Chaga Uses and Plant Monograph
When I harvested chaga in the Scottish Highlands recently, I asked permission from the chaga, the birch, and the surrounding forest and let them know that I’d come to gather medicine for Lincoln, my friend’s Labrador retriever, who has cancer. Lincoln has a large tumor on his torso that looks like chaga protruding from the trunk of a birch tree. I sensed a yes, permission, and openness from the tree that I doubted for a moment when I began to harvest the chaga since the mass was so difficult to remove from the birch.
I rarely use tools to harvest; I prefer my hands whenever possible, but for this I had to rely on a tool. I borrowed my friend’s knife and released just a bit from a healthy part of the forest populated by birch trees and left most intact. It was a good agreement, and I am so grateful for the gift. In my small muslin bag, the chaga looks and feels like a pouch of gold.
Chaga Uses & Plant Profile Summary
-
Botanical Name: Inonotus obliquus
-
Other Common Names: The name ‘chaga’ is derived from ‘чага’ the Russian word for mushroom in the language of indigenous people living west of the Ural Mountains. Deemed “the Mushroom of Immortality” by Siberian Russian shamans, chaga is also known as tinder fungus, clinker polypore and to some, the “king of medicinal mushrooms.”
-
Family: Hymenochaetaceae
-
Parts Used: While most people call chaga a mushroom, the fungus is actually a medicinal mass of mycelium called a sclerotia
-
Energetics: Neutral, slightly drying
-
Taste: Earthy, with a sweet vanilla-like flavor and slight astringent tones
-
Plant Properties: Immunomodulator, adaptogen, antiviral, anti inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-cancer, stomachic
-
Plant Uses: Chronic immune disorders, chronic stress, promotes appetite, increases nutrient absorption
-
Plant Preparations: Medicinal tea, dual-extracted tincture, capsules, powdered extract
Chaga’s Historical Use in Cancer Treatment
In his 1968 semi-autobiographical novel Cancer Ward, Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote about the powers of chaga, especially when it came to treating and even preventing cancer.1 The novel follows the work of Sergei N. Maslennikov, a Russian doctor who noted that he didn’t have any cancer patients among the peasants he treated who saved money on buying tea by harvesting and brewing chaga. He felt they had unknowingly (or maybe knowingly) been preventing and treating cancer for centuries. In order to test his theory, he began treating willing cancer patients with varied extractions made from chaga. His notebooks record the results of ideal methods of medicinal extraction and dosage and of his treatment of cancer with chaga, with many patients making full recoveries. It’s perhaps not a surprise then that chaga has been an approved anticancer drug in Russia since 1955.
Understanding the Uses of Chaga
Chaga thrives in extreme northern climates. In winter, chaga is exposed to snow, ice and freezing temperatures while in summer they endure hot, long days and exposure to sunlight. To defend against these and other environmental and microbial threats, chaga has evolved biologically active constituents that also support our bodies. Let’s take a look at some, along with their actions.
Chaga as an Immunomodulator
Immunomodulators help to regulate the immune system by stimulating or suppressing as needed. Autoimmune issues are a result of our body overcompensating— our system is trying too hard and overcorrecting.
The immunomodulating properties of chaga have been shown to strengthen the immune system by regulating the production of cytokines and supporting the immune system with better cell communication. Beta glucans, Vitamin D, and high levels of antioxidants are among the constituents in chaga that appear to support our immune system.
Beta-glucans are found on the outside of fungal cells. Unlike simple sugars, beta-glucans and other polysaccharides in chaga digest slowly and can regulate our body’s intake of sugar. The most notable health benefit of beta-glucans is their ability to help support a healthy immune system response.2 Beta-glucans are water soluble and will be present after long, low temperature extractions.
Chaga is also a strong source of vitamin D, which is helpful for the long, dark winters in cold climates where chaga lives. Vitamin D has been shown to modulate our innate and adaptive immune responses. Deficiency of Vitamin D is associated with autoimmune challenges and increased susceptibility to infection.3
Chaga’s ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) value is 52,000, making it one of the highest in the world. The ORAC score is a method developed by scientists at the National Institute of Health and Aging (NIH) to measure the antioxidant capacity of supplements and food.
