Comment · Thu, April 2, 2020
A scientific study of Chaga that concerns me
Original post in this thread
Sorin61 · 4 points
My wife and I are big consumers of medicinal mushroom extracts including Chaga. Today I read a study that kind of worries me :
\- https://www.jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e122
What are your thoughts?
What they were answering
Sorin61 · 1 points
Man , I took 8-9 grams of different mushroom extracts daily . Because I madly like the taste of Chaga and I can't give it up completely , OK , I'll cut from 2 grams to 1 / day. Should I be careful with other medicinal mushrooms regarding oxalates?
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
Well were you taking 8-9 grams of just chaga daily? Not every mushroom has high oxalate levels like chaga. Chaga is a unique one, as it grows wild on birch trees and concentrates nutrients at specific times of the year. In fact, some studies have shown that most mushrooms don't have a ton of oxalate, and the form they do have are insoluble oxalates (calcium oxalate, magnesium oxalate and iron oxalate). Those are not absorbed in the digestive system and pass harmlessly in your feces. The problem with chaga is that it contains soluble oxalates (potassium oxalate and sodium oxalate) which release free oxalate anions that pass in to the blood stream. Free oxalate will bind with any free calcium to produce calcium oxalate crystals. I would not worry about other mushrooms. Just keep your dosage of chaga reasonable and drink plenty of water.