The Chaga; Nature's Medicinal Mushroom
More Articles Related to Wilderness Medicine |
| Chaga Conk on a Yellow Birch |
Note: Some Survival Topics readers have read this article and then harvested as much Chaga as they could find, up to several hundred pounds, in the hopes of selling it - only to be disappointed when the market did not materialize.
Rather than waste natural resources in an irresponsible manner, you are far better off to note the locations of any Chaga you find and harvest it only as needed. This eliminates waste, assures you of an always fresh supply, and limits your impact on the wild places you enjoy.
Raping the forest and other natural resources in hopes of great profit is known as the "Tradgedy of the Commons". We see this same problem occuring in the ocean fisheries, for example, where irresponsible overfishing in the quest for monetary wealth has caused great environmental damage to the earth resources we all share and need to survive.
Timeless Wisdom: "Take only what you need and leave the rest".
Yesterday while snowshoeing I came upon a fine chaga conk or tinder fungus, known scientifically as the chaga mushroom Inonotus obliquus.
The Chaga is such a valuable mushroom for wilderness survival and health I wanted to introduce Survival Topics readers to some of the ways in which it can be identified and used to help keep yourself in optimum health.
Where Chaga Grows
Siberians and other northern peoples in Asia, Europe, and North America for centuries have highly prized chaga for its great medicinal and curative powers. Those of us who know its value seek it out when traveling in the northern forest.
Chaga is a parasitic carpophore that enters a wound on a mature tree, usually birch. The chaga grows under the bark and erupts into a grotesque black charcoal-like conk on the tree trunk; hence the Latin term "Obliquus" in its scientific name.
The Chaga conk grows with the birch tree for five to seven years during which time it absorbs nutrients and phytochemicals from the wood. When the chaga conk flower ripens it falls to the forest floor. Usually the host tree then dies, completing a 20 year cycle.
It is estimated that only about 0.025% of trees, only a few of every ten thousand, will grow a chaga conk. This makes the chaga mushroom somewhat rare even in its prime northern range.
Identifying Chaga Mushrooms
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| Chaga Conk |
This Chaga tinder fungus I found while snowshoeing yesterday is growing on a large yellow-birch tree that had been damaged years ago during logging operations. The outside of this easy to identify mushroom somewhat resembles the charred remains of burnt wood, being black and crumbly.
Of irregular shape, the inside of a chaga is the color of rusted iron or yellowish with white or cream colored veins. It is corky of texture and tends to become lighter in color closest to the tree. You can see the colors in third picture where I have pulled the chaga off the yellow birch tree using my tomahawk.
Chaga is known as a polypore fungus, which means it has pores instead of gills. The chaga mushroom does not hold a great deal of water as does other types of mushrooms. As the chaga conk grows its outside dries out, turns black, and cracks. I have seen large Chagas well over three feet (one meter) in length and one foot (.33 meter) thick.
The chaga mushroom is commonly known as the true “tinder fungus” for its use in building fires. In fact, chaga is the true tinder fungus, as opposed to the false tinder fungus which is shelf-like in shape and does not crumble.
Wilderness Medicinal Mushroom
Fire making aside, the chaga mushroom is also well known for its huge load of immune stimulating phytochemicals and betulin that can be consumed as a tea. Some of these compounds are derived from the birch tree and bark it consumes and concentrates in its flesh.
The chaga fungus has some of the highest amounts of anti-oxidants of any substance consumed by man. Siberian folk medicine and modern uses of a tea made from Chaga fungus include:
- boosting the immune system
- treating stomach diseases
- Intestinal worms
- Liver and heart ailments
- Cancers including those of the breast, liver, uterine, and gastric
- Hypertension
- Diabetes
- anti-tumor activity
- The active compound inotodiol which works against influenza A and B viruses and cancer cells.
- Activity against HIV-1
- As an anti-inflammatory
Some experts claim the Chaga is the best anti-cancer mushroom of all.
Properties and Ingredients of Chaga include:
- Polysaccharides that enhance the immune system; treat cancer, live, HIV virus and other bacterial and viral infections.
