Chaga mushrooms have recently been making regular appearances in healthy food stores and wellness websites but they have actually been used medicinally for centuries. I’ve compiled the latest research on chaga mushrooms and included my favourite way to consume them – in a delicious chaga turmeric golden milk latte.
We are blessed here in Canada to have wild Chaga mushrooms growing on our own birch trees, offering us wild medicine chaga benefits from mother nature herself. Chaga tea offers a slight vanilla flavour which tastes great on its own, and also makes a great base for a chaga turmeric golden milk latte. The combination of the immunoprotective chaga benefits and the anti-inflammatory aspects of turmeric make this an essential cold-weather drink to help nourish and nurture the body.
What Are Chaga Mushrooms?
The Health Benefits of Chaga Mushrooms
The benefits of chaga mushrooms come from their rich source of beta-glucans which display immunomodulating effects. The betulinic acid from the Birch trees is also a potent antioxidant and has anti-tumour properties in vitro. Chaga has been widely used in folk medicine in Russia, Poland, and other Baltic countries for a wide variety of gastric problems, cancer, tuberculosis, as well as heart and liver concerns.
How Chaga Was Used By Traditional Indigenous Canadians
Clifford Cardinal, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta is a Cree medicine man and he boils chaga for viral-related conditions, in the form of ingested tea. The Gitksan First Nations of British Columbia used the lit black “coals” of the fungi to relieve rheumatic pain. Chaga also produces a sweet-smelling incense and may be added to ceremonial smoking pipes to ensure a continuous burn.
How Does Chaga Mushroom Grow?
Chaga grows as a sterile conk on birch trees, where the bark has been compromised. Rather than displaying a parasitic relationship with dead or dying trees, chaga has a symbiotic relationship with Birch, exchanging in a way that benefits both organisms. Chaga can impressively pull nutrients out of the soil that the roots of the tree are unable to get at.
What Are The Active Compounds Found In Chaga Mushrooms?
According to Robert Rogers of the University of Alberta chaga contains a number of compounds that can be found in numerous other herbs and mushrooms, including polyphenols, melanins, beta-glucans, sterols, triterpenes, amino acids, etc.
Sustainability and Ethical Harvesting of Chaga Mushrooms
As blessed as we are to have this highly medicinal wild mushroom growing on our soil, we need to consider the sustainability of this potentially vulnerable medicine. Overharvesting is happening as we speak, and with Chaga mushrooms only appearing on 0.025% of Birch trees this makes it all the more important that we purchase Chaga from a reputable source. Be sure to ask where your chaga mushrooms come from. I’ve purchased mine from Harmonic Arts, a company that practices sustainable harvesting.
How to Prepare Chaga Mushrooms
If you are now sold on this powerful mushroom, here are some simple instructions on how to prepare chaga mushroom tea which can be used as a base for any drinks, including the golden milk recipe below. Chaga mushrooms can come in larger chunks or small granules.
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then turn down the heat and add the chaga.
- Lightly simmer for 20 minutes to 5 hours with the lid half on, stirring occasionally.
- Strain out the mushrooms and save them for another re-brew. Serve the chaga tea as desired.
- The leftover chaga chunks or chaga grounds can be re-brewed or stored in the fridge to brew again later. Up to 20% of the bioactive compounds are released with each brew so it is a good idea to brew the chaga at least 3-4 times.
- The flavour has been compared to that of a sweet mild coffee with hints of vanilla.
What Is Turmeric Golden Milk?
Golden Milk is a modern spin on the Auryvedic drink of warm milk and turmeric. Golden Milk is often made with coconut milk as the liquid base, and as the fat source to facilitate absorption of fat-soluble compounds.
How To Make This Chaga Turmeric Golden Milk
This Turmeric Golden Milk recipe uses hemp milk from our own Canadian grown hemp seeds which offer a creamy consistency that rivals that of coconut milk (see Hemp Milk Nutrition & Hemp Milk Recipe). Use brewed chaga tea and blend with turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and dates to make this nourishing and warming drink which is great served hot or cold. I’ve included detailed instructions on how to make a Turmeric Latte Recipe with Ginger here.
Want More Medicinal Mushroom Recipes?
Try these other recipes that feature medicinal mushrooms:
- Simple Orange Chocolate Oatmeal For Breakfast with Reishi Mushroom
- Medicinal Dark Chocolate Bark Three Ways
What More Turmeric Recipes?
Big fan of turmeric as well? Try these delicious recipes that feature turmeric.
- Turmeric Golden Milk Smoothie Bowl
- Butternut Squash Curry Lentil Soup with Turmeric
- Simple Turmeric Latte Recipe with Ginger
- Dandelion Root Latte with Turmeric and Ginger
- Raw Nori Stix Recipe
DID YOU MAKE THIS Chaga Turmeric Golden Milk? Let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below, or share it on Pinterest. If you take a photo of your recreation for Instagram, tag me @THECONSCIOUSDIETITIAN so I can see it!
Golden Milk Latte with Chaga
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup hemp hearts (+ 1/4 cup of water or chaga tea)
- 1 3/4 cups chaga tea warm
- 2 " piece turmeric root fresh
- 2 " piece ginger root fresh
- 2 tsp maple syrup or 1 date
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon ground (or cinnamon stick)
- 1/8 tsp black pepper ground
Instructions
- To prepare the chaga tea, boil chaga chunks in water for 20 minutes, up to 5 hours. Strain out the chunks and reserve for a re-brew. Option to add a cinnamon while boiling the chaga.
- Peel the turmeric and ginger if they are not organic, then slice and add to a food processor or Vitamix. Add the hemp hearts and 1/4 water or chaga tea, maple syrup or dates, ground cinnamon (if the cinnamon stick wasn't used) and pepper.
- Blend until a nice hemp milk is formed. Now add 1 3/4 cup of warmed chaga tea and blend until well combined. Adding the hot liquid last allows for a longer blending of the hemp hearts, turmeric and ginger so a creamier consistency can be achieved.
- Option to strain mixture for a silkier latte. I like to save the strained ingredients and add to my morning oatmeal. Serve warm.
Notes
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then turn down the heat and add the chaga.
- Lightly simmer for 20 minutes to 5 hours with the lid half on, stirring occasionally.
- Strain out the mushrooms and save them for another re-brew. Serve the chaga tea as desired.
- The leftover chaga chunks or chaga grounds can be re-brewed or stored in the fridge to brew again later. Up to 20% of the bioactive compounds are released with each brew so it is a good idea to brew the chaga at least 3-4 times.
Nutrition
References for Chaga Benefits
Robert Rogers – The True Tinder Conk – Chaga
Harmonic Arts – Chaga Mushrooms
Betulinic Acid – Betulinic Acid for Cancer Treatment and Prevention
Rachel Dickens, The Conscious Dietitian, is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. She graduated with her Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics in 2010 from Griffith University. She strives to provide evidence-based nutrition information with a focus on plant-based nutrition, and share some of her favourite seasonal recipes and sustainable eating tips.
I love this article! Very well researched and making me miss Canada. Hope you are well :)
Hi Olivia,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read it. Australia has it’s own local delights… eating local is so much easier when you have access to avocado, mangos and macadamia nuts! Hope you are well too. Let me know when you make it back over this way :)