In Asia, Chaga's folklore applications are diverse, including building up the immune
system; combating influenza, viruses and bacteria; detoxifying the liver,
kidney and spleen; stimulating the central nervous system; improving skin color
and elasticity and restoring youthful looks. Today, in Japan, Chaga has become very popular among
women as a remedy for pigment spots and wrinkles, thanks to the new fundamental
researches of the Chaga or birch-tree-fungus made by
Japanese scientists.
For thousands of years "Siberian" Chaga was revered throughout the known world particularly in
China, Japan, Russia, Manchuria and Asia Minor. Chaga is documented in the earliest known journal of Oriental
Medicine, "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing" in 100 BC as "The King of Herbs" and a "Gift from God". This journal is now
considered the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chaga is also
referred to in Asian culture as the "Mushroom
of Immortality".
Chaga was used for centuries in many Eastern European countries including
Russia, as a folk remedy for many forms of cancer, tuberculosis of the bones,
diabetes, arthritis, stomach and digestive ailments, blood disorders,
bronchitis, hypertension, tumor growth and viral infections.
The international scientific community has begun significant research
of Chaga's immense health benefits.
Medical research has shown Chaga to be effective as an
anti-tumor agent. In 1958, scientific studies in Finland and Russia found that
this mushroom provided an epochal effect in uterine, liver, breast, and gastric
cancer, and hypertension and diabetes.
The Gandodelan A-B is responsible for blood sugar
maintenance. Chaga activates the immunity system
and arrests the excess production of allergen. Gandodelan A-B does lower blood
sugar content quickly in white mice clinical studies by 60-89% in seven hours.
In Russia and Eastern Europe, Chaga is approved by the Russian Medical Research Council and has been used
for centuries for its effects on good health, immunity, metabolism, tumor
growth, blood pressure, cholesterol, and numerous forms of cancer. Mushroom extracts can be
considered some of the first nutraceuticals - food concentrated into medicinal
form.
Siberian Chaga is considered by many medical researches as one of nature's perfect
medicinal herbs. For the past 44 years, modern scientific studies and clinical trials
based around pharmaceutical Chaga based products have
demonstrated efficacy on the hormonal, immune, oncological, aging, diabetes,
ulcers, and central nervous system disorders. It is estimated that over 40 cancer drugs extracted and base
their formulary origin to Chaga and similar mushroom species that contain AHCC, Lentinan, D-Frantion
and Betulin.
Scientists worldwide are now discovering the healing
abilities of this ancient and noble remedy. In this century, there are over
1400 clinical and scientific research publications, and in vitro controlled
studies devoted to Chaga and its effects, supporting
medicinal mushrooms as an alternative to over-the-counter drugs and
prescription medications.
Wild Siberian Chaga:
• Contains 215 Phytonutrients
• Contains Ergo sterol (Vitamin D2) not found in vegetables
• Contains complex immune activating compounds
• Contains Beta Glucans (Complex Carbohydrates or Polysaccharides)
• Contains 29 Beta functions
• Contains Saponins, Sterols, Triterpenes, Betulinic Acid, SOD (Super oxide Dismutase) and Protein
• Contains Amino Acid Complexes and other trace minerals
• Contains compound Melanin, which restores a youthful appearance
• Has the highest antioxidant value ever recorded for a food or product
• Has been shown to increase human Natural Killer (NK) Cell activity by up
to 300%
Chaga is rich in minerals such as: Vitamin B1, B2 and B3 as well as Amino
Acids. It contains Ergosterol (Vitamin D2), which is not found in vegetables
and has low Caloric Value and High in Dietary Fibers.
Siberian Chaga has 29 beta functions. It
contains Saponins, Sterols, Triterpenes, SOD, Protein and Amino Acid Complexes
and other Trace Minerals. Siberian Chaga contains 215 Phytonutrients as compared with
Lingzhi or Reishi with 180, and has direct synergy with chemotherapy in
preventing tumor metastasis.
ORAC
TESTING/ANTIOXCIDANT COMPARISONS
Recent studies have shown that Chaga has extremely high antioxidant
compounds.
Hundreds of research studies overwhelming confirm the health benefits of
antioxidants. These antioxidants protect the body against agents of disease
called "free radicals", which cause chemical reactions (oxidation)
that destroy cells and damage tissues. Oxidation is thought to be not only one
of the most common mechanisms of disease, but also the basis of the aging
process. Free
radicals cannot be avoided: ultraviolet light, for example, is a common source.
The FDA has recommended that people should increase
their antioxidant consumption to 7000 ORAC units a day to help lower their risk
of Cancer.
What is
ORAC?
ORAC stands for "Oxygen Radical Absorbent
Capacity", a USDA recommended standard for measuring antioxidant capacity.
The measurement
of ORAC analyzes how a certain food helps your body fight diseases like cancer
and heart disease. The Higher the ORAC score, the more the food will help you.
This is a scale that measures the amount of free oxygen
radicals in your body that a food or supplement can absorb. Free oxygen
radicals are formed in our body from normal daily living, electricity,
pollution, sun exposure and various other unavoidables. These free radicals
bounce around our body beating up on our cell structure and organs, making us
more susceptible to diseases. Cigarette smoke is full of free radicals. Ever notice how
much older smokers look?
Researchers have also discovered that consumption of foods with a high
ORAC score help protect against premature aging and age-related memory loss.
Chaga has the highest reported ORAC score in natural foods or oils. Chaga also has Polysaccharides,
that other medicinal mushrooms contain, and Triterpenes only found elsewhere in
Ganoderma.
