A lot of contradictory information can be found about the collection of chaga on the Internet and in the literature. This is especially true of disputes on the topic in which region or part of the planet chaga is the best, and when to properly collect it. As far as I know, serious comparisons of the bioactivity of chag from different regions have not been carried out. However, about 10 years ago, a comparative analysis of the mineral composition of samples from different parts of Siberia, the European part of Russia, Finland, Scandinavia, the USA and Canada was made in one of the private laboratories in the USA with the financing of a company for the production of dietary supplements. According to the data obtained, the chaga of the forests of the Canadian Shield of eastern Canada has the richest mineral composition.

 

As you understand, it is best to collect chaga in clean birch forests – due to the highest concentration of birches in one area, the probability of finding chaga increases. But good mixed forests with a pronounced participation of birch are also suitable. It is obvious that in aged forests the yield of chaga and the average mass of collected sclerotia is higher than in young ones. It has been noticed that in wet birch forests (moss, swampy, etc.), chaga grows more readily than in dry ones. Chaga does not like polluted air, and it is quite difficult to find her in the city. In urban parks, especially large ones, chags sometimes grow, but in the case of a megalopolis, they willingly begin to grow 3-5 kilometers from their borders, or even further. Comfortable eco-friendly collection of chaga, which has not absorbed any anthropogenic pollutants, begins 30-40 km from large cities.

 

Consider one more point: chaga should not be collected in regions with a high radioactive background. It is known that the degree of accumulation of radionuclides by fungi strongly depends on what and where they grow. Fungi growing on wood always accumulate radioactive elements to a much lesser extent compared to soil ones. However, chaga, unfortunately, is the only known exception. It contains 10-20 times more of the most dangerous anthropogenic radionuclides americium-231 (²³¹Am) and caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) than in the birches on which it grows.

 

Chaga has a selective affinity for these elements, and the process of their excessive accumulation is called hyperbioaccumulation. In terms of terrain, the strongest accumulators of radionuclides are sphagnum marshes and their surroundings. They collect precipitation and drainage from a large area, and acidic soil contributes to the greatest participation of radionuclides in metabolic processes. Therefore, although usually near-swamp birch forests are rich in chaga (and any mushrooms), it is especially not recommended to collect it in the Chernobyl cloud passage zone in such places: the amount of radioactive caesium and americium in it will be a record.

 

The season of collecting chaga, no matter what you read about it, does not matter. Just proceed from when you have free time, or when the chaga is seen best. Neither the active sap movement near the birches, nor the phase of the moon, nor other such popular near-esoteric examples when collecting chaga are really important. As numerous studies have shown, the composition of the chaga rather depends (and gradually changes) on its age than on whether it was harvested in spring or autumn. Usually, chaga is most convenient to extract in winter. At this moment, the forest is bare, and large black sclerotia are perfectly visible against the background of white birches and white snow. The only problem you may encounter is that in severe frosts, the chaga freezes, and its inner tissue becomes the same density as birch wood, or even harder. Therefore, if you are an environmentally oriented person and go out to the chaga in the cold not with an axe and a saw, but with a stone or bare hands, serious difficulties may await you. Most likely, it will not be possible to pick up the frozen chaga with your hands (it is useless to beat with your feet too), and you may have to bludgeon it with a stone for half a day … Recommendations not to extract chaga with the help of evil iron with paramagnetic properties actually arose because if you leave a not smooth slice/cut down / log house (as in the case of an axe or saw), and uneven scrapping (you tore off / knocked down the chaga with your hands or feet / stone), then a new sclerotium is likely to form in this place in a few years if the birch remains alive. Smaller in size, but still…

 

About the height of the collection. It is proved that the higher the chaga is formed, the more bioactive it is. For example, the content of betulin in the pulp of sclerotia increases statistically with each meter of height. On average, our Russian rule – not to collect chaga if it grows at a height below one and a half meters – works perfectly. In the USA and Canada, it is customary to collect chaga, starting from a height of 3 meters. If the forest in which the chaga has grown is moist, then low-growing specimens are prone to water soaking, swelling and a fairly rapid loss of medicinal properties.