- Betulinic acid to counter viral infections and tumors
- Triterpenes to lower cholesterol, improve circulation, detoxify the liver, treat hepatitis, bronchitis, asthma, and coughs.
- Germanium (a free-radical scavenger) to cleanse the blood, normalize blood pressure, and prevent tumors.
- Other nucleosides, phytonutrients, minerals, and amino acids including saponin, magnesium, chromium, iron, kalium, beta-glucan, inotodiol, isoprenoid, and others.
How to Make Chaga Tea
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| Harvesting Chaga |
—From Cancer Ward by Alexander Solzhenitsyn”
Some northern peoples are said to drink Chaga tea on a regular basis as Westerners do coffee and suffer very low cancer rates because of it. Chaga is a bit on the bitter side, rather like coffee, and cork-like in texture.
When I come upon chaga in the forest I am apt to brake off a bit to chew on, and am sure to pack some away for use at home. With an item from nature’s free pharmacy that is this valuable to my health I make sure my chaga stocks are always full and take an extra hit when the opportunity presents itself. I don’t mind chewing on a bit of cork-like chaga conk since it is giving me a great boost of immune stimulating phytochemicals.
Russian Chaga Tea
This is perhaps the most written about method of making tea from chaga mushrooms:
- Shred the inner part of the Chaga mushroom.
- Soften in cold water for four hours.
- Filter with a coffee filter and save the liquid and the softened Chaga separately.
- Pour water heated to a temperature of about 50C (122F) over the softened chaga in a ratio of 5-parts water to 1-part fungus.
- Let stand at room temperature for 48-hours.
- Filter the new mixture and add this water to that prepared in step 3.
- Use this batch within four days, drinking 3-glasses at eight hour intervals each day. After four days make a new batch of chaga tea.
Mushroom Hunters Chaga Method
Vladimir of Mushroom Hunter dot net uses this method, which also shows you how to store chaga for extended periods:
- Remove the outer black part of the chaga using a chisel. It may help if you leave the chaga attached to the tree while you do this.
- Cut the clean chaga into 1-inch cubes.
- Dry the chaga cubes in a dehydrator at about 105 F.
- When completely dry put the cubes in an air-tight container where they can be stored for years.
To use the chaga
- Bring two gallons (8 liters) of water to a boil.
- Let the water cool until you can touch the pot without it burning your hand.
- Put 3 or 4 handfuls of the chaga into the water.
- Cover the pot and let stand for 48-hours.
- Strain the liquid and store in a refrigerator.
- The cubes can be used at least two additional times.
According to the Mushroom Hunter some people say boiling the chaga releases additional cancer fighting ingredients so he as a last step he boils the cubes to obtain the last bit of goodness.
Chaga Liqueur
- Put 3 tablespoons of milled chaga into .5 liter vodka.
- Let sit for two weeks in a cool dark place.
- Filter.
Chaga liqueur dosage is 3-tablespoons three to six times per day.
Mushroom Hunters Lazy Man’s Chaga Tea
The mushroom hunter and I agree; why go through all the bother of breaking off the hard black coating from the chaga mushrooms. Simply throw that in the pot too!
- Harvest chaga and allow to dry.
- Bring two gallons of water to a boil and drop in several handfuls of unprocessed chaga, black parts and all.
- Let steep for 48-hours.
- Strain into bottles and store in refrigerator.
The Mushroom Hunter on Chaga
Survival Topics recently received an email from Vlad The Mushroom Hunter with more information about the Chaga mushroom. He writes:
"The specie name obliquus refers to way the pores of the fruiting body are positioned relative to the ground. In most of the polypores, the pores are positioned down to the ground. In the obliquus the pores are at an oblique angle to the ground; therefore the name.
Chaga is not the fruiting body of Inonotus obliquus. The true fruiting body is hard to find and I have not, as yet, seen one, even in pictures.