SCIENCE
AND RESEARCH
The post-antibiotic world of
Western Medicine is now beginning to study evaluate and test Chaga for the active compounds underlying its historically
understood homeopathic benefits. As with many other natural medicinal foods and
herbs, the modern medical and scientific community is coming to understand that
whole supplements like Chaga, offer a complex balance of
active compounds, delivery mineral structures, and co-agents, more effective to
sustaining a healthy immune balance than isolated compounds synthesized from
these natural products.
For the past 40 years, 1,600 modern scientific studies have demonstrated
and proven the pharmacological effects of medicinal mushrooms for the immune,
hormonal and central nervous system.
There is now scientific research to support the claims of the
folk medicinal uses. The most recent and definitive analytical work on Chaga, and arguably, the most well
known western research conducted on the use of Chaga has been performed by Dr.
Kirsti Kahlos and her team at School of Pharmacology, at the University of
Helsinki, Finland. Dr. Kahlos' team conducted studies validating the
immuno-modulating impact of Lanosterol-linked triterpenes effective as a
flu-vaccination and for anti-tumor applications. Of those, the most active was
specified as inotodiol.
Institutional studies at the University of Tokyo, Japan have determined effectiveness of Inotodiols in the destruction of certain cancerous carcinosarcomas and mammary adenocarcinomas. They also found the compound betulin. The betulin is actually a compound from the birch tree that has anti-cancer properties. The Chaga fungus absorbs and concentrates the betulin from the birch and transforms it into a form that can be ingested orally.
Other researchers have found active polysaccharides, a
common occurrence in most medicinal mushrooms such as mitake and shiitake. Those
polysaccharides are known to stimulate the immune system. Dr. Kahlos and other
researchers have found significant anti-cancer activity against specific tumor
systems and against specific influenza viruses.
Institutional studies at the University of Tokyo, Japan have determined effectiveness of Inotodiols in the destruction of certain cancerous carcinosarcomas and mammary adenocarcinomas. They also found the compound betulin. The betulin is actually a compound from the birch tree that has anti-cancer properties. The Chaga fungus absorbs and concentrates the betulin from the birch and transforms it into a form that can be ingested orally.
The Melanin complex produced by the Chaga mushroom demonstrates high
antioxidant and genoprotective effects. The polysaccharide beta-glucan, also present in Chaga, is proven to be effective at inhibiting mutagenic and
immuno-modulating effects of cancerous tumors by triggering immune system
response. Chaga
has shown anti-inflammatory activity which it is believed could be responsible for some of its benefits
to the stomach and bowels. Scientific research has confirmed some of the
primary folk uses of Chaga and it's mystical following
over the years as it has been referred to in Asia as "the Mushroom of
Immortality". Siberian
Chaga ongoing studies include:
- Cancer research (breast, lung, stomach, melanoma and bone)
- Leukemia
- HIV and Immune Compromised diseases
- Diabetes
- Ulcers
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Pneumonia and Lung Disorders
- Natural Antioxidants
- Leukemia
- HIV and Immune Compromised diseases
- Diabetes
- Ulcers
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Pneumonia and Lung Disorders
- Natural Antioxidants
More recent pharmacological studies using Chaga in Poland, Russia, and the U.S.A. have shown anti-tumor
activity related to the mammary glands and female sexual organs. Much of this
research was carried out in Finland by researchers at the School of Pharmacy,
University of Helsinki. The most active compound, inotodiol, has shown activity
against influenza viruses A and B, and various cancer cells. Studies
in Japan have also confirmed antiviral activity, (inhibition of the protease
enzyme of HIV-1).
Chaga and
HIV/AIDS Research
The very compound that makes the birch "shine bright
white" which is transferred to the Chaga mushroom, has been tentatively linked
to treatment for such devastating human ailments as some melanomas or cancer,
several forms of herpes and even for AIDS. Betulin, a powdery substance in the outer bark of the birch
tree and in concentration in Chaga, has been shown to
help wounds heal faster and reduce inflammation. Chaga contains high amounts of
betulinic acid, which is being tested as a treatment for melanoma and other
serious diseases.
During the last twenty years, the
department of pharmacognosy and botany of Irkutsk State Medical University
deals with the study of the effects of Betulin on the vital activity of man.
Scientists Tulchinskaya and Yurgelaytis report, that in the air of
birch forests are noted 400 microbes into 1 cubic meter, what is
lower than the existing standard for the operating rooms in hospitals.
Especially successfully (in 3-10 min) the bactericides of white part of birch
bark manage to eliminate pathogens of typhoid fever, tuberculosis and
diphtheria. Unique therapeutic properties are given to betulin - substance from
the class of triterpenoids (triterpenovy diatomic alcohol of lupan).
The stability to harmful microflora white part of birch bark
is obliged precisely to betulin. The studies, carried out during recent years, showed that THE
BETULIN possesses the valuable pharmacological properties: antioxidant,
antitumorigenic, antigipoksantnym, gepatoprotektornym, antiviral,
immunomodulator, antibacterial, that regenerate, antipyretic, bile-expelling.
Betulinic acid has been explored as a potential treatment for skin cancer for
more than a decade. Betulin, which is highly concentrated in Chaga, its derivatives and other birch bark compounds also are
being tested for effectiveness in treating HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can cause severe cold-like symptoms
and pneumonia. Examinations conducted, in Russian institute of pharmacology, showed
that the complex of substances forming part of white part of birch bark and
contained in Chaga possess high antimutagenic
activity, capable of lowering the number of mutations in the chromosomes and
the genes, the frequency of the appearance or hereditary changes in the organism.
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