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Also, if you are this type of person, you will find what you are looking for in this article.

I fell in love with this mushroom while I was reading every website about natural remedies for a medical condition I have(had). Most of them were nonsensical and off target, but I finally found what I was looking for when I learned about chaga.

This is the whole reason why I spend dozens of hour every week writing this blog. I want the world to know what a powerful mushroom chaga is.

What Are The 9 Health Benefits Of Chaga?

There are more than just nine health benefits that can be attributed to the consumption of the fungus, but I’ve chosen some of my favorite. In case you don’t want to read the details and you are just here for the list, here it is:

1. It makes you live longer
2. It fights cancer
3. It makes you look younger
4. It regulates insulin
5. It gives you a kick in the butt
6. It regulates your gut
7. It kills free radicals
8. It reduces inflammation
9. It reduces your stress

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The health benefits of chaga have been known for centuries in every society that has been in contact with it.

It’s like they all, separately, without talking the other, learned that the odd-looking mushrooms on birch trees can be incredibly powerful medicine.

What may be surprising is that all of these health benefits are backed by real studies made by real scientists. It’s not just some anecdotal evidence and the word of an ill-advised shaman or anything of the sort.

Without any further introduction, let’s jump on the crazy train of health benefits that is the chaga mushroom. Buckle up!

1. It Makes You Live Longer

Well If that’s not a bold statement about the health benefits of chaga, I don’t know what it is.

“You better have some rock-solid proof mister before making such claim” You say.

I do have some proof actually, You can read this pdf which is the result of a study on DNA repair with chaga. If you read it you’ll get to read sexy terms like phytochemicals and lymphocytes. Umpf!

I know that DNA repair is not the same thing as life expectancy, but healthy DNA and healthy cells make you less prone to diseases and, therefore, make you live longer. Yay!

There is also anecdotal evidence coming from every tribe and society from around the globe that have been in contact with the healing mushroom in the past. They are all discussing the link between daily consumption of the mushroom and a higher life expectancy.

If you love life and want to stick around for some time, you should consider including chaga in your daily routine. It tastes good, it makes you feel good and it makes your body feel good. Win-win-win.

Fun fact: In Russian folklore, they say that you should drink a drop of chaga tincture a day for every year you have been on this earth. It makes sense when you know that a tincture of chaga contains betulinic acid, the powerful cancer-fighting molecule.

2. It Fights Cancer

Speaking of the cancer-fighting molecule. It has been PROVEN that this ugly-looking mushroom is one of the most powerful cancer-fighting food you can consume.

In this study made by the Korean Nutrition Society, they have concluded that chaga(described in the study as inonotus Obliquus, its Latin name) can be used as a natural anti-cancer ingredient. In their own words:

The results suggest that I. obliquus and its compounds in these subfractions isolated from I. obliquus could be used as natural anticancer ingredients in the food and/or pharmaceutical industry.

The Korean Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Community Nutrition

If you think that the Korean study is an isolated case, Here are four other studies confirming the link between cancer reduction and chaga:

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874115300477
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2681140/
3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0024320506000026
4. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.2836

I could have posted more studies, but you get the point.

If you don’t want to click and read each study, here’s the important part: Chaga helps to prevent and to treat cancer, but the most active molecule is the betulinic acid, which can only be extracted with alcohol (a tincture).

The water-soluble molecules that you would find in a tea are making an impact on cancer cells, but not as much as water-insoluble molecules (betulinic acid).

If you want to get the most out of your chaga and create a tincture, you can visit our Wild Mushroom Pokédex card on Chaga.

3. It Makes You Look Younger

Chaga can make you look younger in two ways:

By Application On The Skin

The Japanese have been using the chaga mushroom for beauty products for centuries and we are just catching up to them recently.

How can I use chaga as a beauty product?

It’s so simple that even I can do it. You just mix the chaga powder with some sort of fat to create a cream of a pomade.

You can use the cream to prevent skin damage, as a sunblock or to treat a burn like you would use aloe vera.

I honestly don’t think any formal study has been made on a chaga cream so I wouldn’t use it as sunblock in a heatwave in Morroco. You should probably test it in a moderate climate before.

By Reducing The Effects Of Aging On The Body

As you will read in the seventh health benefits in a couple of seconds, chaga kills free radicals. One of the effects of this genocide is the reduction of the age-related change in appearance, like:

• Grey hair
• Hair loss
• Wrinkles
• Cataracts

When it comes to health, beauty shouldn’t be a major consideration, but if chaga can change so much about the age-related aspects of your appearance, it makes you wonder what it does to rejuvenate what we can’t see on the inside.