 

You can collect chaga only from live upright trees. It definitely doesn’t make sense from the fallen ones – the chaga is almost always “empty” there. In winter, if a birch tree has recently died on the root and remained standing, it is not always easy to distinguish such a tree from a living one. In this case, it is necessary to look for fruit bodies – the main sign that the whole tree or its part, where sclerotium grows, is dead. Such sclerotium, as I wrote earlier, loses its medicinal properties very quickly.

 

From the point of view of the Russian pharmacopoeia, the following requirements are imposed on the qualitatively harvested raw materials of chaga. “The raw materials are dark brown odorless pieces, slightly bitter in taste, no more than 7 mm in size. The quality of raw materials is assessed according to the following indicators: the content of a chromogenic complex (chagic acid, melanin or polyphenol–oxycarboxylic complex) – not less than 10%; humidity – not more than 14%; total ash – not more than 14%; particles that do not pass through a sieve with holes with a diameter of 7 mm – not more than 4%; particles passing through a sieve with holes of 0.2 mm in size – no more than 18%. The shelf life is up to 2 years.”

 

An extremely productive way to collect chaga is to visit forests where logging is going on. Birch is mostly considered a garbage tree there and is sawn for firewood. Having agreed with the loggers, you can ask them to cut down and save chaga for you in unlimited quantities. For a bottle or its monetary equivalent per day, you will receive chaga for a couple of years of reception. At the same time, the main task will be to explain how chaga differs from similar caps and souvels. Birch cap is a natural outgrowth on a trunk or a large branch, with many woody nodules on the outside, having the appearance of dark thorns and bumps. Usually the size of the mouthpiece is small, 20-30 cm in diameter. Often you can see buds and small twigs growing directly from it. The wood of the cap is 50-70 percent stronger than that of the tree on which it was formed. The formation of the suvel is associated with the disease of the tree, most often outwardly it is a twisted and, as it were, woven into a lump of growth. Suvel reaches an impressive size, usually it is twice as thick as birch or even larger. In addition to the size and “soreness” of the origin, the main difference between the suvel and the cap is that the suvel is formed not from dormant buds, like the cap, but due to the intertwining of annual rings rapidly growing in all directions. Neither cap nor suvel have anything to do with chaga, so before your first trip for chaga, study their images on the Internet.

Quite often, chaga is confused with ordinary tinder (Fomes fomentarius), her old “partner” in manufacture of tinder. This happens simply out of ignorance. The classic gray hoof-shaped common tinder is considered a chaga only by those who have never seen a real chaga before. Because of the name, sometimes chaga is confused with birch sponge (Piptoporus betulinus) it happens becausedue to the fact that both tinder boxes are often called “birch mushroom” on the Internet. Birch sponge is a soft annual tinder with a beige or brownish skin, a flat white tubular layer that darkens when pressed, and a bitter white pulp (at least in young mushrooms). Keep in mind that recipes for birch sponge are rarely suitable for chaga, as are chaga recipes for birch sponge.

 

For the normal collection of chaga, it makes sense to take with you a light sliding ladder up to 10-15 m high, an axe and a saw. A downed or sawn chaga is usually put in a backpack. If the backpack is small, then to save space, you can immediately clean the chaga from the outer black crust with an axe or a large heavy knife like a machete. And in general, it is more convenient to do it in the forest than to plant dirt at home, and then do cleaning. The chaga can be chopped immediately, so it will become even more compact. Wet specimens, sclerotia damaged by mold or insect larvae should not be collected. Such signs indicate that something went wrong with the mushroom, most likely it is dead and its medicinal properties have been lost.