An antioxidant is a chemical that can reduce or prevent oxidative damage by defending against free radicals, molecules that have unpaired electrons in their outer shell and are associated with damage to cellular membranes, enzymes, and DNA.4 Environmental stresses such as pollution, pesticides, or UV radiation increase our body’s free radical burden. Since recent clinical trials have found that antioxidant supplementation can significantly improve certain immune responses, it makes sense that chaga with its high ORAC value can help.
Chaga’s Adaptogenic Properties
Chaga is a powerful adaptogen that helps bring the body into balance through beneficial effects on the nervous system. Adaptogens are known to help our bodies cope with physical, emotional, and environmental stress through interaction with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA).5 Growing research shows that adaptogens help to improve mood, balance hormones, fight fatigue, and support the immune system.
Chaga as a Digestive Tonic
Chaga is a stomachic, which is a medicine that promotes the appetite or aids digestion. Chaga does this through anti-inflammatory properties and stimulation of bile to help with nutrient absorption, stimulation of the liver, assist in the breakdown of foods and healthy elimination. Chaga also contains digestive nutrients such as manganese, thiamin, digestive enzymes, and dietary fiber.
Constituents
Chaga contains many healing constituents, including betulinic acid, beta glucans, polyphenols, polysaccharides, phenolic compounds, betulin, triterpenoids, melanin, and high levels of antioxidants.
Identifying and Harvesting Chaga
Though the mycelia can be cultivated in grain, Chaga is usually harvested from birch trees and other hardwoods such as beech. It is best to get ethically wildcrafted Chaga for the most medicinal benefit.
Chaga has the appearance of an irregular, cracked mass of burnt charcoal. When chaga is harvested, we find a beautiful color of rust inside. They are a slow-growing species, taking three to five years to fully form, and because of that, when I gather chaga for medicine, I leave plenty on the tree and take only as much as I need.
I rarely use tools to harvest medicine; I prefer my hands whenever possible, but for chaga, I have to rely on a tool. I use a sturdy knife and release just a bit from healthy parts of forest populated by birch trees and leave most intact. When harvested, chaga looks and feels like a pouch of gold.
Chaga can be difficult to find so if you’d rather order chaga, I encourage you to find a supplier such as Harmonic Arts that wildcrafts in a sustainable way. This is a great video from naturalist Jamie Kunka that shows the process of harvesting chaga, making medicine, fire and dye for clothing.
Botanically Speaking
Chaga is native to Russia, Asia, Northern regions of Europe and North America. They are most commonly found on birch trees but can also be found on beech, alder and other hardwood trees in the cold north.
Chaga is a melanin rich mushroom that is not really a mushroom but a medicinal mass of mycelium called sclerotia. All fungi begin with a spore that germinates and grows strands called the mycelium. The fruiting body of a mushroom is like the familiar portobello mushroom, and the mycelium is the vast feeding body that we might not recognize as well. But in the case of chaga, the perennial growth on tree trunks is a mass of mycelium, not the fruiting bodies usually thought of as mushrooms.
The research of scientist Susan Simard6 has shown how mycelium forms symbiotic relationships with trees in order to provide greater connectivity with the larger forest web, which in turn helps the forest function as one unified ecosystem. In the best circumstances fungi and their hosts benefit from the relationship — the fungi act as fascia, connecting and supporting the host’s root tissues and improving their moisture and nutrient absorption capabilities. In exchange, the host plant provides the fungi with carbohydrates produced through photosynthesis.
While chaga can be grown on grains, it is the combination of chaga and birch — the predigested betulinic acid derivatives and melano-glucan complexes — that make chaga a potent healer. On grain, the chaga is disconnected from the forest network so I wonder about the other aspects of the medicine that we cannot determine through constituents alone. Some argue that chaga’s relationship with birch is parasitic, while others say the relationship is symbiotic, and that chaga helps to heal the tree’s wounds. Whatever they go through in their partnership, the combination of the two is potent, and chaga, in the most medicinal form, does not exist without their host tree.
