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The History of Chaga in Herbal Medicine
Chaga Mushroom Ancient and Great History Called the “Gift of God” or “King of Herbs,” the Chaga Mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) has been recognized for thousands of years in Russia, Korea, Eastern and Northern Europe, the northern United States, the mountains of North Carolina, and Canada. Since the 16th century, Chaga has been used in folk and botany throughout Eastern Europe. Chaga is a birch mushroom and grows on living trunks of mature birch trees in cold climates. The name Chaga (pronounced “cha-ga”) comes from the Russian word for mushroom (czaga), which is derived from the word for mushroom. In Norway, Chaga (kreftkjuke ') means...
The History of Chaga in Herbal Medicine
Chaga Mushroom Old and great history
Called the “Gift of God” or “King of Herbs,” the Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) has been recognized for thousands of years in Russia, Korea, Eastern and Northern Europe, the northern United States, the mountains of North Carolina, and Canada.
Since the 16th century, Chaga has been used in folk and botany throughout Eastern Europe. Chaga is a birch mushroom and grows on living trunks of mature birch trees in cold climates.
The name Chaga (pronounced “cha-ga”) comes from the Russian word for mushroom (czaga), which is derived from the word for mushroom. In Norway, chaga (kreftkjuke') means "cancer polypore" in reference to its mushroom appearance and supposed medicinal properties.
The use of chaga in Chinese medicine dates back thousands of years, when locals in the mountainous region of Siberia drank chaga tea daily, inhaled chaga, and used it topically (on the skin). Over time, its popularity spread to the west of the Urai Mountains and the Baltic regions of Eastern Europe.
Medicinal mushrooms to promote health
The International Society for Mushroom Science (ISMS), in its online article “Medicinal Mushroom Products as a Good Source of Dietary Supplements,” suggests that mushrooms may be useful as nutraceuticals – foods or food products that provide health and medicinal benefits. “These compounds, referred to as “mushroom nutrients,” exhibit either medicinal and/or tonic properties and have immense potential as dietary supplements…” writes ISMS.
Research also suggests that mushrooms, molds, mycelia, and lichens may have antiviral, antimicrobial, anticancer, antihyperglycemic, cardioprotective, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Medicinal mushrooms are classified into two types: edible or extracted. Chaga is an extracted species. The extraction process is necessary to make at least some of the active components bioavailable. This is the extent to which a nutrient (or drug) can be used by the body.
Like all natural materials, whole mushrooms exhibit great variability in quality and utility. Individual chemicals can cause intense reactions and therefore undesirable side effects.
"Nutriceuticals, which are extracted products, occupy a middle ground between these extremes and have proven to be very useful. However, obtaining a high quality and trustworthy product is of the utmost importance." (ISM).
Possible Health Benefits of Chaga
Researchers in Japan and China have studied the anticancer properties of polysaccharides found in some mushrooms, including chaga, and found effects comparable to chemotherapy and radiation, with only side effects. Among the many beneficial properties in chaga, the polysaccharides have been shown to have powerful anti-inflammatory and immune-balancing properties that can stimulate the body to produce natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells fight infections and tumor growth.
In 1958, researchers in Finland and Russia found that chaga may provide anticancer benefits for breast, liver-uterine, and stomach cancers, as well as high blood pressure and diabetes. The Russian magazine Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii reported on the benefits of chaga extract against psoriasis in 1973.
David Winston, an herbalist and ethnobotanist with nearly 40 years of training in Cherokee, Chinese and Western herbal traditions, suggests that chaga is the most powerful anticancer medicinal mushroom available. And in 1968, Russian Nobel laureate Alexandr Solzhenitsyn wrote about the medicinal uses of chaga in his semi-autobiographical novel Cancer Ward, in which he describes his experiences in a hospital in Tashkent.
Chaga's medicinal properties span centuries and across continents. Today, its use to promote health is supported by a long list of peer-reviewed scientific research.
Article sources:
Inonotus oblique. (2012, October 31). In theWikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved November 5, 2012 at 5:48 p.m
Chang, ST “Product of Medicinal Mushrooms as a Good Source of Dietary Supplements.”International Society for Fungal Science.