Like most people, you're probably always looking for new ways to improve your skin health. Luckily, if you're a fan of functional mushrooms, there's one that can help: Chaga.
In this post, we'll take a closer look at the benefits of Chaga for skin and how you can add it to your routine. We will also show you the various ways in which Chaga eliminates wrinkles and makes you look younger!
Continue reading to find out the relationship between Chaga and skincare.
Chaga Mushroom: What Is It?
Chaga mushroom looks like a large black conk, hence the ugly duckling among medicinal fungi. The mushroom attaches itself to birch trees from which it feeds. You will mostly find this mushroom in the northern hemisphere—in countries like Canada, North America, Alaska, Finland, Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
Despite its ugliness, the Chaga mushroom boasts numerous health benefits.
Read More: See the health benefits of Chaga.
What's surprising is that the ugly mushroom has the potential to make our skin more beautiful. Over time and with more research, Chaga has become an invaluable medicinal mushroom with many potential skin benefits.
Chaga topical benefits are highly revered in the world of beauty and skincare. Chaga benefits for skin are numerous, and the mushroom is being incorporated into skincare products as a key ingredient.
Topical Chaga is packed with vitamins and minerals like zinc, magnesium, copper, amino acids, fiber, and Vitamin D. Chaga cream benefits from these highly vital ingredients.
If you are new to Chaga skin cream benefits, you may want to know the properties of Chaga that make the mushroom good for your skin health. Additionally, you may want to know whether the Chaga mushroom anti-aging benefits are real.
Read More: Learn how Chaga improves hair health, eliminating symptoms of aging.
This guide will answer questions like: does Chaga keep the skin moist? Can I avoid skin cancer by simply using Chaga? How easy is it for Chaga to improve my skin cells? How does Chaga treat skin cells?
Read on to learn the skin conditions Chaga mushroom can treat.
9 Chaga Benefits For Skin: What Does The Mushroom Do For Skin?
The skin is our largest organ and a significant barrier that protects our internal organs. Protecting the skin is vital for preventing bacterial and environmental damage. It is also essential for appearance and beauty.
The skincare industry has products that promise youthful skin. But, the incredible Chaga skin benefits make the mushroom stand out.Why use chemicals when you have a natural powerhouse of youthfulness?
The following are the Chaga skin benefits:
1. Chaga Prevents Oxidant Injury
One of the best medicinal mushrooms, the Chaga mushroom is rich in antioxidants—these antioxidants offer outstanding skin support. Chaga has the highest antioxidant levels ever found in any natural food.
With an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC score)(1) of over 146,000, the Chaga mushroom is loaded with antioxidants that protect your skin from free radical damage and oxidative stress. This results in lesser skin irritation.
Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) is an enzyme that scavenges the free radicals in the body. By breaking down the harmful oxygen molecules, SOD prevents tissue damage and is an essential antioxidant.
Chaga mushroom has a high content of SOD which helps in combating DNA damage(2)—oxidant injury results from stress and pollution.
By fighting the free radicals and DNA damage, Chaga mushroom helps slow down the rate at which the skin cells age and reduces age-related skin damage like wrinkles(3), discoloration, and even acne.
Read More: Pregnant and planning to improve your skin with Chaga? See if it's safe to use Chaga while pregnant.
2. Chaga Is A Natural Sunscreen
Sun damage causes dull skin. One of the vital benefits of Siberian Chaga is that it blocks the sun's Ultraviolet rays (UV rays), helping you maintain healthy skin. Harmful UV rays can lead to dark spots and even skin cancer.
Read More: See how Chaga fights cancer.
Among the other beneficial nutrients, Chaga is also rich in melanin(4). Melanins are pigments in our skin that can absorb UV rays. It shields and shades the skin from damaging UV beams and sun rays. Using Chaga skincare products or consuming mushrooms can reduce prolonged sun exposure damage.
If you already have unattractive dark spots often caused by the sun, you do not have to worry. Chaga can effectively reduce dark sunspots. With continued use, the mushroom will make the dark sunspots disappear.
Read More: Planning to drink Chaga tea to fight dark sports. Learn about the Chaga mushroom taste to expect.
