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Chaga Mushroom Ancient and Vast History
Called the “Gift of God” or the “King of Herbs”, the Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) has been respected for thousands of years in Russia, Korea, Eastern and Northern Europe, the northern United States, the mountains of North Carolina and Canada.
Since the 16th century, Chaga has been used in folk and botanical medicine throughout Eastern Europe. A birch fungus, Chaga grows on live trunks of mature birch trees in cold climates.
The name Chaga (pronounced “cha-ga”) comes from the Russian word for fungus (czaga) which is derived from the word fungus. In Norway, Chaga (kreftkjuke’) translates to “cancer polyp” in reference to its fungal appearance and supposed medicinal properties.
The use of Chaga in Chinese medicine dates back thousands of years, where locals in the mountainous region of Siberia drank Chaga tea daily, inhaled Chaga and used it topically (on the skin). Over time, its popularity spread west to the Urai Mountains and the Baltic regions of Eastern Europe.
Medicinal mushrooms to promote health
The International Society for Mushroom Science (ISMS) suggests in its online article, “Medicinal Mushroom Products as a Good Source for Dietary Supplements,” that mushrooms may be useful as nutraceuticals: foods or food products that provide medical benefits and health. “These so-called ‘mushroom nutraceuticals’ exhibit medicinal and/or tonic qualities and have immense potential as dietary supplements…” writes ISMS.
Research also suggests that fungi, cultivated molds, mycelia, and lichens may have antiviral, antimicrobial, anticancer, antihyperglycemic, cardioprotective, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Medicinal mushrooms are classified into two species: edible or extracted. Chaga is an extracted species. The extraction process is necessary so that at least some of the active components are bioavailable, which is the extent to which a nutrient (or drug) can be utilized by the body.
Like all natural materials, whole mushrooms have great variability in quality and benefits. Individual chemicals can have intense responses and with that unwanted side effects.
“Nutraceuticals, which are extracted products, fall somewhere between these extremes and have proven to be very useful. However, obtaining a product of good quality and reliability is of paramount importance.” (ISM).
Potential Health Benefits of Chaga
Researchers in Japan and China have studied the anticancer properties of polysaccharides found in some mushrooms, including Chaga, and found effects comparable to chemotherapy and radiation, just without the side effects. Among the many beneficial properties of Chaga, the polysaccharides have been shown to have strong anti-inflammatory and immune-balancing properties that can stimulate the body to produce natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells fight infection and fight tumor growth.
In 1958, researchers in Finland and Russia found that Chaga may offer anticancer benefits for breast, liver, uterine, and gastric cancer, as well as its use in hypertension and diabetes. The Russian journal Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii reported in 1973 on the benefits of Chaga extract for psoriasis.
David Winston, an herbalist and ethnobotanist with nearly 40 years of training in the Cherokee, Chinese and Western herbal traditions, suggests that Chaga is the strongest anti-cancer medicinal mushroom available. And in 1968, Russian Nobel laureate Alexandr Solzhenitsyn wrote about the medicinal use of Chaga in his semi-autobiographical novel Cancer Ward, where he describes his experience in a Tashkent hospital.
The medicinal properties of Chaga span centuries and across all continents. Today, its use to promote health is backed by a long list of peer-reviewed scientific research.
Article sources:
Oblique Inonotus. (2012, October 31). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved November 5, 2012 at 5:48 PM.
Chang, S. T. “Medicinal Mushroom Product as a Good Source for Dietary Supplements.” International Society for Fungal Science.