 

In good places in summer, 50-100 kg of chaga is collected in 3-5 hours, in winter – in 5-6 hours (the colder it is, the longer, because the more difficult it is to knock down or chop / saw). Unlike most edible mushrooms, which suffer greatly from long transportation from the collection point to the house and react sensitively to the density and ventilation of the container, chaga quite calmly tolerates the longest “excursions”. You can carry it in a damp sealed container for half a day, and it will still arrive normally, neither self-heating, nor moldy, nor beginning to swarm with larvae of mushroom flies and mosquitoes. Nevertheless, having brought chaga from the forest, it is advisable to immediately start processing it in order to preserve all the useful properties as much as possible.

In fact, this is, as usual, the secret of the Polichinel. The general direct antiviral activity of chaga extracts against orthomyxo-, corona- and other families of viruses is known and has been shown for 10-20 years. The fact that in this situation it works specifically against a new type of covid is quite natural. That is why we started selling the appropriate antiviral drugs in our mushroom pharmacy (a couple of months before the “discovery” of Novosibirsk scientists). Chaga is a unique mushroom in the sense that it is equally excellent at suppressing fungi, bacteria, and viruses. In the case of viruses, the most active component is a black crust with a subcortical layer (something that was previously considered useless). Now a little more detail.

As you probably know, chaga is not the fruit body of the tinder, but the so–called sclerotium. From the outside it is covered with thick black outgrowths, similar to pieces of coal put together, merged at the base. This is a real armor that protects against weather conditions and pests. In the cracks between the outgrowths, yellow- or golden-brown pulp, the medicinal core of sclerotia, sometimes peeps through. The outer part of the black crust is more or less pure chitin (chitosan). However, the inner layer of the pulp adjacent to chitin about 0.5-1 cm contains a huge amount of triterpenoids (mycosterols) – betulin and its derivatives with direct antiviral activity. This activity has been confirmed not only on coronavirus, but also on influenza viruses, herpes, HIV, hepatitis, smallpox, papova viruses (papilloma, condyloma, leukoplakia, verucosis), and even on pet viruses (for example, feline retroviruses). According to the latest major review of the pharmacological potential of chaga and the molecular mechanisms of its action (Duru K. C. et al., 2019), many preclinical trials have been conducted in major research centers, primarily in order to try to understand the molecular mechanisms of the effect of chaga extracts on the relief of a number of metabolic diseases, cancer and various viruses. Experimental data confirm that the extracts have high antiviral and immunostimulating properties and, among other things, make it easier to tolerate the current disease. It has been proven that betulin and its derivatives have antiviral activity.

Now many Western laboratories are conducting research in the development of drugs based on chaga for use in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, several types of herpes and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In addition, betulin reduces hypoxia (insufficient supply of oxygen to tissues) and increases the body’s resistance to lack of oxygen, contributing to the correction of the metabolism of oxygen-containing cells (for example, cells affected by viruses). In addition to the direct antiviral effect, chaga really stimulates the immune system, showing an immunomodulatory effect against cytokinins and interleukins and increasing the production and activity of macrophages and natural killers, and at the same time increase the synthesis of interferon. That is why chaga is good after severe illnesses and operations as a general tonic and a means to increase the body’s resistance to infectious bacterial and viral diseases. Antiviral mycosterols of chaga are best extracted in alcoholic tinctures (they are practically water-insoluble).

Water-soluble polysaccharides of chaga also give some antiviral effect, but they are far from triterpenoids. That is why the best form of administration for antiviral purposes is a fine powder of chaga or its alcoholic or vodka extracts (ideally, a double extract). In the end, as a highlight, I will give you an example of a homemade recipe that has now gained extraordinary popularity in the West. This is a drink that gives super-susceptibility to all kinds of diseases of bacterial and viral nature. So, take: chaga tea — 2 liters; birch bark — 2-3 strips; fresh spruce needles — a small handful; fine—ground chaga powder — 1 tbsp. l.; fine—ground reishi powder — 1 tbsp. l.; phycocyanin (blue pigment from spirulina) – 2 tbsp. l.; honey – 2 tbsp. l. Place all dry ingredients and honey in a blender. Pour in the same mushroom tea (it can be any temperature comfortable for you — from cold to hot) and mix.

