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How to Make Chaga Mushroom Tea in a Pressure Cooker
Chaga mushroom is a fascinating creature found on Northern Hemisphere birch trees. Although it resembles cancerous tumors or cancerous growths, Chaga is actually an aggressive parasite feeding off nutrients from its host to slowly kill it while taking in nutrients itself as sustenance for continued life on its host tree. Chaga can live for decades on any one host tree before eventually killing itself off, eventually becoming part of its soil structure and considered one of the king of medicinal mushrooms.
Chaga mushrooms have long been used as natural medicine by indigenous populations from Siberia, Russia and North America. Recently they have gained prominence for their cancer fighting properties. Chaga tea is an excellent way to consume this incredible mushroom!
Preparing Chaga tea is easy; simply simmer it for several hours in water. Enjoy it plain or sweeten with honey; for added spice add ginger for flavoring! A cup of Chaga tea may help increase energy levels, lower blood pressure and prevent cancer – its rich in minerals as well as antioxidants such as polyphenols that promote energy production while supporting nervous system health.
Before brewing the tea, you will first need to clean your Chaga. Remove all non-Chaga parts using a knife, and scrub with a brush in order to get rid of dirt or dust that may be present; make sure that all crevices of the Chaga are thoroughly explored when cleaning it down with this method. Next, break apart your Chaga into smaller pieces.
Place Chaga in a pot and cover it with cold filtered water, bringing to a simmer without letting the water boil. This will ensure that only its most valuable compounds are extracted. I like using a pressure cooker because it prevents boiling while keeping my cooking time to a minimum.
After several hours, strain the mixture and drink as Chaga tea. If desired, store in the refrigerator for a few days for optimal flavor; I like adding ginger for additional taste and intensity. You could also brew longer to get even stronger results.
There is much flowery information online about Chaga and its healing properties, however most of it lacks real scientific research backing it up. The book Medicinal Mushrooms: The Human Clinical Trials does cite several studies conducted 40-60 years ago but are all nonrandomized or placebo based and uncontrolled; nonetheless this ancient and magical fungus remains popular today.