Herb a Day Campaign: Chaga | Inonotus obliquus

Herb a day Campaign : Chaga □□Can □□We □□Talk□□About□□Chaga! This fungus is one of the most amazing fungus around. And I want to be a mycologist when I grow up so that’s saying a lot. It was first used by the Knanty people of Siberia. It traditionally grows on Birch trees, and while it can grow on others, we consume the Fungus from this. It grows in Northern cold climates. It is parasitic. Period. Insects eats certain parts of the mushroom and carry it to the next unsuspecting tree and it they have a cut or wound, it gets in there and starts its process. It has about an 8 to 12 year process of attacking the tree so the parts you see on the outside of the Birch are more than half way through this. Chaga more than likely means certain death for any tree it feeds off of, but it has amazing life-giving benefits for us when we consume it. The black portion of the fungus you see on the outside of the tree gets its color from melanin. (Yep, the same stuff that gives our eyes, hair, and skin their color). So it’s no wonder it helps protect the skin from sun damage as well as keeping melanin in healthy amounts in our system. Chaga supports the immune system and is very high in beta gluans. Beta glucans have been shown to increase white blood cell activation. This benefit could help to put the body in the defense mode to regulate its anti tumor properties. It has also been used to lessen the side effects of some harsher drugs used to treat rapidly multiplying cells that may produce disease in the body. Some of the people exposed to the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster used Chaga Mushroom to lessen some of the effects of the radiation poisoning. Used as well for blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol. It’s an all around ridiculously amazing herb and we are lucky to get to use it for ourselves. #herbs #fungus #mushroom #chaga #chagamushroom #melanin #immune #endurance #skinhealth #radiation #birch #birchtree #herbalist #masterherbalist #dallasherbalist #knowledge #letmeteachyou #spreadtheknowledge #thankyou #beteachable #helponeanother #slanginherbs #herbnerd