Since ancient times, mummies have been used for medicinal purposes in folk medicine of Asian countries. The great antiquities – Avicenna, Aristotle, Biruni, Razi, etc. – wrote about the healing effect of mummies in various diseases in their writings. Mummie has a restorative and anti-inflammatory effect, enhances protective, regenerative and reparative processes in the body, helps in the treatment of bronchial asthma, chronic diseases of the respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract, skin and kidney stone diseases, to accelerate the recovery of bone fractures. The mummy can be taken orally, being previously dissolved in water, milk, juice or tea, and externally – through drops, creams, ointments and masks.

Until very recently, there was a rather vague idea about the nature of the mummy. Historically, it was believed that the mummy arises from the waste products of bats and rodents. Mountain caves give shelter to colonies of bats that feed on insects, which in turn feed on mountain grasses or nectar of their flowers. Mouse guano accumulates in places where bats and rodents spend the night and, after undergoing a process of fermentation and concentration in special microclimatic conditions of mountain caves, turns into a mummy. The problem is that the mummy is not always found in those places where bats fly or mountain jump.

Recent studies conducted with lithophilic (living on rocks) lichens and fungi have shown that it is very likely that the mummy owes its origin to them. Many lichens are adapted to extremely harsh conditions of existence on the surface of rocks, where they successfully develop in Arctic, high-altitude and hot desert areas. It is clear that “normal” rock lichens, which are clearly visible in the mountains in the form of crusts of different colors, are not noticed so that the mummy flows out of them. But the real pioneer mountain lichens are the so-called endolytic lichens, which settle and live inside the rock, in the thickness of the stone, at a depth of several millimeters, and outwardly almost do not manifest themselves. The impact of lichens on the surface of rocks is complex and diverse, and at the same time combined with the weathering of rocks and minerals. Endolytic lichens form organic acids (lichen, citric, oxalic, etc.), so the rhizoids (“roots”) of lichens are able to destroy even quartz. The growth and vital activity of lichens greatly accelerates the process of weathering and in most cases leads to the formation of the first thinnest layer of soil, mountain fine-grained soil with elements of fertility. According to a number of data, lichens can involve more than 300 kg/ha of nitrogen annually in the biological cycle during the initial soil formation process on rocks. Give this process a few hundred thousand years – and now there is a coniferous forest on the mountain slopes. But in some cases, the process of soil formation is replaced by another process. The organic matter created by endolytic lichens and the mineral components washed out due to their activity are intercepted by lithophilic fungi. These organisms, which are older than lichens, also live in the thickness of the stone or on its surface, but are devoid of slaves-algae, which are part of the lichen fungus, and therefore are less environmentally plastic. Lithophilic fungi can use organic dust, the remains of bacteria and algae, but the main source of nutrition for endophilic fungi are endolytic lichens. In those mountain pioneer communities where the latter begin to prevail among lichens, algae, bacteria and lithophilic fungi, the process of formation of a black concentrated mass is sometimes triggered, which is a product of the waste of fungal activity, the remnant of dead colonies. “Outside” of the mountains, streaks of such a black substance are clearly visible on the steep cliffs. At first, the stones look just painted with gray or black paint. But the longer the process goes on, the thicker the layer of “paint” becomes, reaching 2-3 mm in a few hundred years. This can already be scraped off, although it is extremely unprofitable. “Inside” the mountains, in darkening conditions (crevices, caves), lithophilic fungi can develop without lichens, since the main source of organic matter in this case is really the feces of mammals and insects, as well as dust and other accumulating debris. Whole deposits of black product are sometimes formed here, which in this case is called “coprolite mummy” (mummy in the form of drips and films is called “evaporite”).

