I’ve never heard of chaga until I came upon a bottled drink of chaga made by Sayan Health.
The bottle stated that it’s not a tea or juice, but more of an exotic medley of healthy herbs and berries. It was not bitter at all. it was actually very good.
This is the bottled Chaga I tried in wild raspberry. Can be found at your local Whole Foods Market or ask about it at your favorite health food market. Photo from Amazon.
The label on Chaga tea also stated that this mushroom has antioxidants that are 6 times stronger then acai. The fact that it’s not as pretty looking (as many of the superfruits) probably make this fungus less popular.
Sanya Health got it’s company name from the Altai-Sayan Mountains in the Siberia taiga (where temperatures are below -40 degrees most of the year). As this is where they harvest their chaga, since the extremely cold temperatures produce more potent chaga.
Chaga (scientific name: Inonotus obliquus) also known as cinder cork. It’s a unique fungus that grows especially on the wounds of birch trees. But it can also be found growing on ironwood, elm, alder, beech and other hardwood species.
It has the highest antioxidant concentration of any known natural food. When made into tea (and no sweetener added), the taste is suppose to be slightly bitter. Like many herbal medicines, the bitterness seems to be a common factor.
Due to chaga’s health benefits, it’s been referred to as “King of Herbs” and “Nature’s Silver Bullet”. Chaga has been researched as an antiviral, anti-tumor for breast and uterine and other cancers, and diabetes.
If you are hiking in the northern forest, you might just come across them. Once they mature, they resemble burnt charcoal.
The beneficial part of the mushroom is the hardened mass of mycelium. It’s the part that grows on the outside of the living host tree. This is the part used as medicinal tea.
Photo from The Ontario Woodlot Association.
Chaga can also be found growing in the Northern US and parts of the Carolina mountains. It also grows in Korea and Canada too.
Ron Fontaine of Survival Topic, enjoys collecting chaga from the northern woods and drink it for good health. Mr. Fontaine also advises that we, “Take only what you need and leave the rest”. It is good advice.
Wild Branch Mushrooms had this to add to the benefits of chaga mushroom:
“Chaga concentrates betulin from the bark of birch trees, which has shown promise in treating malignant melanoma, completely inhibiting tumors implanted in mice and causing apoptosis of cancerous cells. Chaga extracts also show antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory activity, and is known to be a liver tonic and an immune enhancer.”
If anyone is interested in wild harvesting chaga, check out Edible Forest Mushrooms here. They have good instructions and descriptions too.
Over the past 40 years, there has been many scientific studies of the health effects of chaga. Here is one study done about chaga having anticancer properties.
For other herbal tonics, check out my review of World Panda Food & Beverage cordyceps.
Chaga powder available at Mountain Rose Herbs.
10:00 pm on June 27th, 2010
Amazing what they would find and bring back to us. I guess it looks so ugly and that’s why it’s not as popular, and to be honest I would be afraid to try also. Although it doesn’t look half bad in a bottle.
10:23 pm on June 28th, 2010
Sometimes I wonder if it’s all a marketing hype… this year it’s acai or goji berries, then it’s mushrooms!
But I think it would be neat to go hunting for chaga mushroom. Too bad it doesn’t grow out west in California.
4:28 pm on November 2nd, 2010
Love the wild chaga we get here in Ontario. Went for a walk in the birch forest and voila chaga tea. I love the energy it gives me. Glad to see we can purchase in Whole Foods now - way to go!
8:33 pm on November 6th, 2010
Hi Rod,
You are lucky to have wild chaga. I order chaga powder online and make my own chaga tea. It’s probably the best tasting mushroom tea I’ve had as it’s not bitter at all. Go chaga!