David Wolfe - Chaga: King of the Medicinal Mushrooms

Also by David Wolfe

Books

The Sunfood Diet Success System

Naked Chocolate

Amazing Grace

Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future

The LongevityNOW Program

DVDs

Superfood Recipes

Superherb Recipes

LongevityNOW Recipes

A Womans Guide to Vibrant Health (Recipes)

Restoring Adrenal Health (Recipes)

Affiliated Websites

www.davidwolfe.com

www.longevitywarehouse.com

www.thebestdayever.com

www.rawnutritioncertification.com

www.sacredchocolate.com

www.ftpf.org

Copyright 2012 by David Wolfe. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs were taken by David Wolfe (www.davidwolfe.com).

Special thanks to Andrea McGinnis for assistance on the beta glucans and chaga recipes sections, to Adam Collins of SuperfoodSnacks.com for his recipe additions, and to Frank Giglio for his recipe addition.

Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
Front-cover photograph of David Wolfe by Michael Roud. All other front-cover photographs by David Wolfe
Cover design by Brad Greene

Chaga: King of the Medicinal Mushrooms is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: The following information is intended for general information purposes only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any suggestions made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is at the readers discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wolfe, David.
Chaga : king of the medicinal mushrooms / David Wolfe.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-514-8
1. MushroomsTherapeutic use. 2. Medicinal plants. 3. BirchTherapeutic use. I. Title.
RM666.M87W65 2012
615.321dc23

2012012350

v3.1_r1

This book is dedicated
to every wild mushroom hunter.

Mushroom hunting is
one of the greatest hobbies ever!

Cem Akin

Pierre Beaumier

Truth Calkins

Groovinda Dasi

Nathaniel Finkelstein

Len Foley

Scott Frasier

Juliana Garske

Lucien Gauthier

Rebecca Gauthier

Camille Perrin Giglio

Frank Giglio

Kathy Glass

Kohta Mitamura

Alan Muskat

Doug Reil

Krystyna Robin McMillan

Candice Richardson

Ramiz Saad

Thomas Dandelion Hemp Stinson

Wendy Taylor

Ron Teeguarden

Robert Weismandel

Superherb chaga

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

H IPPOCRATES

T his famous dictumfrom a founder of Western medicine who championed treating the body as a whole and not just treating its partsis frequently referenced and observed, cited and reflected upon, but in only half its glory. The first phrase, Let food be thy medicine, is well known and understood by many, yet the second half of this age-old prescription contains what I perceive as the greater insight for our times. Eating medicine as food appears to be a literal statement. If we read Hippocrates literally, he is clearly telling us: eat herbal medicines regularly as food.

For thousands of years, the Shaolin monks (famous Buddhist warriors) and the Daoists of China gathered a wealth of information, wisdom, and knowledge about the medicinal properties of herbs, mushrooms, and other plants. And though they found many herbs wonderful as occasional foods, these same herbs were often inappropriate for consistent, daily use as food. However, the ancient Shaolin community recognized a distinction whereby the superior, tonic herbs were different and could be eaten regularly as food. A tonic is tonifying, meaning that it is an overall health and wellness booster that helps restore, tone, and enliven body systems.

From my research, I find that the most powerful of these tonic herbs are the medicinal mushrooms (of which chaga is one), and they fall into a class I call superherbs. Due to their naturally high nutritional and medicinal content, proven history, and whole-herb synergy, these superherbs have real potential for healing and invigorating us. Im talking about more than sprinkling dried oregano on spaghetti. We can gain exponentially greater benefit from superherbs when we know how to incorporate them into our diet on a regular basis.

Over the last decade the Internet has become saturated with information on natural healing technologies, organic foods, raw foods, wild foods, herbal medicines, adaptogens, and especially the superherbs. Plant-based approaches to health challenges are increasing in popularity at an astonishing rate, probably because they work. We are nearing a critical mass of folks who are shifting their energy and financial power away from a bankrupt, misdirected, environmentally destructive pharmaceutical model of disease care to a sustainable, preventative, health-building, self-responsible model of wellness. Superherbs are likely our best allies in this global healing movement.