When heading out—say, to spend a day on the beach—instead of relying on sunscreen products whose benefits do not go beyond sun protection, leverage Chaga mushroom cream. In addition to protecting you from harmful UV exposure, Chaga is one of the few superfood mushrooms that, when applied to the skin, help with treating pre-existing skin conditions.
Used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, Chaga will protect you from prolonged exposure and ensure you go back home with healthier skin.
3. Chaga Can Alter Skin Pigmentation
Chaga mushroom has inhibitory and acceleratory activity on tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in melanin synthesis. One of the Siberian Chaga health benefits is reducing skin pigmentation by suppressing tyrosinase activity and accelerating the activity of enzymes. This could be useful to even out skin tones when the pigment is lost, reduced, or in excess.
When you consume Chaga—or the birch tree mushroom—you immediately start fighting the damage caused by environmental conditions such as sun rays.
4. Chaga For Skin Rejuvenation
No one wants to experience premature aging, skin discoloration, and other non-pleasant skin conditions. However, harmful UV rays and free radicals often leave people with premature skin aging. Luckily, however, Chaga provides outstanding skin support for these people, reducing premature aging.
Chaga mushroom cream is rich in betulinic acid(5). Betulinic acid helps maintain and support healthy skin. Regular skincare products with betulinic acid give the skin a more youthful look.
Betulinic acid also aids in skin regeneration and restoration. This will help bring back the natural look of the skin, especially when the skin is scarred or wounded.
Preparing a Chaga mushroom coffee before work could help you keep your skin youthful. If you have damaged skin already—or your skin is already aging prematurely—the mushroom can help with collagen production and skin restoration.
Read More: While combining Chaga with coffee is good, learn whether Chaga has caffeine.
5. Chaga Restores Skin Elasticity
Skin elasticity is its ability to stretch back into its original shape. Loss of skin elasticity—often due to aging—can lead to leathery, creepy, and saggy skin.
Collagen is the main structural protein of the skin. It strengthens the skin and provides elasticity and hydration. One of the benefits of Chaga extract is helping restore elasticity.
Many factors can degrade and decrease collagen synthesis, including sun damage and diabetes. Inonotus obliquus supports the production of collagen, restoring skin elasticity.
Read More: See how Chaga fights diabetes to boost collagen production.
Chaga mushroom also contains kojic acid that contributes to hydrated and nourished skin. These acids minimize dirt buildup and clogging in your skin and keep the skin moist.
Betulinic acid in the mushroom is also very effective in restoring skin elasticity bringing back the natural youthful look of the skin. Besides bringing back the firmness of the skin, it also helps reduce dark spots.
When used for an extended period, Chaga essentially eliminates saggy skin. When added to your skincare routine, a combination of the antioxidants found in the mushroom, betulonic acid, and protein building amino acids should ensure you have healthy and youthful-looking skin.
6. Chaga Fights Acne
The Chaga anti-inflammatory capabilities allow the mushroom to fight acne. The benefits of Chaga in acne also include moisturization, prevention of clogging, and dirt buildup.
While it is easy to assume that you only get this benefit when Chaga mushroom is applied topically, this is not the case. The mushroom also helps with acne when consumed as a beverage or food.
Read More: Learn how to use Chaga powder to fight acne and other diseases.
Acne can be prevented and eliminated by keeping the skin clean and hydrated. Doing so will also keep the skin from decaying and cracking, which is associated with inflammation. Chaga also helps fight acne breakout by fighting inflammation(6).
7. Chaga For Eczema
One of the most revered Chaga skin benefits, Chaga can fight Eczema. Eczema is an inflammatory skin condition.
The anti-inflammatory property(7) of Chaga eases skin inflammation in Eczema. It forms a protective film on your skin, preventing moisture loss. This helps relieve irritated, itchy, and dry skin while promoting healing and skin health.
8. Chaga Reduces Skin Sensitivity
If you want to reduce skin sensitivity, you do not have to go for medications. Chaga can boost the body's natural immune system. This, in turn, reduces your skin's sensitivity to irritants and other forms of allergies.
