Chaga Mushroom and Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease and the Chaga Mushroom....

As I was out roaming about on a high mountain hike (which, I am not supposed to be going on 7 mile hikes right now, but found myself doing it anyways). As I was walking around the third mile, I saw a black hunk of something growing on an older Birch along the trail.

As I mentioned in my very first post from June on Strawberry Moon 2015, I had been dabbling in some foraging with a friend, and I had recognized the mass almost instantly.

It was Chaga Mushroom (a fungus).

I grabbed a stone a knocked it out of the tree, and then brought it home in my pack.

I already knew that Chaga was known for it's anti Cancer abilities, it's name in other languages literally translates to "Cancer Polypore", and has been used in Folk Medicine for hundreds of years.

Chaga is a tree cancer that slowly kills the host tree, usually (and most identifiably) the Birch. The Birch tree itself is composed of Betulin. The porous fungus attached to the Birch soaks up the Betulin turning it into Betulinic Acid, which then can be either turned into tea (which seems to be a waste of Chaga to me as it only uses a tiny bit of it's potential medicine) or extracted and used as a tincture.

I brought the Chaga home with me, and I broke it apart with some tools to dry.

On the few days it took for it to dry, I delved even further into my research, and stumbled upon many pages online and sources that spoke about Chaga healing Lyme disease, or at least aiding in the process.

This excited me. I felt like it was a true gift from the trees, and that the universe was providing me with a natural tool to heal.

Apparently, Chaga helps with reducing inflammation, boosting metabolism, and detox and reparation of the liver. It is also an adaptogen, which helps the body release stress and toxins.

All of these things would correlate greatly in the fight against Lyme.

After the Chaga dried, I shaved some off for tea, and started the rest in a tincture.  I plan on doing an alcohol extraction first, followed by a hot water extraction.

By Spring, I should be able to add wildcrafted Chaga mushroom to my growing list of supplements.