many health complaints. Your big advantage: you have a better climate balance and are not as rare as the Chaga mushroom.

• You support your immune system with a lot of regional vegetables and fruit as well as movement in the fresh air.
• With a drinking cure or fasting cure you help your body to better reduce toxins.

• Peppermint tea with fennel relaxes the intestinal muscles with an irritable bowel.

• You relieve stomach inflammation with honey and chamomile tea.

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