Read More: Learn how Chaga treats psoriasis by fighting irritants and allergies.
One of the best natural foods for people dealing with numerous skin sensitivity issues, the mushroom often helps the body create a barrier between the skin and the triggers that cause sensitivity. This improves the skin's resilience.
9. Chaga Benefits For Hair
Chaga protects your skin from the premature aging process. However, that is not all the parasitic mushroom does.
Chaga mushroom offers many benefits that keep you youthful—the mushroom is exceptionally beneficial in maintaining a head full of hair. When you incorporate Chaga into your diet and skincare routines, the benefits you enjoy are multiple and extremely important for staying young.
Our hair and skin are very closely related. Like most people, you would want to know whether Chaga mushrooms benefit people trying to improve their hair.
While studies haven't established whether people can use the Chaga mushroom for hair growth, researchers have confirmed that the fungi offer numerous hair benefits. Some of the Chaga benefits include:
- It prevents hair loss
- Maintains hair pigmentation
- Nourishes the hair
- Prevents greying of hair
The Chaga mushroom hair benefits make the fungi an ideal addition to any diet. Chaga mushroom from a good source should transform both your skin and hair.
How Can You Use Chaga For Healthy Skin?
Taking advantage of Chaga skin health properties is extremely easy. The most common way to harness the benefit of Chaga for skin is to consume the mushroom.
You can steep the mushroom in warm water. This will release its bioactive compounds forming a highly satisfying Chaga tea concentration that leads to a lot of nourishment.
Read More: Learn how Chaga tea also facilitates weight loss.
You can also use the mushroom powder in tea, coffee, and other dairy and non-dairy beverages.
Topical skincare products with Chaga extracts are another option for adding a boost of antioxidants to the skin. The Chaga-infused serums, moisturizers, and face masks can be applied directly onto the skin. The Chaga skincare products are available in various forms, and the amount you use largely depends on the type of skin care product you are using.
One of the most effective ways of enjoying Chaga benefits is mixing the powder in your favorite meals, snacks, and smoothies. Some people may prefer to take a Chaga mushroom tincture under the tongue.
Chaga Benefits For Skin Video
FAQs About Chaga Benefits For Skin
Can Chaga Be Harmful To The Skin?
The current research indicates that Chaga is safe for use on the skin. However, talking to a skincare professional is a good idea if you are trying a new Chaga skincare product.
A health professional should help you determine the ideal Chaga dosage, depending on your needs. This should help you avoid side effects.
Key Takeaways
Chaga mushrooms can provide fantastic support to the skin. Chaga benefits for skin—irrespective of the mushroom source—are numerous and can be used if you are suffering from acne, itching, psoriasis, Eczema, rosacea, allergic reactions, rashes, bug bites, and dermatitis.
You can consume the mushroom as a supplement or use Chaga mushroom skincare products. Regardless, Chaga is a great medicinal mushroom that helps you get glowy youthful skin.
Have you tried Chaga for skin health or its other benefits? What was your experience with the mushroom? Let us know in the comments.
References
- Comparison of antioxidant activity and extraction techniques for commercially and laboratory prepared extracts from six mushroom species, (1)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154321000326
- Medicinal Plants of the Russian Pharmacopoeia; their history and applications, (2)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874114002827
- A study of facial wrinkles improvement effect of veratric acid from cauliflower mushroom through photo-protective mechanisms against UVB irradiation, (3)https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00403-016-1633-z
- Inhibitory and Acceleratory Effects of Inonotus obliquus on Tyrosinase Activity and Melanin Formation in B16 Melanoma Cells, (4)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4145793/
- Chaga (Inonotus obliquus), a Future Potential Medicinal Fungus in Oncology? A Chemical Study and a Comparison of the Cytotoxicity Against Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells (A549) and Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells (BEAS-2B), (5)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6142110/
- Orally administered aqueous extract of Inonotus obliquus ameliorates acute inflammation in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice, (6)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378874112004771
- Bioactive Compounds and Bioactive Properties of Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) Mushroom: A Review, (7)http://www.isnff jfb.com/index.php/JFB/article/view/161/290
Let Us Know Your Comments