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It is well documented just about everywhere that antioxidants are superior when it comes to stacking the health odds in our favor and staying healthy. But despite many fruits and vegetables containing these awesome oxidant-busters, it's not always as easy as we think to obtain the quality or the quantity that we need. There are many different reasons for this ranging from the quality of the food we eat which is often heavily sprayed if not organically produced; environmental pollution that stockpiles in our body making us super toxic; our body’s inability to absorb and assimilate the antioxidants we are consuming and just plain old getting enough everyday from chowing down our food. So when I discovered that there is a really easy way to fill up on antioxidants with just one superfood, I was ready to get my antioxidant ON! Enter the medicinal mushroom, chaga.
Yes, medicinal - not to be confused with those trippy magical ones! Chaga is the heavyweight champion of all antioxidants that knocks açaí, pomegranate and the blueberry out of the water (or off whatever they are grown on!)
It is highly valued throughout Asia and Europe as a health food and as a medicine and has been used for various ailments and illnesses from stomach and lung cancers to gastritis, ulcers, colitis and inflammatory diseases such as cancer and arthritis as well as HIV.
Aside from the supercharged antioxidants it contains, Chaga possesses strong immune-boosting and anti-viral properties. Plus it is thought to be an amazing health and longevity tonic full of phyto-nutrients that slow the aging process, (always a bonus let’s be honest!)
Here are 8 reasons why chaga should be included in your everyday diet.
- anti-bacterial - protects against the growth of bacteria
- anti-fungal - protects agains fungal infections such as athletes foot & systemic conditions
- anti-microbial - kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms
- anti-candida - protects agains yeast infections
- an immune system modulator - helps to regulate the immune-system
- anti-viral - helps to protect against viral infections
- an adaptagen - adapts to the body and provides it with what it needs
- has the highest ORAC level of any natural food - contains extremely high levels of antioxidants which help to fight free-radicals which can cause cell damage
Source: mindbodygreen
Siberians used Chaga for centuries in the form of a drink. Their life expectancy regularly reached 85-100 years in age.
Chaga has been used as an essential whole food supplement for many years by Russia’s long-lived peasants, as well as long-lived villagers of Japan and Korea. These village people consume it as a daily beverage. They prefer it over common drinks such as tea and coffee. Because of its cleansing properties, in primitive Siberia the chaga drink was known as “soup water,” although its taste is a pleasant combination of tea and coffee.