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Chaga: Powerful support for your health
Interest in medicinal mushrooms is growing. Consequently, more and more is being discovered about what they can do for our health. Chaga is another medicinal mushroom. This fungus, which is quite rare in the Netherlands, can be used for resistance problems, cancer and diabetes. Medicinal mushrooms are generally well tolerated and are therefore a good option if you want to do something about health issues in a natural way.
Chaga (in Dutch the fungus is called Berkenweerschijnzwam) is by no means the most beautiful mushroom you can find in the forest. It looks like a gnarled, rough, black growth on a tree trunk. But fortunately, appearance says nothing about efficacy. Chaga grows only slowly, on average the fungus grows to between 4 and 10 cm in size with a thickness of 10 to 15 cm. It is found in the forests of northern Russia, America, Canada and northeastern Europe.
If you think you can cut a piece off if you happen to come across it on a dead birch tree, you may have heavy tools with you. This is because the rind of this fungus is incredibly hard. You will need at least a saw or pruning shears. If you manage to cut Chaga into pieces, you will notice that it is bright orange on the inside, while black on the outside. It has been used for centuries within natural medicine. In China, they consider it a superfood.
Chaga’s medicinal properties stem from the large amount of substances contained in the fungus. For example, it is rich in minerals (including potassium, selenium, zinc), vitamins (D and B) and polysaccharides. Chaga can be used to support health.
Your body has its own little army to keep out outside invaders (like viruses, fungi and bacteria). If everything is working properly, you won’t get sick. However, stress, unhealthy diet or an unhealthy lifestyle can undermine your resistance.
If your immune system could use some support, then Chaga is a good option. In fact, the fungus contains certain substances, complex non-linear polysaccharides, that have a powerful effect on your resistance. These polysaccharides prompt the body to produce natural killer cells, which can destroy unwanted invaders and even prevent the formation of cancer. Research shows that these long chain polysaccharides have the most powerful effect on the immune system that scientists have ever discovered.
Not only are polysaccharides good for resistance. Chaga is also rich in other substances, such as betulinic acid, episterol, fecosterol and ergosterol. Betulinic acid has antiviral and anticancer properties. Each of these substances helps strengthen resistance, but collectively they have immunomodulatory properties. This means that they can balance the resistance: if your immune system is working too vigorously, then Chaga can calm it down. If it is not active enough, then Chaga has a stimulating effect.
Are you interested in supporting your body naturally? With weakened resistance, diabetes and other complaints, Chaga can be taken safely. However, it is not recommended to take Chaga supplements in pregnancy, autoimmune diseases, if you are on blood thinners or if you are already taking medication for diabetes. In these cases, consult with your doctor first.
You can find Chaga in our webshop. It is offered as a capsule or as a tincture. A Chaga capsule from McMyco contains all the active ingredients from the fungus, such as polysaccharides, betulin and sterols. Foodspores brand tincture is also a good option. The extract is obtained from the fruit body of the Chaga.
