Three capsules. A glass of water. Done.
That really is most of it, and if you've only got ten seconds you can stop reading here and go and make a brew. Still with me? Fair enough. Because people do ask the same handful of things about our chaga capsules, over and over, and it seems daft not to have the answers all in one place. What chaga is (the quick version), what's in the capsule, why we put it in a capsule at all when people have been making tea out of it for ages, and how I'd fit it into a normal week without it turning into a project.
Wait, what even is chaga?
Quick one, I promise. We've already done a whole post on the forest side of chaga (Chaga: The Black Gold of the Birch Forest), so I'm not going to do it all again here.
It's a fungus. Birch trees. Nearly always birch, weirdly fussy about that. And cold places: Siberia, Scandinavia, up through northern Europe. Latin name's Inonotus obliquus, which I've never once heard said at a barbecue.
Ever been on a wintry walk and spotted a birch with a big dark lump on the side and thought, huh, what's wrong with that tree? Good chance that was chaga.
And people in Siberia and across northern Europe have been drinking it as a tea for a long time. Chunks in a pan, water, a long slow simmer. Ours skips the pan.
So why a capsule and not a pot of tea?
Honestly? Mostly because of the pan.
I've got nothing against the old way. It's lovely, actually, if you've got the chunks, a quiet afternoon and a saucepan you don't mind going a funny colour. But that's three things most people haven't got lined up on a Wednesday morning. You've got to find the chaga, simmer it for ages, strain it, then deal with the washing up. And the pan. You'll find out what colour the pan goes.
A capsule just gets rid of all that faff.
It also goes anywhere. Desk drawer at work. Gym bag. The wash bag you take on holiday, next to the toothpaste. Try taking a saucepan of mushroom tea through airport security and see how far you get (I haven't, but I can picture the face).
And some people simply don't want to taste it. I quite like chaga tea myself, it's earthy, a bit roasty, not bitter at all. Still, plenty of people would rather not have a mug of tree fungus at 7am, and that's completely fine. With a capsule you don't taste anything. Water, swallow, gone.
What's actually in there?
Not much, which is the point.
The page says 100% pure chaga extract. No fillers, no additives, nothing artificial. The capsule itself is made from vegetable-based materials, so the whole thing is plant based and vegan friendly. There are ninety in a pack.
I went looking for the catch on the label. There isn't one. It's a short read.
Every batch gets tested in labs in the US and in Germany, for purity and for heavy metals and other bits you'd rather not be swallowing. Which is reassuring, and also the kind of thing you never think to ask about until somebody mentions it.
What it isn't is a medicine. Food supplement, that's the box it goes in, and it's not a swap for eating properly either. Broccoli still has to happen. Sorry.
How many, and when?
Three capsules at a time, with water. Up to three times a day, according to the pack. Food or no food, it's not fussed.
With food or without, then? Up to you, genuinely. I tend to have mine with breakfast, but only because that's when I'm stood in the kitchen anyway. If you're more of a "coffee and out the door" type who doesn't eat till half eleven, that's fine too. Pack doesn't care. Neither do I.
Do the maths and you land somewhere between three and nine a day. Nine's your lot. Not ten. Not "go on, a couple more, it's Monday". Stay inside what's on the pack.
Me? Three in the morning and that's my lot. If you do decide to go higher, spread them out over the day rather than knocking back nine in one go. Breakfast, lunch, tea, three a go. That's all the "one to three times a day" line on the label is getting at.
Someone always asks how long a pack lasts, so. At three a day the ninety last you a month. Go all the way up to nine and you're through them in ten days.
Oh, and use a proper glass of water. Not a little sip from the tap. Three capsules on a dry throat is not a nice way to start the day, and one of them will always try to stick halfway down. Always the last one.
Making it a habit without thinking about it
This is the bit where most people come unstuck. Not because it's hard. Because they forget. You buy the pack, take it for four days, and then it sits on the side looking at you for three weeks.
What's worked for me is tying it to something I'm already doing.
I keep mine in the cupboard where the mugs live. Every morning I open that cupboard to make a coffee, the pack's right there, and the capsules happen while the kettle's on. I don't have to remember anything, the cupboard does it for me.
Not next to the kettle, mind. Cool, dry, out of the sun is what it says on the pack, and the kettle corner gets steamed every time someone fancies a brew. Bathroom cabinet? Even worse after a shower. Bad shout.
Other things people do. One of those weekly pill boxes with the days on the lids, the sort your grandad keeps by his chair, works brilliantly if you fill it up on a Sunday night. Or leave the pack by wherever you eat breakfast. Or, if mornings are chaos in your house (school run, lost shoe, someone crying, possibly you), do it at lunch instead. When doesn't matter. What matters is it's the same time most days, so it stops being a decision.
Missed a day? Don't try to catch up with a big handful at teatime. Just pick it back up the next morning.
The serious bit (please don't skip it)
Got a mushroom allergy? These aren't for you, simple as that.
If you're expecting, breastfeeding, or you eat a restricted diet for whatever reason, ask your doctor or pharmacist first. Quick chat, worth it.
Little ones in the house? Pack goes up high, back of the cupboard, somewhere small hands won't reach.
And stick to the dose on the pack. Three, one to three times a day, never more than that.
Fancy trying them?
If chaga's been on your list for a while but the idea of simmering bits of tree in your good saucepan has put you off, capsules are about the easiest way in. Put the pack where your mugs are. Three with your first coffee. See how it fits into your mornings over a few weeks.
Mycology Nutrition sells Chaga Mushroom Capsules in packs of ninety.
