Guest guest Posted August 29, 2000 Report Share Posted August 29, 2000 Astragalus spp. (including membraneous) aka Huang Qi or Huang Ch'i aka Yello milk vetch root. According to Richo Chech at Horizon Herbs http://www.chatlink.com/~herbseed/Welcome.html " Cultivation: Easy. Sow seed in flat or better yet, direct seed in early summer. Germination may be improved by soaking the seed in warm water overnight before planting. Expect germination in 3-10 days. Plant 1 foot apart in average soil with good drainage. Prefers full sun. Plants grow to 4 feet tall. " For pictures of a variety of species of Astragalus, go to http://loco.ucdavis.edu/astragalus/astragallery.htm Its taste is sweet and energy is slightly warm and moistening. The root/rhizome is what is used. Astragalus americana was used by Great Plains tribes...and has a yellow and sweet root...but apparently it can accumulate selenium so one may have to test for its presence. (Too much selenium is toxic.) Ron Teeguarden in " Chinese Tonic Herbs " calls astragalus an " energy tonic " which affect the following meridians: Spleen, Lung and Triple Warmer. Teeguarden says, " Astragalus is believed to be strengthening to the legs and arms, and is traditionally used by people who work outdoors, especially in the cold, because of its strengthening and warming nature. As an energizer to the outside of the body, Astragalus is used to tonify the protective energy (Wei Ch'i) which circulates just under the skin. Wei Ch'i is the Yang counterpart of the more Yin nutritional energy (Ying Ch'i) which flows through the twelve meridians and supplies the organs with vital energy. " (p. 98) Astragalus is known as an adaptogen, immune tonic, diarrhetic, hypoglycemic agent (helps lower blood sugar levels), nervine, cardiovascular tonic, stops excess sweating and supports the lungs. It can be very helpful in cases where there is a chronic weakness of the lungs with shortness of breath, and prolapse of internal organs. It works especially with the immune and endocrine systems. Look to use it in cases where someone's immune system is not working up to pare, where s/he has frequent colds, bronchitis, sweats easily--especially night sweats. Astragalus helps in cases where there are deficient stomach/spleen patterns. That is, a person is fatigued with no appetite. For collapsed chi--it is a major immune strengthening herb, useful in situations from cancer to AIDS; situations where someone has frequent colds, bronchitis, problems with their lungs. With HIV infections, there is often insufficient chi and many sweat abnormally. Teeguarden says that an article in " Cancer, " a publication of the American Cancer Society, reported that the aqueous extract of Astragalus membranaceus restored the immune function in 90 percent of cancer patients studied. Basically, it has been shown to work very well in strengthening cancer patients' immune systems. The same studies showed the herb promoted adrenal cortical function, ameliorated bone marrow depression and the gastrointestinal toxicity caused by chemo and radiation therapies. Astragalus increases strength and activity of the endocrine system. It's useful for adult onset diabetes. Furthermore, it increases peripheral circulation to the skin. This herb can also be used for damaged lungs--emphysima, asthma, other deficient lung conditions (used with other herbs to balance the body system.) In cases of fire poison, where there are boils and styes full of pus but they won't open and clear...it will encourage them to come to a head, open and heal more quickly. By stir frying the herb, it will be more tonifying to the lung. Stir fried in honey, it will work more to increase circulation. In rice wine, it will be directed more toward the kidneys. Dosage: 2 teaspoons of herb to one cup (8 oz.) water, decoct 4 hours or more. Take 2 to 3 cups per day. This is really better prepared and taken as a decoction than tincture, although you can tincture it. Personally, unless you're just going to be in a situation where you're traveling and cannot prepare a decoction, I wouldn't bother with a tincture....HOWEVER.... to make a tincture....cook the herb for 12 hours using a 1:5 ratio, that is, one part astragalus to five parts water. Steep it for another 6 to 8 hours, then add 30 percent grain alcohol. Take 40 to 60 drops, three to four times a day. By the way, Bob Flaws, who has written extensively on TCM, has a book called " Chinese Medicinal Wines & Elixirs " in which he gives a simple recipe for astragalus wine that does not include decocting it. CONTRAINDICATED: (do not use) Do not use astragalus by itself in situations where there is " heat in the Lung " or damp heat in Spleen). *********************** Some Links to more info: The Longwood Herbal Task Force and The Center for Holistic Pediatric Education and Research This site includes LHTF