CHAGA MUSHROOM " IMMORTALITY"

Chaga is a non-toxic fungal parasite that grows on birch trees (as well as a few other types) in Northern climates. It is far from your typical soft and squishy mushroom, it actually looks and feels like burnt wood or charcoal. Chaga is known by the Siberians as the “Gift From God” and the “Mushroom of Immortality.” The Japanese call it “The Diamond of the Forest,” and the Chinese refer to it as the “King of Plants.” The Chinese also regard it as an amazing factor in achieving longevity. Chaga does grow in North America, but most Americans have no clue of its existence, let alone amazing healing properties, which will be listed below.

This mushroom of immortality is said to have the highest level of anti-oxidants of any food in the world and also, the highest level of superoxide dismutase (one of the body’s primary internal anti-oxidant defenses) that can be detected in any food or herb. The active constituents of Chaga are a combination of: amino acids, beta glucans, betulinic acid, calcium, chloride, copper, dietary fiber, enzymes, flavonoids, germanium, iron, lanosterol, manganese, magnesium, melanin, pantothenic acid, phenols, phosphorus, polysaccharides, potassium, saponins, selenium, sodium, sterols, trametenolic acid, tripeptides, triterpenes, triterpenoids, vannillic acid, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, Vitamin D2, Vitamin K and zinc. Phew.

Chaga is extremely powerful because it contains within it, the actual life force of trees -the most powerful living beings on this Earth. Trees can live for as long as 10,000 years with some even surpassing that. Chaga concentrates this power, and we can harvest it as well. One of the most important properties of Chaga is betulinic acid, however, in order for chaga to be beneficial, it has to be harvested from birch trees only. Birch trees are the only trees that contain this amazing compound. Betulinic acid has a wide range of biological effects including potent antitumor activity.

Some Other Medicinal Properties Of The Chaga Mushroom Include:

• Anti-HIV – a study published in The Pharmological Potential of Mushrooms demonstrated chaga’s potential to lessen symptoms of HIV.
• Antibacterial – Chaga kills or inhibits growth or replication by suppressing or destroying the reproduction of bacteria.
• Anti-Inflammatory – Chaga is known to be a powerful anti-inflammatory and pain reliever, which makes it excellent for conditions such as arthritis.
• Anti-Candida – Because chaga promotes and protects the liver, candida toxins are processed efficiently.
• Adaptogen – Chaga is an adaptogen. Its compounds can increase the body’s capability of adapting to stress, fatigue and anxiety. (Something most Americans can definitely benefit from.)
• Many other potential benefits include the treatment of asthma, hair loss, allergies, boosting the immune system, diabetes, crohn’s disease, psoriasis, anti-aging and literally hundreds of others.

How To Prepare Wild Chaga Mushroom Tea

Chaga mushrooms grow wild in forests in Northern climates on birch trees. If you are lucky enough to find one, you’ll want to harvest it, as chaga can be quite expensive to purchase. DO NOT cut into the tree to retrieve the chaga, doing so could kill the tree. If retrieved correctly the chaga will continue to grow and will be ready to harvest every four years or so, and the tree will continue to thrive.

***It is important to properly identify the chaga mushroom before consumption. To ensure you are getting the correct fungus, make sure that you are harvesting from birch trees only. Chaga has a similar texture to wood and looks a lot like burnt wood or charcoal, inside it should be a golden orangy color. Be sure to look it up before consuming if you are unsure just to be safe!***

To make the tea, cut a few small pieces off the chaga and place it in a pot. Pour in about 2 liters of filtered water and cover with a lid. Bring the pot to a boil for a minute or so, then reduce the heat to a simmer and keep the lid off. Let this simmer for about an hour and then add in another liter of water and continue to simmer with the lid on for another hour. This will make approximately 1 liter of chaga mushroom tea. It is a time consuming process, but I think that the amazing benefits justify the process, plus it tastes great! It tastes like a nice vanilla flavored black tea. You can add honey or sweetener if you wish, but I think it tastes surprisingly delicious on its own.

You can also grind up the mushroom into a powder form, or make it into a tincture for convenience. Please see this link for more details.

For more sources and studies about the chaga mushroom, please see this link.

Much Love

paper for food

Would you throw to garbage food? especially when thinking about so many poor countries existing on the globe struggling to find food? I can tell that there are some people doing this out there and it's a really sad habit. OK, I understand, perhaps those people are not interested in food but surely they are interested in money. So let me ask you again: would you throw money on the window? Of course not. Unless we do not change our habit of wasting precious material that could be transformed into food we are actually loosing and not winning. 

The above picture is showing a sac of beautiful oyster mushrooms growing on cardboard paper, while below you'll see the entire cultivation process which is so simple that even a 5 year old boy could do it.
Paper is made out of cellulose material  such as trees. Perhaps you are familiar with the news on the Amazonian deforestation. Some companies are using the wood derived from the Amazonian forest to obtain paper while the majority of us are using this paper and then trow it to the garbage. At least we can do something about it: we can recycle it or I could say we can transform it into food and we can sell the food in order to get money. 

What type of paper is it suitable for mushroom cultivation?
Generally all type of material that includes cellulose. I prefer to use cardboard paper because it is not treated with who knows what type of chemicals. However, in order to be sure of this first I used to wash the paper and then use it in the mushroom cultivation process. Although cultivation of oysters on cardboard paper is labor (as you can see below) it is recommended in those areas where sawdust or straw is not available.
I heard that is even better to cultivate mushrooms on paper than on one type of sawdust especially because paper could be derived from a mix of  several types of wood and therefore richer in nutrients.

Probably white or colored paper or even written paper (e.g., books) has some chemical additives used in making the paper colored. Ink used in the process of printing before 1980 contained lead; however, now lead is not part anymore of ink available in the markets. Anyway, I prefer to not use any printed or colored paper if possible, because I want to keep the final product free of any possible chemicals. Oyster mushrooms are able to accumulate heavy metals and any pollutants available in the air or in the substrate on which they grow therefore precaution it is important.

Steps to follow:

1. Place the cardboard in hot water (50-60 C /122-140 F) for two hours trying to maintain the temperature at the same level.
2. Let the material to cool down (25-30 C /77-86 F).
3. The heat treated and cooled material has to be squeezed so that no water drops remain after this process.
4. The material has to be 'opened up' until it gets back to its original shape.
5. The paper is then mixed with gypsum (~ 2%)
6. Add the oyster mushroom mycelium to the mix
7. The material than is placed into a plastic bag
8. Holes are made on its surface for gas exchange
9. Leave the sac for 2- to 3 weeks at 15-23 C /59-73 F (indoors or outside)
10. Once primordia start to mature spray the sac with water (2 times/day)
11. After 3-5 days you may collect your mushrooms.
12. Wait another 10-14 days for a second wave of mushrooms and collect them as well.