It is important to note that because of chaga’s increasing popularity and slow reproduction, this mycelial mass is becoming more and more scarce in the wild.7 To learn more about the overharvesting of chaga, you can check out this article from United Plant Savers.
Plant Preparations
Chaga is often ingested as a medicinal tea but can also be made into a tincture using a dual-extraction method, which I’ll explain below Powdered Chaga supplements in the form of capsules or drinks are also used, but it is important to research the process of extraction since many of the medicinal constituents are only released through prolonged exposure to heat (through decoction) and alcohol.
Herbal Infusion/Decoction
Place chaga and water into a large covered pot or Crockpot and simmer. Water temperatures over 180°F can destroy some of the beneficial chaga chemicals so try not to bring the water to a boil. I like using a Crockpot at low heat for up to 8 hours. The long infusion helps break down the tough chitin, a protective natural polymer found in the cell walls of fungi, and polysaccharide molecules. Once they are broken down, they further release biologically active chemicals that are beneficial.
Once infused, filter, drink, and enjoy. A typical dosage for use as a medicinal tea is one to three cups a day, but it’s important to listen to your body and your unique needs when working with medicinal plants or fungi. If you are using a chunk of wildcrafted chaga for tea, you can dry your chaga and re-brew multiple times.
Dual Extraction (Tincture)
As mentioned before, some constituents such as betulinic acid, phytosterols, and betulin will not be released from the chaga into the water-based extraction. But an alcohol tincture will capture many of the biologically active chemicals that were not released into the water extraction. So for a complete medicine, a dual extraction is often used.
I like to create my chaga tincture using the folk method. Here’s how I do it:
- I typically drink chaga tea (and even add chaga decoction to my morning coffee), but when I do make tincture, I do my water extraction first, then collect the chunks of chaga to tincture. I place them in a glass jar and, like making other tinctures, fill the jar with alcohol. I like to use 80–100 proof vodka.
- Start with enough chaga to fill a glass mason jar 2/3 of the way, then top off with alcohol, and let sit for 4-6 weeks. I like to use the same chaga for the water extraction or vice versa. For the combined tincture, strain the chaga and then combine water extraction. A typical ratio would be 3 – parts water decoction to 1 part alcohol.
If you would like to create your tincture using the ratio method (which allows for more accuracy in dosing and alcohol content), you can follow these directions:
- To create a double extraction with chaga, first extract the dried mushroom in alcohol and glycerine.
- Here is the ratio you will use for extraction: 1:5, 50–70% alcohol content and 10% vegetable glycerin.
- Once your tincture has steeped for at least two weeks and you’ve strained out the mushroom, it’s now time to decoct this strained out mushroom. To do this, cover the mushroom in water and simmer it on the stove, covered, for 45 minutes.
- Strain off the decoction and let it cool to room temperature. Once your decoction has cooled, combine equal volume of tincture and decoction together and stir. (The goal is to make sure that your final alcohol content is at least 20–30%.)
Tincture doses range from 20–30 drops 2 to 3 times a day but again, it’s important to be clear about your intentions and listen to your body.
Special Considerations
Few side effects are associated with chaga, but the extract may interact with blood thinning medications such as warfarin and aspirin.
If you use diabetes medication, you may also want to take caution when using chaga since it may interact negatively with insulin and medications designed to moderate blood-sugar levels.
There is no research on the safety of chaga for people who are pregnant or lactating so the most prudent option is to avoid use.
Summary
Chaga is a tasty mass of antioxidant-rich mycelium that has been shown to support our immune systems, help us respond to stress with more ease, aid digestion, and may have benefits for fighting cancer. While chaga can be grown on grains, it is the combination of chaga and birch — the predigested betulinic acid derivatives and melano-glucan complexes — that makes chaga a potent healer. It is important to purchase chaga from sustainable sources as it is a slow-growing, vulnerable species. My favorite way to enjoy the healing power of chaga is a rich, earthy cup of medicinal tea.
Footnotes
The Herbal Remedy Vault has all of our printable recipe cards...
