The Chaga Story
By Victor Yurasik
The Truth About Chaga — From Someone Who's Lived It
The internet is full of bold claims about chaga. Every other site has a “guru” explaining why their product is the best, which country grows the most potent kind, or why you must use dual-extracted chaga — or else it’s worthless.
As someone who has spent over 20 years deeply involved with chaga — and yes, as a Russian who grew up close to its origins — I’ve seen firsthand how far the reality is from what’s being marketed.
Most of what you find online isn’t based on experience. It’s based on recycled info, loud marketing, and people trying to sound like experts without ever having taken chaga consistently themselves.
That’s why I decided to speak up — not just to vent, but to offer real clarity. If you’re someone genuinely curious about chaga and want to experience its true benefits, you deserve honest information from someone who actually knows what it means to live with it.
This series of articles will cut through the noise. I’ll share not only facts, but my personal journey with chaga — including why I decided to bring real Siberian chaga extract directly to people who are tired of hype and ready for the truth.
Some of what I share may challenge what you’ve heard. But it’s all grounded in real use, deep research, and a lot of time observing what chaga actually does — not just what it’s supposed to do.
Part I - My First Encounter with Chaga
My first introduction to chaga mushroom wasn’t through books or business. It happened much earlier — during my childhood in the 1980s. I lived with my family in a private house located on the outskirts of Irkutsk city, which unofficially has always been considered as the capital of West Siberia.
Every spring, as the snow began to melt and the birch trees stirred back to life, my father and I would head into the forest. Back then, our mission wasn’t chaga. It was birch sap — the clear, slightly sweet lifeblood of the tree, cherished across Russian provinces and villages for generations.
The Forest Tradition
Birch sap, or berezoviy sok, is a seasonal drink rooted in rural life. Sure, you could buy it in stores, but the pasteurized, sweetened version was a far cry from the fresh, invigorating liquid tapped straight from the tree. Collected in glass jars under a steel spout drilled carefully into the bark by my father’s strong hands, it was a springtime ritual — deeply cleansing, restorative, and especially prized after the long, harsh Russian winter. We usually took away about 100 liters of the sap to last us for several months. Of course there was a special Russian recipe about preserving this precious drink for such a long time, which I will share with you later.
One day on those trips, I began noticing strange, dark growths on the trunks of some birch trees. Curious, I asked my father what they were. He glanced at them with a kind of quiet respect and said:
“That’s a very powerful mushroom, son. Not something you just take and eat. It's used as a healing drink — but only in serious, life-threatening cases. It’s so strong, you must use it in very small amounts.”
That was the extent of the folk knowledge passed down to me. Chaga wasn’t trendy. It wasn’t marketed. It wasn’t well-known. It was simply part of the forest’s deeper pharmacy — approached with caution and reverence.
A Family Memory Etched in Time
I also remember when my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. He refused conventional treatment at first and began drinking homemade chaga tea every day. The disease progressed slowly, with no visible spread for nearly ten years. Eventually, though, he agreed to chemotherapy. Not long after starting treatment, he passed away.
That left a lasting impression on me — not as a rejection of medicine, but as a reminder that true strength sometimes lies in what’s quiet, humble, and forgotten.
Losing the Wisdom, Then Rediscovering It
As time went on, the world changed. Within just a bit over a decade, mainstream medicine took center stage. Natural remedies became “old-fashioned.” People stopped listening to traditional wisdom and started putting blind trust in doctors.
I didn’t pay much attention to these changes — I was young, healthy, and unaware of how deeply this shift would one day affect me. Until the day my father was diagnosed with cancer.
His doctor urged him to begin chemotherapy immediately. My father turned to me for advice. But I was too young and too brainwashed by conventional thinking to give him a real answer. The doctor spoke with such confidence — as if he knew what was best — and so the decision was made: chemo.
Six months later, my father’s health had worsened dramatically. That’s when he remembered chaga. I went into the forest, spent the whole day harvesting, and returned with several large chunks. He began drinking the tea daily — carefully, three to four cups a day.
Now I know it wasn’t enough. The doctor insisted on continuing chemotherapy. And that was the end. Within a year, my father was gone.
It’s a hard truth. If he hadn’t listened to that “good doctor,” I truly believe he would have lived longer — and suffered far less.
The Real Lesson
Since then, I’ve spent years learning about health, human biology, and natural healing. Through study and experience, I’ve formed my own understanding of what it takes to live well. There’s more to it than just drinking chaga — but chaga is definitely part of the picture.
This article is the beginning of a series I plan to share — not just about the mushroom itself, but about what it represents: the quiet, forgotten wisdom of nature. The knowledge our ancestors lived by, and the power that still lives in our forests — if we’re willing to listen.
I didn’t know it at the time, but those early spring days in the forest — the birch sap, my father’s quiet words, and my grandfather’s long fight — were planting something in me.
And now, those seeds have grown into a mission: to tell the real story of chaga, and to share the truth about this remarkable mushroom with the wider world.