CHAGA POWDER OR CHAGA EXTRACT POWDER.

By Victor Smirnov

Visitors to our website often ask us to explain the difference between chaga powder and chaga extract powder. This is indeed an important point and we'll try to explain it.

Being able to understand which is which can help you avoid some unpleasant things like

1. Buying chaga powder instead of chaga extract powder (the extract is much more valuable than the dried mushroom);
2. Losing faith in alternative medicine.
3. Missing the opportunity to improve your health.

For someone unfamiliar with chaga mushrooms, it can be very confusing to tell the difference, and they can easily be fooled into thinking they are getting chaga extract powder, when in fact they are only getting powdered dry mushrooms.

For example, one of our customers in the EU once bought what he thought was "chaga extract" from a local herbal shop. He then checked the label on the packaging for the recommended dosage. He then visited our website and compared the dosage stated for our freeze-dried chaga extract. He found a significant discrepancy. As a result, he became suspicious and decided to contact our company for advice.

Chaga powderWe asked him to send us a picture of the label on this pack. The text on the package recommended taking up to 15 grams of the powder a day! This is obviously far too much for an extract. You can see the picture on the right. If it was a real chaga extract powder you would not have been able to consume such a dose. It would have caused some problems if taken in that amount. However, with chaga powder - it is fine, but at the same time useless if consumed as a powder without making infusions with hot water.

So this buyer didn't know the difference between the two powders and thought he had bought "the real thing". Unfortunately, he hadn't.

So back to the difference:

- Chaga extract powder - does not need to be infused! It can be consumed with cold, warm or hot water. Its manufacturing process involves vacuum extraction and dehydration by sublimation (freeze-drying), which leaves most of the Chaga phyto-nutrients intact and concentrated in the final product (powder). Chaga extract powder is highly concentrated in biologically active healthy substances, especially chromogenic complex (antioxidants). To obtain 1kg of chaga extract we use 10kg of raw chaga! We do not add any fillers or vitamins. Therefore, freeze-dried chaga extract powder is an expensive and effective natural remedy.

- Chaga powder - It is simply a dried, powdered chaga mushroom. It must be brewed as a tea, otherwise it has no effect at all. Chaga powder (tea) - is a healthy drink, but doesn't have any significant healing properties. It is usually not expensive.

At the same time, both powders from Baikal Herbs Ltd are 100% chaga mushrooms.

So if you see "chaga mushroom powder" on the label, it doesn't mean "chaga extract powder". If there is no "extract" on the label - it is just dried and powdered chaga.

In addition, it is worth remembering that a lot of fermented, artificially cultivated chaga from China or the USA is now being sold internationally.

How to differentiate chaga POWDER and chaga extract POWDER?

The first thing to consider is the appearance and colour of the powder.

For example, the picture on the left shows our Siberian chaga mushroom ground in a coffee grinder. Could you tell if it was just ground chaga or if it was chaga extract? On industrial grinders it is possible to pulverise it to 200-300 micron size. In this case, the powder becomes water soluble, just like Chaga extract.

In connection with the above, please note that freeze-dried chaga extract is completely different and very difficult to replicate.

See the picture on the right:

Freeze-dried-chaga-powder

The extract powder is black with shiny particles. This is what real freeze-dried chaga extract should look like.

Now you have more information about Chaga and hopefully it was helpful.

 


 

 



 

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