March 19, 2018
The Health Benefits of Chaga
Chaga is a medicinal mushroom that grows on living trees. It grows most abundantly on nearly all species of birch trees, found in the forest of the earth’s northern hemisphere. Chaga grows in extremely cold climates such as Siberia, parts of Canada, and Alaska. If you choose to harvest it yourself it is very important to only harvest in the fall after three straight weeks of below freezing temperatures. That is when the birch trees have gone dormant for winter and the chaga is at its peak nutrient values. You can harvest through fall and winter until the sap starts in the spring.
After harvesting, your chaga needs to be dried properly prior to use. Drying is best done outdoors or in a dehydrator. Once dried it should be broken into smaller pieces. I like to wrap the chaga in a towel and hammer it into smaller chunks. The smaller pieces can either be ground up in a coffee grinder or vitamix blender, or placed in a large crock pot filled with spring water. You can simmer it in crock pot for a minimum of 3 hours, but the longer you simmer it the more beneficial.
Health Benefits Of Chaga
- Immune system support
- Anti-inflammatory
- Anti-bacterial
- Anti-viral
- Anti-cancer
- Improved physical endurance
- Anti-parasitic
- Blood purifier
- Blood sugar balancer
- Intestinal protection
- Liver purifier
- Lower cholesterol