Western researchers have shown that under the influence of the vital activity of lichens, rock bacteria and fungi, not only the destruction of primary minerals occurs, but also the formation of a variety of complex organics, including components of mummies. Based on the above, it seems to me that the mummy can be considered a mushroom product. That is why we collected it ourselves during our recent Altai expedition and will soon offer it in the online store of the mushroom pharmacy at a price of 400 rubles for 20 grams. You can consider this post advertising, but the mummy is not enough, so smart people will order it to me via a private message on pismoavtoru@mail.ru immediately after reading, so, you see, it won’t even reach the online store

it has hypoglycemic and anti-lipid effects, helps to lower blood sugar levels and is indicated for diabetes. This action is largely due to the presence of the famous beta-glucans in the chaga. However, in addition to beta-glucans, there are bioactive substances in the arsenal of chaga that are effective for diabetes.
The inotodiol and trametenolic acid contained in it help to fight the omega-6 excess syndrome, which is known to us as type II diabetes.

Recent studies by Chinese scientists (2017) have made it possible to identify and then synthesize a polysaccharide-chromium complex new to science, which has shown high efficacy against artificially induced type 2 diabetes in mice. The complex was named UIOPC (Ultrafiltration polysaccharide from Inonotus obliquus polysaccharides-chromium (III) complex). After treatment with UIOPC for four weeks, the levels of body weight, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and plasma insulin in the tested mice decreased significantly compared to the control mice. The results of the study showed that UIOPC has a positive effect on hypoglycemic and antioxidant capacity and can significantly reduce the level of damage to liver, kidney and pancreatic tissues caused by oxidative stress and hypoglycemia.

Moreover, the chromopolysaccharide complex proved to be safe with high-dose administration. All this suggests that in the near future, the “metal-sugar novelty” will quickly become not only the basis for new types of functional nutrition, but will also be used as a pharmaceutical drug for the treatment of type II diabetes. Another Chinese group has identified new heteropolysaccharides of chaga, collected from glucose and galactose molecules and called HIOP1-S and HIOP2-S (2018). They also have a pronounced antidiabetic potential.

The water-soluble melanin complex of chaga has similar properties to beta-glucans. It has a powerful antihyperglycemic and beneficial lipid-metabolic effect, which makes it a real candidate for promising antidiabetic agents.

To maintain normal blood sugar levels, it is enough to take one teaspoon of double chaga extract per day, or two capsules of the standard course, or brew and drink two glasses of chaga tea per day. In Russian folk medicine, to increase the antidiabetic effectiveness of chaga, a decoction of dried meadow clover flowers or dried plantain leaves is sometimes added to the infusion or decoction (pour 1 teaspoon of dry raw materials with 1 cup of cold water, boil for 10 minutes on low heat, then insist for 30 minutes and strain).

Meanwhile, with diabetes, chaga should be taken with some caution, since the mushroom quickly lowers blood sugar levels. For example, for a decoction in a dilution of 1:5, studies have shown that the maximum decrease in serum glucose is observed 1.5—3 hours after taking the decoction inside. At the same time, the sugar level decreases by 15.8—29.9%. If you are diabetic and take chaga, watch for signs of hypoglycemia and carefully and regularly monitor your sugar level. You should be prepared for the fact that if you are not going to give up chaga for diabetes, you may need to adjust the dose of antidiabetic medications by your doctor.

Since the last century, official Russian medicine prescribes chaga for patients with gastroenterological problems, as well as elderly people to normalize the work of the stomach and intestines. Betulinic acid, one of the main medicinal components of chaga, increases the secretion of bile from the gallbladder, thereby improving liver function, increasing digestive ability and protecting the gallbladder.

In general, decoctions, infusions, tinctures and extracts of chaga are used for gastritis, colitis, dyskinesia of the gastrointestinal tract with atony, stomach ulcer and duodenal ulcer; chaga relieves pain and dyspeptic phenomena, normalizes the work of the stomach, intestines and pancreas. With regular intake of chaga, appetite improves.
The Russian pharmacological industry produces chaga for the treatment of gastrointestinal tract in several types.