The scientists are not sure what the purpose of the Chaga is. Some people refer to it as a "Sterile Conch". This implies that there is a Fertile Conch, which is not true. The actual fruiting body is supposed to grow around where the Chaga grew when the tree was alive. It grows under the bark and slowly raises it until it cracks it. The oblique pores then release their spores and they fall out of the crack in the bark."
The Chaga mushroom remains somewhat mysterious even to those who have are familiar with its habits. For me, that is part of the allure of this special fungus that is so useful for survival.
If you are interested in more information about mushrooms and how you can use them be sure to visit the mushroom hunters website!
Chaga Warning
As with anything so good for your health, there is a great deal of hype about chaga. Exaggerated claims and expensive products manufactured from chaga are put out with the hope of luring your hard earned dollars in exhange for questionable products. For all you know, those chaga products hawked on the internet and elsewhere may be of dubious quality at best.
If you are interested in acquiring high quality true Chaga for use as tinder or tea let me know and we can make arrangements to get you some. I am in the Great Northwoods forest of northern New Hampshire nearly every day and occasionally come upon this most useful of mushrooms. I’ll harvest some for you.
Update: Survival Topics will harvest fresh mountain chaga for you - visit the Survival Shop for more information.
In another Survival Topic I will discuss the use of the Chaga tinder fungus as fire making aid.
Iowa
I only wish I would have known about this years ago it may have saved my uncles life he died of cancer. Well now that I do know of Chaga maybe it could help some one else in the future.
Thank you for putting up your website.
I will let you know if I find any.
Thank You,
Buzzy
greenville,me usa
jujst starting getting this chaga and so far have gotten over 3hundred pounds do u know of a market for it
My grandparents are Maine Penobscot, native americans, and drink chaga tea every day. They are aged 102 and 105 and still very healthy. They attribute health and long life to the chaga.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
I have gathered this tinder fungus for years as a fire starter for our sacred fires (we use flint and steel here for that most times), but I never knew you could use it as medicine. We have always used chaga for releaving a headache by burning a little bit and inhaling it up into the sinus cavity.
Chaga is highly priced by Native Americans in our area and it is sometimes given as a nice gift betwen traditional people.
Cheboygan, Mi
I am native american and was blown away by your article. I have never heard of chaga. In 2005 I was diagnosised with stage 2 breast cancer. I thank you so much for the info and am looking forward to reading more on Survival topics.
Virginia
Thank you for your detailed info. If you can harvest chaga mushrooms, please let me know. More the better. I want buy it from you.
My husband and I are glued to your site every night abosrbing lots of valuable information. All the articles are extremely well thought out and easy to understand(pictures are +++++ !!!).
Derby U.K.
My son has just been diagnosed with a recurring brain tumor and I would like to buy some chaga mushrooms but cant get them in the UK would anyone send some to me me?
Steve: email me at ron@survivaltopics.com and I will send some to you right away.
Alabama
I would like to sample a small amount of Changa 2-3 glasses of tea would be enough for me. I did visit the survival shop but found no info. If everyone wants a sample it will sort of defeat the "Take only what you need and leave the rest" wisdom.
Canada
I am pretty comfortable identifying chaga now. However I was told that mushrooms and toadstools can be very harmfull. Is there another type of mushroom that looks like the chaga which uses the same environment? and is it harmful to diegest?
SurvivalTopics - Like many things you come to know, once you come to recognize Chaga you will likely not mistake any other type of fungus as Chaga.
upstate new york
Survival Topics -yes, from my experience the Chaga continues to grow even after some of it is harvested.
Northern Michigan
I was hiking after reading your article and came upon quite a nice amount of The Changa growing on a White Oak. Is it common for the Chaga Conk to be found on this tree? Also there was a fruiting body growing in the charred wound itself . It was the size of a small plum , was pale in color , hard and cold to the touch.The "Tinder Fungus" burns and smells very similar to Incense. Where can I find more Info on this "Miracle Shroom". I've been all over the net looking with no luck. I'm seeking Chaga recipes, various uses, testimonials, and any study's that may have been done on " The Changa Conk".
