Chaga mushrooms grow in the forests of Siberia, Canada, Northern Japan and the Northeastern United States. Chaga is highly prized in Russian and East European herbal practices, with the modern clinical research validating many of the health benefits described in those herbal sources.
Chaga is unique among medicinal mushrooms: Like all medicinal mushrooms, Chaga contains the beta glucan rich polysaccharides that give medicinal mushroom extracts their potent immune supporting properties. However, Chaga also contains other active compounds, primarily betulinic acid and polyphenols, which can give Chaga extracts powerful anti-oxidant properties*.
Chaga has a high ORAC score (measurement of antioxidant properties), similar to that of blueberry extracts.
Chaga is a mushroom that must be wild-crafted (picked in the wild and not cultivated.) Only those mushrooms harvested from living birch trees will contain all the active compounds Chaga is famous for. The mushroom fruit body absorbs betulin from the birch bark, converting it to betulinc acid.
The scientific name for Chaga is Inonotus obliquus. Chaga is unique among medicinal mushrooms. In addition to potent immune stimulating properties, Chaga extracts can also provide significant anti-oxidant benefits.* This assessment was done on the MushroomScience Chaga extract by Brunswick Labs; the testing they do is considered to be the industry standard for this purpose. They performed a test that assigns supplements an “ORAC” score as a way to measure and compare anti-oxidant properties between different supplements.
The ORAC value of the MushroomScience Chaga extract was higher than green or black tea extracts and similar to that of blueberry extracts. The anti-oxidant properties are attributed to multiple active compounds, a triterpene called betulinic acid and various polyphenols.*
Given this broad range of diverse health benefits, Chaga is one of the most useful mushroom extracts for general immune support.*
Chaga is a mushroom that must be wild crafted (harvested in the wild). Only those mushrooms harvested from birch trees will contain all the active compounds Chaga is famous for. Chaga absorbs one of these active compounds, betulinic acid, from the bark of the birch tree that serves as its host.
Cultivated mycelium, whether grown in a liquid broth through submerged culture or grown on rice, oats or some other grain, will be missing the betulinic acid and the other compounds that provide the anti-oxidant benefits. These compounds can only be found in mushrooms growing on birch trees.
MushroomScience contracts with a company that harvests Chaga mushrooms from an extremely large geographical area in order to avoid over harvesting.
Tradition
Chaga grows in the forests of Finland, Siberia, Japan, Canada and the Northeastern United States. Although there is no recorded use of Chaga in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chaga is highly prized in the traditional herbal practices of Russia, Poland, Finland and the Baltic countries.*
MushroomScience contracts with a company that harvests Chaga mushrooms from an extremely large geographical area so as not to over harvest any one particular area.
The famous Russian author and scientist Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote about Chaga. The people in the area of Russia where he lived had a custom of making Chaga into a tea, and he commented that the people in this area were very healthy and long lived, a fact he attributed to their daily use of Chaga tea.*
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease
Other ingredients: Vegetarian Capsule (cellulose), Inonotus obliquus mycelium, myceliated rice.
Suggested use: Adults, take 1-3 capsules, twice daily, on an empty stomach.
Warnings: Keep out of reach of children. Do not use if allergic to mushrooms, pregnant or breastfeeding. Do not use if safety seal around top of bottle is missing or broken. Store at room temperature, with lid closed.
