Witnessed by: TCM · Western
Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus), of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family. Erect perennial legume with pinnate leaves and small pale-yellow pea-like flowers; native range: Northern and northeastern China, Mongolia, Korea. Globally recognized as huang qi (黃芪) in Chinese, and milkvetch root in English. The part used is root. Long, fibrous, pale yellow root with a fibrous 'chicken-skin' textured bark and a sweet, slightly bean-like taste; the deeper the yellow of the cross-section, the higher the prized quality.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
ASTRAGALUS
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Astragalus
- Scientific name
- Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge (syn. Astragalus propinquus Schischkin)
- Family
- Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet
- Western
- sweet
Temperature
- TCM
- warm, mild in degree
- Western
- warm
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Lung
- Western
- immune · adrenals · digestion · lungs
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- tonifies qi, raises yang, strengthens the exterior (wei qi) and stops sweating, promotes urination and reduces edema, generates flesh and expels toxin in sores, promotes discharge of pus
- Western
- immune tonic/modulator, adaptogen, adrenal tonic, mild diuretic, cardiotonic
Cautions
Contraindications: excess/repletion patterns with unresolved exterior conditions (e.g. early-stage colds or flu with fever), yin deficiency with heat signs, food stagnation, carbuncles or sores in the early inflamed stage before pus has formed
Toxicity: very low toxicity, well tolerated even at high doses long-term; mild gastrointestinal upset or bloating occasionally reported
Interactions
- Western
- immunosuppressants: immune-stimulating polysaccharides may theoretically counteract immunosuppressive therapy · antidiabetic agents: possible additive blood-glucose-lowering effect · antihypertensives: mild additive blood-pressure-lowering and diuretic effect
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