I drink chaga in order to get rid of my psoriasis. But I feel there ’s a lot more to it. Follow my Journey here in my blog. For the benefits of my international friends it’s in English.  I started chaga a few weeks ago. Why? For years I have tried to deal with the physical aspects of psoriasis. If I am on a low stress level, it is not bothering me much and I tend to forget all about it. But in stressful times the patches break out all over my body.

Currently my legs look like I’ve got the measles. Ant that’s newly added to the ever present patches on my head, behind my ears, on the elbows and a few more private places.. The trouble with psoriasis is that it will break out just when you want to detoxify your body. When detoxing it gets worse! Not a classical win-win situation huh..

Believe me, I’ve tried several natural ‘cures’.Like drinking kombucha for a year. Or not drinking coffee for a year. To no avail, lord psoriasis would not leave the premesis. But something in my reacted when I heard Sunfire Genesis speak of detoxing with Chaga. And when I investigated some more I found out that is was good for detoxing AND for getting rid of psoriasis.

So here we go. First I ordered some powdered chaga from the internet and drank the brew for about 6 weeks. Did not notice anything regarding the psoriasis. But somehow I could feel that I started detoxing. In the first weeks, sleep was not so good. After 2 weeks my kidneys started to hurt like h*ll.. and little aches in my body are constantly migrating. But still… I feel a little more energetic.

My two times 80 grams of powdered chaga were swiftly diminishing so I needed a new supply. And I started connecting with a few chaga-enthousiasts on facebook. Thanks to a wonderful, helpful F B-friend from Vermont I now have my own supply of 1,5 kg of chaga chunks. Not from Vermont but from Maine. And no, Chaga does not grow in The Netherlands. It grows more up north. In Scotland, Siberia… and in the Northern US and Canada.

What to do with the raw Chaga chunks?

So my chunks have arrived. Now what? Chaga Vermont helped my out on that one. Combined with their tips and my trial-and-error I came up with the following method.

• Soak overnight in water
• Cut in smaller chunks if needed
• Grate them over a household cheese greater
• Prepare your brew (let it cook for 15 minutes or so), or let the powdered chaga dry
• Strain your brew through a cheesecloth
• Drink it straight or with a suitable sweetener
• Put the warm brew in a thermos and the rest in a bottle in the fridge

At the end of this process I had a really potent dark brew, the color of coffee! Scroll down to the end of this article for a link to more recipes.

The shamanic way

So, I’ve deceided to do this the shamanic way. I will ingest brother Chaga in various ways. I will drink it, swallow it raw, and will make a tincture of it. But also I will observe it and meditate with it. This is the traditional way that shaman’s apprentices in the Amozon have to follow. Of course we have the internet now, so I researched it also. But still. Empyric evidence is what I want.

Chaga, Chaga, Chaga is calling to me. Literally. Just when I had put in in water, it was mumbling away. I heard it whisper, it was crackling with soft and even louder cracks while soaking up the water.

When I was grating it, the Spirit of the Birch tree connected with me. I felt her branches brush against my consciousness and I instantly felt an enormous gratitude towards the birches that give up their life for the benefits of the fungus… the benefits of all who use the Chaga.

Benefits of Chaga

Chaga is powerful, because it contains the nutrients—the force of actual trees. Because of their special, biologically potent substances, trees live long, far longer than herbs. Some trees live as long as 10,000 years or more. Thus, they are the most powerful living beings in the world. Concentrating this power, chaga contains numerous B vitamins, flavonoids, phenols, minerals, and enzymes. It is also one of the world’s densest sources of pantothenic acid, and this vitamin is needed by the adrenal glands as well as digestive organs. It also contains riboflavin and niacin in significant amounts.
In particular, it is highly rich in special phenols which are pigment-like. These phenolic compounds are known as chromogenic complex. Chaga can be up to 30% chromogenic complex by weight. The chromogenic complex is highly protective for all tissues and is only found in chaga. In the cream base this chromogenic complex is hightly protective of the skin. Rubbed on the skin it even helps people develop a tan, because it contains the pigment melanin, the same pigment responsible for dark-colored skin.
Chaga contains wild-source minerals and is particularly high in copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and iron. Yet, its most potent ingredient is a special substance known as superoxide dismutase (SOD). This is an enzyme with great potency. Its function is to halt oxidation, especially the toxicity of a free radical known as singlet oxygen. This is the type of oxygen which is responsible for oxidizing and damaging the tissues, which results in aging. It is the same oxygen which rusts a nail. SOD blocks this damage by quenching the singlet oxygen free radical. The SOD content per gram of chaga is exceedingly high and accounts for many of its historical powers. Tests performed on wild chaga prove that it contains some 10,000 to 20,000 active SOD units per gram. This is an exceedingly high amount, far higher than that found even in typical SOD pills. The typical SOD pill contains from 200 to 2,000 units per serving. So the difference is considerable. Plus eating wild chaga raw is well-utilized by the body.

– Written by Chaga Vermont –

Update March 2018:

I have been drinking lots of chaga tea and that made me feel more energized. My psoriasis did not go away, the root cause must come from deeper in my system. That’s not chagas fault, but it is more about my own bagage or karma, as you will. 
A Finnish producer of powerfoods, now active in The Netherlands, sells chaga extract powder. It is so powerful, and comparable with raw chaga that has been cooked for three hours! I orderered one of these and I’ll write about my experiences with it. 

More on their website: Puur Nordic.

Chaga links:

Chaga research

Wikipedia

Recipes with chaga (also ebook)

Chaga Vermont on facebook

birch tree Chaga health mushroom puur nordic shamanic