Raw materials of chaga are used in the following cases: chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer (outside the period of exacerbation), gastrointestinal dyskinesia of the hypokinetic type, as well as in oncological diseases as a symptomatic remedy that improves the general condition of oncological patients with cancerous lesions of the gastrointestinal tract. Reception usually boils down to receiving and regular use of water infusion and decoction or a combination of them.

Infusion of chaga is prescribed mainly as a gastric remedy. Patients with peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum are prescribed 1 tablespoon 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals. Chaga quickly relieves pain and dyspeptic phenomena, normalizes intestinal function, increases overall tone.

Befungin is a semi—empty aqueous extract from chaga. It has a positive effect on metabolic processes, promotes scarring of stomach ulcers or duodenal ulcers. The drug is also used for chronic gastritis and dyskinesia of the gastrointestinal tract with the phenomena of atony. In addition, it is used in the complex treatment of psoriasis and eczema (treatment is especially effective in cases of combination of skin diseases with various inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, biliary system), as well as as a general tonic and analgesic. The technology for obtaining the drug consists in a multi-stage extraction of raw chaga with water, followed by boiling the obtained extracts to a semi-empty state. According to the technological regulations, ethanol and cobalt salts are added to the resulting extract. Befungin is prescribed orally: 3 teaspoons of the extract are diluted in 150 ml of water and taken 1 tablespoon 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals.

Tincture of chaga, also known as gastrofungin, is a tincture of ethyl alcohol, which is obtained by boiling raw chaga for two hours in alcohol with a strength of 70%. It is recommended as a general ionizing drug for chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer (without exacerbation), biliary and intestinal dyskinesia, colitis (symptomatic therapy) and malignant neoplasms (symptomatic therapy, to improve overall well-being). The tincture is taken 20-30 drops 2-3 times a day 30 minutes before meals, with a small amount of water.

The properties of befungin and gastrofungin are combined in our preparation “Chaga: double extract”.
Do not forget that there are dietary fibers in the sclerotia of chaga: water-soluble and water-insoluble. Soluble fibers play the role of prebiotics. They are easily absorbed by the bacterial flora of the colon and turn into gases and physiologically active by-products. Insoluble during the journey through the gastrointestinal tract are pumped with water and eventually facilitate defecation.

Laboratory analysis of chaga sclerotia shows that insoluble fibers make up about 60% of their total weight, and soluble fibers make up about 4%. It has been established that chaga dietary fibers improve intestinal function (many report that after regular consumption of alcoholic chaga extract, defecation has become easier), sorb and remove various slags, heavy metal ions, carcinogens and radionuclides from the body. That is why chaga is considered from the position of a preventive agent in the development of rectal carcinoma.

If you want to get real benefits from insoluble chaga fibers, it is advisable to use it in the form of a fine powder. The powder should be consumed directly (for example, in the form of capsules), since water-insoluble fibers do not come out in a decoction (infusion, tincture).

Since the beginning of the general quarantine, our customers regularly ask how things are going with the work of the FungiLine store.

 

We answer: we were able to promptly take all necessary measures to maintain the most efficient and stable operation of our store, taking into account the forced restrictions.

 

The production of our goods remains unchanged.

 

Delivery is currently limited only by geography. Today we cannot send goods outside of Russia, as restrictions of postal services are imposed on foreign parcels.

 

Within Russia, delivery remains available for all regions.

 

In the case of an extremely pessimistic scenario and a complete ban on the work of mail or couriers, we will refund your money in full or, if you wish, we will send the parcel after the quarantine is lifted.

In general, we can assume that the use of chaga is safe for humans, this was proved by official research back in the mid-1950s, when the official discovery of its medicinal properties took place. In 1959, the well-known medical researcher of chaga A.V. Lazovskaya in her work “Chaga and its therapeutic use in stage IV cancer” published the results of clinical safety trials chagi.