Publications with an In-depth Monograph, Clinician Information Summary, Patient Fact Sheet as well as links to Astragalus resources on other web sites The Clinician Info Summary condenses the 18-page monograph into 3 pages. The Patient Fact Sheet is interesting. I don't necessarily agree with everything they say here (as in, the herb is not recommended for people who already have a cold), but mostly it seems really good. http://www.mcp.edu/herbal/astragalus/astragalus.htm ********************** A site on hepatitus that has a very good info on the herb. http://www.hepatitis-c.de/astragal.htm ********************** The Toxicology of the Astragalus genus http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/locoweed/astrag1.htm Cathy, Wise Weeds http://www.freeyellow.com/members6/wiseweeds/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 29, 2000 Report Share Posted August 29, 2000 >Astragalus spp. (including membraneous) aka Huang Qi or Huang Ch'i aka >Yello milk vetch root. Thanks for some very good and thorough info on astragalus. I want to use this post as an opportunity to review some things. I also want to add some info. >For pictures of a variety of species of Astragalus, go to >http://loco.ucdavis.edu/astragalus/astragallery.htm I had no idea there is so many species of astragalus. The Wicke Materia Medica lists 5 species as Radix Astragali, aka Huang Qi. These are 1. Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge; 2. A. mongholicus Bge.; 3. A. chrysopterus Bge.; 4. A. floridus Benth.; and 5. A. tongolensis Ulbr. This is an herb that you want to be very, very careful in making sure that you've got one of the species recognized as Radix Astragali or Huang Qi. Just any speices of astragalus won't do. Among the many plants in the genus Astragalus are some whose common name is " locoweed " . Yes. It's that stuff you occasionally hear mentioned in Westerns. " Yep. Cattle done up and died. Stumbled around, acted plum loco before they died. Must have gotten into a patch of locoweed. " BTW, one species of locoweed grows abundantly in the area I live in. It's a very pretty plant. It blooms in the spring and provides a carpet of pinkish purple blooms for a few weeks. I knew it was locoweed, but I didn't know that this is one of the astraglus species until I read your post and looked at some of the links. >Its taste is sweet and energy is slightly warm and moistening. Sweet tasting herbs will tend to be very moistening, but their energy most often is mildly cooling. This is an example of a sweet-tasting herb which has slightly warm energy. > >Ron Teeguarden in " Chinese Tonic Herbs " calls astragalus an " energy >tonic " which affect the following meridians: Spleen, Lung and Triple >Warmer. One thing to be aware of when using Teeguarden's " Chinese Tonic Herbs " is that he uses the word " tonic " in ways it's not usually used. There are a relatively few herbs that are classified as Qi (energy), Blood, Yin, or Yang tonics. Astragalus actually is a Qi tonic herb. One of the advantages of the Teeguarden book is it shows pictures of herbs in their pharmaceutical state. This can be a great help if you order herbs and need to check that you got what was ordered. (Sometimes sight alone won't be enough, but learning to visually recognize herbs can be a great help.) >As an energizer to the outside of the body, Astragalus is used to tonify >the protective energy (Wei Ch'i) which circulates just under the skin. >Wei Ch'i is the Yang counterpart of the more Yin nutritional energy >(Ying Ch'i) which flows through the twelve meridians and supplies the >organs with vital energy. " (p. 98) This is a very important point to remember about astragalus and often will be one of the deciding factors in an herbalist using astragalus in a formula instead of ginseng. Astragalus is one of the Qi tonic herbs that specifically boosts Protective (Wei) Qi. If a person tends to catch a lot of infections, has wounds that are not healing as quickly as they should, or is very weather sensitive, these can be symptoms that the Protective Qi is weak. Just any Qi tonic herb will not help Protective Qi as much as a Qi tonic herb which specifically helps Protective Qi. BTW, some authorities equate Protective Qi Deficiency with Lung Qi Deficiency. If a person is Protective Qi Deficient you can bet the person also has Lung Qi Deficiency. >It works especially with the immune and endocrine systems. Look to use >it in cases where someone's immune system is not working up to pare, >where s/he has frequent colds, bronchitis, sweats easily--especially >night sweats. Wicke (vol. 2, p. 117) mentions that astragalus not only can be used in cases of sweating due to Qi Deficiency but also can be used in cases of sweating at night (Yin Deficiency) and in cases of Yang Deficiency sweating. It also can be used in cases of inadequate