Astragalus

Astragalus membranaceus

Also: Huang qi, Mongolian milkvetch, Astragalus mongholicus

WarmingMoisteningTonifying

Builds steady resistance ahead of the cold season.

A sprawling perennial legume with feathery leaflets and pale yellow pea flowers, grown for a long, fibrous root with a yellow core. Astragalus is a tonic, taken daily for weeks to strengthen immune defenses and stamina before illness arrives, and to rebuild after it.

Energetics: Warming, moistening, toning
Taste: Sweet, mild, faintly salty
Family: Fabaceae (pea family)
Parts used: Root

Medicinal uses 5

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Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Frequent colds & low immunityTLC
Taken daily through the cold season, it strengthens defenses against colds and flu; lab studies show its polysaccharides switch on immune cells.
Exhaustion & burnoutTLC
Restores stamina in chronic fatigue and long stress when it is taken every day for several weeks.
Depletion & mineral needsTLC
Builds blood and strength after illness; Chinese medicine pairs it with dong quai to rebuild blood.
Blood sugar balanceTLC
Helps steady blood sugar, and Chinese medicine includes it in formulas for diabetes.
Dry coughTLC
After a cold has passed, moistens dry airways and helps bring up the last stuck mucus.

Preparations

Long-simmered root decoction, slices in soup, tincture, and daily cold-season blends.

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Cautions

Set it aside during an acute cold, flu, or fever and take it up again in recovery. Chinese medicine holds that a tonic taken mid-illness strengthens the illness along with the patient.
It works against immune-suppressing medicines; leave it out alongside them.
Buy it from a trusted source. Many wild Astragalus species, the locoweeds of the American West, poison livestock.

Medication interactions

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Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyAsk your practitioner

Astragalus has no known action on the uterus, and some Chinese pregnancy formulas include it, but pregnancy data are limited. Work with your practitioner before taking it.

BreastfeedingModerate amounts

Moderate amounts are considered low risk while nursing.

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Folklore

Huang qi means yellow leader, for the root's yellow core and its rank among the tonics of Chinese medicine. The Shennong Bencao Jing, compiled nearly two thousand years ago, lists it among the superior herbs, those safe to take for life. Chinese markets sell it as long, flat slices that look like tongue depressors. Astragalus is the largest genus of flowering plants on Earth, with around three thousand species.

How to grow

A hardy perennial for full sun and light, sandy, well-drained soil. Nick or soak the hard seed before sowing, and sow it where it will grow, since the long taproot resents transplanting. Like other legumes, it fixes its own nitrogen. Dig the roots in autumn once plants are three or four years old.

In the wild

Grassy slopes, forest edges, and sandy steppe in northern China, Mongolia, Korea, and eastern Siberia. Most of the supply now comes from farms in northern China.

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