The toxicity of chaga was tested on four types of animals (dogs, cats, rabbits, mice), which were given doses exceeding the normal five times. No toxicity was detected. The complete safety of chaga already with its therapeutic use was confirmed as a result of long-term observations of groups of patients with cancer, gastric ulcer, gastritis and other diseases. These observations, for example, were summarized in the works of E. Y. Martynova and P. K. Bulatov in 1961 and 1966. Chaga preparations do not have cumulative properties, but the intake of chaga infusion is limited in diseases accompanied by fluid retention in the body.

To date, as a result of more than half a century of official use of chaga in medicine, some new data based on huge statistics have been accumulated. Now it can be argued that chaga has a certain number of side effects and contraindications.

In terms of side effects and contraindications, you can specify the following:
Chaga contains oxalates, which theoretically can cause kidney dysfunction and even damage (2800-11200 mg of total oxalates per 100 g of sclerotium, one of the highest recorded levels of all known living organisms).

In autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus), rheumatoid arthritis, etc. the use of chaga can lead to unnecessary activation of the immune system.

This, in turn, can increase the symptoms of autoimmune diseases. In this scenario, it is better to avoid using chaga.

Chaga can increase bleeding, its substances (peptides) break up platelet aggregations. Therefore, do not drink chaga if you have a blood clotting disorder (and, conversely, drink as a sports nutrition if there are no blood clotting disorders).

In diabetes, under the influence of chaga preparations, it was noticed that the mushroom reduces blood sugar levels, that is, it has a hypoglycemic effect. For example, for a decoction in a dilution of 1:5, it was shown that the maximum decrease in serum glucose levels was observed 1.5-3 hours after ingestion of the decoction. At the same time, the sugar level decreases by 15.8—29.9%. If you are diabetic and take chaga, watch for signs of hypoglycemia and carefully and regularly monitor your sugar level. You should be prepared for the fact that if you are not going to give up chaga for diabetes, you may need to adjust the dose of antidiabetic medications by your doctor.

With surgical interventions, including organ and tissue transplantation, chaga can lower blood sugar levels or increase the risk of bleeding during and after the operation itself. Therefore, surgeons recommend stopping the use of chaga at least 2 weeks before the scheduled operation.

According to some observations, chaga with prolonged use can cause digestive disorders and increase the excitability of the autonomic nervous system. These phenomena gradually disappear when the dose is reduced or the drug is discontinued. If you are mentally labile, treat the reception of chaga with a certain caution.

Contraindications to the use of chaga are chronic colitis and chronic dysentery.

As a warning, a possible individual allergic reaction is sometimes indicated, but this works for everything in general.

To date, no side effects have been identified for pregnancy and breastfeeding. Once again: chaga is completely safe for pregnant women.

In terms of interaction with other drugs, there are no official data on chaga. Meanwhile, I note that periodically in popular literature and on the Internet, information slips that chaga cannot be consumed simultaneously with antibiotics of the penicillin group, which are allegedly antagonists of some substances of the chaga. At the same time, the negative impact is not manifested in harmful effects for the body, but simply in neutralizing the beneficial effect of chaga. I have not found such information among scientific articles.

Conclusion: chaga can be safely taken together with taking any antibiotics. By the way, it is also believed that there is no point in taking chaga with intravenous glucose, since the latter allegedly also reduces the medicinal effect of chaga to zero. I didn’t find any official data either. But here at least we can assume that in fact everything is the opposite: this is just chaga with its tendency to hypoglycemic effect can make intravenous glucose administration meaningless.

When using chaga during a diet, everyone recommends the same thing, and it boils down to standard recommendations for any strong and medium diets: exclude spicy-fatty-salty, reduce sweet, remove meat and smoked meats, do not drink, do not smoke — that is, nothing specific in terms of chaga.

At the beginning of 2021, we launched a line of mushroom-based veterinary fees for dogs of the brand FungiDog™. The line was developed by Mikhail Vishnevsky on the basis of his personal long-term practice and analysis of studies of the positive effect of mushrooms on the body of laboratory animals in various diseases and painful conditions over the past 40 years.