sweating due to Exterior pathogens, but you need to mix it with other herbs in the case of inadequate sweating. Astragalus appears to regulate sweating to normal sweating. Review: Spontaneous sweating at unusual times can be a symptom of Qi Deficiency. In a few cases it can also be a symptom of Yang Deficiency. When a person has night sweats, this usually is a symptom of Yin Deficiency. >Astragalus helps in cases where there are deficient stomach/spleen >patterns. That is, a person is fatigued with no appetite. Wicke also mentions that it will raise the Yang Qi of the Spleen. Review: Spleen Qi is supposed to ascend. When it doesn't, problems like prolapsed organs can result. Astragalus can be very helpful in treating Spleen Qi Sinking. (More advanced info: Spleen Qi Sinking is classified as a Deficiency problem. The cases of Qi rising when it should be descending or rising too much are classified as Excess patterns.) >For collapsed >chi--it is a major immune strengthening herb, useful in situations from >cancer to AIDS; situations where someone has frequent colds, bronchitis, >problems with their lungs. Remember the comments about one of the symptoms of Protective Qi Deficiency being that the person can't fight off infections and catches a lot of infections. And remember the comment about some authorities saying that Protective Qi Deficiency equates with Lung Qi Deficiency. This can be important to remember because in a few cases of Lung Qi Deficiency, the Lung problems may not be that obvious. The person may not be catching frequent infections like colds that would cause the healer to suspect Lung Qi Deficiency. This doesn't happen very often, but you can run into a situation where the person is very Protective Qi Deficient but not catching a lot of colds. This happens quite a bit with PWCs. (People With CFIDS - Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome). During one phase of the CFIDS, the PWC will not catch colds. But the PWC feels like s/he has a bad case of the flu all the time. When the PWC starts to improve, s/he will start to catch colds again. This is an unusual situation that you won't see a lot unless you specialize in knowing about CFIDS, but I want readers to be aware that you can run into situations like this so you will know to suspect possible Lung Qi Deficiency even thought the signs may be minor. BTW, PWCs tend to be extremely weather sensitive no matter what phase of the CFIDS they are in. If there are symptoms of Protective Qi Deficiency - like extreme weather sensitivity - automatically consider that Lung Qi is Deficient as well as Protective Qi. It can enable the healer to fine-tune treatment even more that s/he would be able to. >By stir frying the herb, it will be more tonifying to the lung. Stir >fried in honey, it will work more to increase circulation. In rice wine, >it will be directed more toward the kidneys. Review: How an herb is prepared can change its properties. For example fresh ginger (warm and expels Wind Chill from the Exterior) and dried ginger (hot and used to warm the interior) have different properties. So do cooked rehmannia and raw rehmannia. BTW, honey, wine, salt, vinegar, etc. can be used to either change the properties of an herb slightly or to direct it more to a certain part of the body. >CONTRAINDICATED: (do not use) Do not use astragalus by itself in >situations where there is " heat in the Lung " or damp heat in Spleen). Wicke words the contraindications as Deficiency of Yin with Heat (Yin Deficiency with predominating symptoms of Heat) and Excess Heat (which includes Damp Heat). Dampness automatically is classified as Excess. >The Clinician Info Summary condenses the 18-page monograph >into 3 pages. The Patient Fact Sheet is interesting. I don't necessarily >agree with everything they say here (as in, the herb is not >recommended for people who already have a cold), but mostly >it seems really good. Actually, this is standard advice with all the tonic herbs. Stop the tonic herbs if the person comes down with a cold or the flu. Otherwise the tonic herbs may strengthen the pathogen. There are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes you wouldn't dare stop the tonic herbs because the person needs them so much. There are some special rules for dealing with colds and the flu. They're covered in the 6 Stages of Cold-induced Evils. The treatment will vary quite a bit depending on which stage the Evil is in. During the early stage, it is proper to induce sweating. In later stages, this could hurt so treatment is directed toward other things. " Early " and " later " are poor words on my part. A person with a cold or flu and stay in one stage a long time, go back to a stage, or even skip a stage. Victoria _______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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