Chaga

it is a parasitic fungus that grows on trees and looks like burnt charcoal or a burnt tree burl.
the inside reveals a soft core with an orange color.
it remains dormant in the tree until the tree dies, that’s when the fruiting body emerges.

you can inoculate a tree with a piece of chaga by drilling a small hole in the tree and placing a piece of chaga in there.

chaga lowers blood sugar four different ways at once: it blocks the enzyme that breaks down sugar in your gut, improves insulin sensitivity in your muscles and liver, protects the pancreatic cells that make insulin from being damaged, AND repairs the leaky gut that chronic diabetes causes.

chaga has one of the highest SOD (superoxide dismutase) concentrations of any natural source. SOD is one of the body's most important endogenous antioxidant enzymes. SOD activity declines with age and is correlated with all-cause mortality.
consuming a rich source of SOD has shown to have inhibitory effects on things like rheumatoid arthritis, alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis, and has anticancer benefits.

protects your liver from a wide range of toxins: alcohol, acetaminophen, environmental pollutants, cyanobacteria toxins. it also actively reverses early-stage liver scarring (fibrosis) by shutting down the cells that lay down fibrotic tissue.
good for fatty liver disease, alcohol-induced liver damage, and early cirrhosis.

contains betulin, betulinic acid, triterpene compounds, sterols, polysaccharides, and beta-glucans, which are naturally occurring carbohydrates that can boost your immune defense.

anticancer - betulin and betulinic acid (found in the dark skin of chaga) has shown inhibitory activity (causes apoptosis) against several cancers, such as cervical, prostate, breast, lung, stomach, colon cancers, as well as malignant melanoma, and some types of brain tumors.
betulinic acid (the main chaga compound) reverses kidney scarring in chronic kidney disease models.
since kidney scarring is what drives chronic kidney disease progression toward dialysis, this is very important for anyone with declining kidney function.

contains most essential amino acids, B1, B2, K1, vanillinic acid, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, and potassium.

also a rich source of melanin and other polyphenols. the melanin pigment has applications in natural skin protection products and potentially in radiation-resistant materials research.

the melanin in chaga helps maintain the structural integrity of the brain, adrenals, eyes and central nervous system.

melanin also has chemo protective properties, because melanin has the ability to sensitize malignant cells to radiation, while shielding healthy cells during chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

can lower blood sugar, so i’d skip any medications that lowers blood sugar for the day, if you’re taking any chaga.

also super high in oxalates, so cook well because you can get kidney stones.