4. It Regulates Insulin

With type 2 diabetes being on a steady climb in the western society, it’s refreshing to see that some nutrients can regulate the level of insulin in the body.

A normal level of insulin is usually the opposite of diabetes, which is nice.

When you consider the fact that nearly 1 in 3 American have some form of diabetes (from prediabetes to type 1), controlling the insulin level becomes almost a matter of national security.

Don’t worry, I have good news. Studies have shown that chaga has a positive effect on mice with diabetes. To my knowledge, no formal studies have been made on humans, but it looks promising.

Side note – I am referring to type 2 diabetes only, type 1 diabetes is something different that doesn’t seem to be influenced by the consumption of chaga.

5. It Gives You a Kick In The Butt

Believe it or not, chaga can bring you energy like you haven’t seen in a while. A small quantity of the decoction can get you through your to-do list in no time.

I used to make what I called a half n’ half. Half of my cup was coffee and the other half was chaga. I stopped doing this when I realized I was talking faster than the speed of sound.

You shouldn’t mess with a chaga decoction if you are sensitive to stimulants.

I’ve never tried any illegal stimulant, but I would guess that it can be similar.

But not always

On the complete opposite, I found that a chaga tea relaxes me. It makes my mind wander and relaxes my body. I usually drink chaga tea before bed.

I have no idea why the two drinks made with the same ingredients are so opposite in their reaction, but what I do know is that I’m far from the only one experiencing these opposite reactions.

6. It Regulates Your Gut

This one is my favorite. As someone who suffers from ulcerative colitis, I love this mushroom from the bottom of my heart. It’s the reason why I got interested in it in the first place.

I don’t have any symptoms of my disease since I’ve started to consume chaga on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean that I’m cured, but I do appreciate the 10 years long (and counting) break from the disease.

I don’t want to give you false hope. Maybe the mushroom has nothing to do with my recovery, but the timing is suggesting that it helped at least a little.

The studies also suggest that the anti-inflammatory properties of the chaga mushroom DO help patient with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis to heal.

If you aren’t as lucky as I am and still suffer from Crohn’s or UC, I would suggest you give it a shot. It may not cure you, but it will certainly help you.

7. It Kills Free Radicals

Sounds cool, doesn’t it?

If you are not familiar with the term, according to medicalnewstoday.com, free radicals are unstable atoms that can damage cells, causing illness and aging

When you read further on free radicals you learn that these bastards cause multiple diseases, according to the same article in medicalnewstoday.com, free radicals can cause:

• Alzheimer’s and dementia
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Autoimmune and inflammatory disorders (remember Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis)
• Cataracts and age-related vision decline
• Age-related changes in appearance, such as wrinkle, grey hair or hair loss
• Diabetes
• Genetic degenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s disease or Parkinson’s

Now that you know that free radicals are the bad guys, you should b happy to know that, according to this study, chaga “scavenge” free radicals.

Like you needed another reason to drink the chaga tea…

8. It Reduces Inflammation

Inflammation can be linked to free radicals, but they are two completely different beasts.

Usually, the body uses inflammation as a defense mechanism. The problem comes when the body uses inflammation for perceived attacks that are in fact, false positive.

Unfortunately, inflammation isn’t only physical, it also influences your immune system and your mood.

If that didn’t scare you enough, a link has been made between chronic inflammation and cancer. Bringing us back to the second point of this list.

So reducing the inflammation in our body can help us regulate our immune system, regulate our mood and prevent cancer.

It sounds like a good thing doesn’t it?

9. It Reduces Your Stress

Like we saw in the previous health benefit, inflammation influences our mood, so a reduction of the inflammation will result in a reduction of stress. On paper at least.

I’ve also mentioned before that a chaga decoction will give you a kick in the butt if it is consumed with coffee. It might be a good idea to drink chaga tea if you want to relax.

Honestly, stress reduction is a bonus benefit, but it’s a welcomed one. If you weren’t convinced to start consuming chaga today with the previous 8 points, lowering your stress level might be the push you needed to buy the powerful mushroom.

Conclusion on the 9 health benefits of chaga

Science is barely catching up to the potential of this powerful fungus. We know so much about it and simultaneously know very little.

We haven’t use chaga in medication just yet but if I had one prediction to make for the future is that it will revolutionize the health industry.

You might want to buy or forage some and store it for the long term because the big pharma begins to take interest in the mushroom, the price will go up and the availability will go down.

You should definitely take advantage of the mushroom right now because today is the best moment to start consuming chaga.

Click on this link if you want to buy chaga on Amazon.

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Here are a few questions you might have and their answer.