Survival Topics - Chaga can grow on a number of hardwood species, though it prefers paper birch and yellow birch. When used for tinder, it likely does not matter if the chaga is taken from a birch or from another species. However if you are seeking to maximize the medicinal properties of Chaga I suggest using those conks you find on birches, since it is the birch tree itself that contains the anti-oxidents and other factors that the Chaga absorbs and concentrates.
Hibbing Minnesota
I find LOTS of Chaga around here (just south of Boundary Waters Canoe Area.) I've come across a couple spots along old logging/hiking trails where it was growing on numerous trees near each other. I use chaga mostly for primitive firemaking classes with kids, but was greatful for the chaga tea information!
Barre, VT
Interested in making my own tincture of chaga for home use. Would like to harvest a small amount and have just started to look around here in the woods, but haven't found any yet. Any advice or suggestions for locating chaga?
Survival Topics - seek out forested areas where paper birches or yellow birches are relatively common. Then simply walk through the forest making careful observations of tree trunks. If you look at enough trees you are likely to find chaga. You may go a day or two without finding any, and then suddenly stumble upon several trees growing the elusive chaga conk. That is really all there is to it.
Canada
I've been interested in Chaga for years, but have only been confident in its identification this year. Just harvested my first one (or half of one--taking only one side of the tree wound, I don't need much), and I'm looking forward to trying the teas and tinctures.
In our area, Upper Boundary Waters (yes there's Chaga here), many people mark Chaga with GPS, so as not to harvest it unnecessarily, but to remember where it is. Of course, I'm not that high tech, so I just make mental notes: in that logging cut, on the ski trail, and so on.
I've heard of harvesting with a chisel, which I don't have. But a hacksaw worked great.
Survival Topics: Using a GPS to mark chaga locations is an excellent method for being able to locate them months after discovery. This is a method I also use, since often finding chaga is a matter of chance and in very remote areas.
As you mention, only harvest chaga as you need it so that the species continues to thrive in the areas you find it. Using a chisel and a piece of wood as a baton it is an easy matter to cut right down to the wood of the tree and dislodge the entire chaga conk or break of smaller pieces as needed.
In areas I frequent, I like to harvest only small pieces of chaga to chew on as I travel, leaving the balance of the conk on the tree for future excursions. This does not seem to effect the remainder to the chaga conk.
Western New York State
I found my first bunch of Chaga today in Letchworth State Park. I have noticed these growths on trees for many years but never knew that they were tinder fungus. I have recently acquired a fire piston and I use chaga exclusively for my tinder. I must have looked at over 300 white birch trees before I found what I was looking for. Once I finally found it there were 4 large areas of growth one tree.
South Africa
I did not know that chaga was also available in Canada. I thought that it only grew in Siberia. I have purchased liquidized chaga for my wife who had been suffering from wheezing for 27 years and the amazing thing is that she has not taken the pump for two months. Is chaga in its natural form more potent than liquidized form?
Survival Topics - as with many things, fresher is better.
Springvale, Maine
I just learned about medicinal mushrooms, and now I want to go foraging for mushrooms everyday. Am finding many polypores and found 1 Chaga, but couldn't get it off the tree. Going back with my son and a sledge hammer! Having trouble keeping my eyes on the road as I drive through birch- country. This is living!
Survival Topics - Good find! Yes, chaga and mushroom hunting is fun. A chisel and hammer are excellent tools for removing chaga from a tree. Please only take what you need and leave the rest and try not to damage the tree. Be grateful for the wonderful gift nature has provided.
Long Island, NY
I have been wrestling and dancing around with prostate cancer for 7 years. I tried to avoid western medical treatment, but I couldn't get the cancer into remission. It's now in remission after radiation treatment. One dr. told me that my immune system was overwhelmed and once the treatment was completed my immune system would have to be strong enough to take care of the remaining cancer cells. I sense chaga will do this. Thanks for your info.
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Iowa
I'm going to the BWCA or Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Have you ever seen Chaga there? I will be looking for it.
Survival Topics - Let us know any area where chaga is found- and have fun!