<p>Chaga is unique among mushrooms and may be one of the most important ever discovered.</p> <p>Chaga is unique among mushrooms. It may be one of the most important ever discovered. Like all healthy mushrooms, Chaga contains beta-glucans and polysaccharides. Chaga also has an extremely high ORAC value (a measurement tool for indicating the antioxidant activity of various foods), even higher than that of blueberry extract. Immortality Quest Chaga is made from wild-grown Chaga combined with hot water and ethanol extracts.</p> <p>Chaga grows in the circumpolar region of the world, in the northern hemisphere of our planet, where it grows in the deciduous forests, where birch trees are exposed to harsh weather conditions. Although Chaga grows primarily on birch trees, it can also grow on elder, ash, beech, elm, and even apple trees. When Chaga grows on birch trees, it feeds on the nutrients and substances found in the birch, and concentrates the energy of the extremely powerful environment into a form that can be readily utilized by humans. In Siberian Shamanism, Chaga is known as the “King of Mushrooms”. Traditionally, Chaga was mainly consumed in the form of tea.</p> <p>Partner or parasite? There are two different theories about the relationship between Chaga and the birch tree. The first states that Chaga is a parasite, or a cancerous growth on the tree. The second theory assumes a symbiotic relationship between Chaga and the birch, where each takes something from the other that it needs. Paul Stamets in 'mycellium running' states that Chaga extracts can be used topically to treat tree diseases, thus doing justice to the symbiotic model.</p> <p>Chaga contains, among other things, Melanin. It is what gives Chaga its brown color. Chaga contains more melanin than any other known food or herb. It is the best source of nutrients of the whole. This substance is only found in wild Chaga products, and is not found in cultivated mycelium products.</p> <p>Chaga also has astonishingly high levels of antioxidants, or ORAC - (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity). Chaga has the highest ORAC score ever recorded in a natural food.</p> <p>Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) - Chaga is known for its very high content of SOD, an important enzyme. The concentration of SOD units per gram: Chaga 35,000, Reishi 1,400, Agaricus 1,500 Polysaccharides, such as beta-glucans (multiple sugars). Glucans work best in synergy with other polysaccharides, triterpenes, sterols and numerous antioxidants all found in Chaga.</p> <p>Betulin is an abundant naturally occurring triterpene. It is found in high concentrations in the bark of the birch tree and Chaga helps to convert the betulin into an absorbable form of betulinic acid. Betulin is the substance that makes the birch shine bright white. Betulin is a powdery substance in the outer bark of the birch. It was used by the cosmetic industry as a skin-restoring tonic, the birch bark extract was added to various products.</p> <p>Nutrients:</p> <ul> <li></li> <li>protein bound xylogalactoglucans</li> <li>polyphenols</li> <li>sterols</li> <li>initodiols</li> <li>triterpenoid saponins</li> <li>melanin</li> <li>betulin/betulinic acid</li> <li>lupeol</li> <li>copper</li> <li>germanium</li> </ul> <p>Chaga contains 215 phytonutrients including 29 polysaccharides or beta-glucan derivatives.</p> <p>Trace elements:</p> <ul> <li></li> <li>barium</li> <li>bismuth</li> <li>boron</li> <li>chrome</li> <li>copper</li> <li>germanium</li> <li>manganese</li> <li>selenium</li> <li>zinc</li> </ul> <p>Main minerals:</p> <ul> <li></li> <li>calcium</li> <li>cesium</li> <li>iron</li> <li>magnesium</li> <li>phosphorus</li> <li>potassium</li> <li>rubidium</li> <li>silicon</li> <li>sulphur</li> <li>vitamin B2, D2</li> <li>dietary fiber</li> <li>amino acid complexes</li> </ul>