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Positive Eaters!
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Above is the wild mushroom known as Chaga! I started searching for this superfood after Ryan returned from a seminar with David Wolfe at Kripalu in May. He came back with stories of this mushroom you could find growing on birch trees in the woods that possessed an ORAC rating higher than Cacao. So off I went into the woods, bushwacking and staring up and down at birch trees of every shape and size. I also started to research this magical mushroom (that does not cause you to hallucinate so don't get too excited). I also wanted to make sure I went about this safely and successfully.
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Chaga is a parasitic fungus (I know you just read parasite and are thinking I finally went completely crazy, not to fear I did my research) that infects primarily birch trees. Accounts of this mushroom being used in traditional medicine date back to the 16th century in Russia. The mushroom gained substantially more attention when a Russian author wrote a book called Cancer Ward. In this fictional book, (that is often thought to be an autobiographical account of the author's own battle and recovery from cancer) the main character discusses the use of Chaga to help treat his case of cancer.
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Recent studies are starting to back up these claims. Scientists in Russia, Finland and South Korea located something called betulinic acid in Chaga mushrooms. When the acid was applied to tumors in vitro they brought about anti-melanomic activity, in other words stopped the growth of tumors. Later studies showed it can also produce apoptosis, the killing of cancer cells. Human and animal trials still need to be conducted (which always makes me laugh because humans have already been using it for 400 years, they should just go study those people).
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The anti-tumor thing is certainly exciting. However, chaga is also know to be anti-inflammatory, immune stimulating, a pain reliever and effective in the treatment of ulcers. As I stated earlier, tests for antioxidant content on Chaga specimens reach well over 1000. To give you a reference point, blueberries are often touted for there high antioxidant content...your best batch of blueberries might get you into the 200's.
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The craziest thing about finding my first Chaga mushroom is where I found it. I searched high and low and deep into forests for these things and I end up finding it three miles from where I live. I dropped my car off at the mechanic to get some routine service done and was about to go out for a run. I walked over to a grassy spot near a housing development and looked up into this birch tree that abuts the property and lo and behold there was this burnt charcoaly mushroom. The process now will be drying it and breaking it up into a powder to make a tea. I will let you know how that goes.
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*Disclaimer: definitely study these things well if you go searching for one...they really are unmistakable in the way they look...still I don't want anyone ending up in a hospital or going on a three day halluconegenic trip because you made a tea out of the wrong mushroom. Best resource on finding and harvesting chaga mushrooms that I found was this guy, Daniel Vitalis, check out his website and videos if you are interested in Chaga.
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Stay Positive,
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Matthew
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