Astragalus - Health Benefits, Uses and Important Facts

Astragalus is a type of plant in the family of legumes. It is also called huang qi or milk vetch. Astragalus comes from traditional Chinese medicine and is known to help the body fight off stress and other diseases. People think of it as a "miracle herb," and for thousands of years, people have used the powerful extract from this root as medicine. It is also used as a healthy addition to a diet. Astragalus is most often used to boost the immune system and give people more energy. It can help with a number of health problems, including the common cold, diabetes, upper respiratory issues, arthritis, asthma, and high blood pressure. Astragalus is becoming very popular in the west in part because it is an adaptogen. Adaptogens can change how they work based on what the body needs at the time. Adaptogenic herbs, like Astralagus, can help us deal with a wide range of problems because they can change to meet the needs of the body.

Overview of Astragalus:

• In traditional Chinese medicine, the roots of the astragalus plant have been used with other herbs for a long time.
• Astragalus comes in more than 2,000 different types, but only Astragalus membranaceus and Astragalus mongholicus are usually used in dietary supplements.
• Astragalus is also known as huáng q and milkvetch.
• Astragalus can be found in capsules, powders, liquid extracts, and teas.
• Astragalus has antioxidants, which may help keep cells from getting damaged.

Health benefits of Astragalus:

1. Immune Boosting

Astragalus has been used for a long time as a powerful herb that boosts the immune system and fights diseases. It is an immunostimulant, which is a substance that boosts the immune system. It is known to increase the number of white blood cells and boost the production of antibodies. This makes the body stronger against viruses and bacteria.

Many clinical studies have shown that Astragalus not only makes the immune system stronger, but it also makes immune cells (T-cells, natural killer cells, macrophages, and immunoglobulin) work better and make more of them.

Astragalus seems to help wake up immune cells that are resting and make them work harder. Astragalus has been shown to boost the number of macrophages, which are immune system cells that eat foreign antigens to protect against infection. The immune system's natural killer cells are also much better able to fight off invaders (five to six times higher than normal).

2. Longevity

Astragalus has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for hundreds of years to help people live longer, get more qi (vital energy), and make the body stronger. Researchers are doing new and exciting research that shows that Astragalus does, in fact, have powerful anti-aging properties that slow the ageing process at the cellular level.

Astragaloside IV, a saponin found in this powerful herb, has been shown to help repair damaged cells and turn on telomerase. This stops telomeres from getting shorter and slows down the ageing of cells. Telomeres are the protective ends of chromosomes. Each time a cell divides in the body, they get shorter and wear out, which is a major cause of ageing. The idea is that telomeres work like a countdown clock, so when they wear out, cell division stops and tissues quickly break down and die. Telomerase enzymes work to repair telomeres, but the body stops making them as it ages.

Cycloastragenol (CGA), another saponin found in astragalus, is being studied a lot for its anti-aging effects. It is thought to have even more potential to turn on telomerase. Research suggests that CGA could be used in many ways to treat diseases that get worse over time and to help people age.

Astragalus root works best when taken for a long time. It has many benefits that can help you live longer and healthier.

3. Adaptogen

Astragalus root is an adaptogen, which means it helps the body build and restore its health. It is used most often for adrenal fatigue, especially when the symptoms show up as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia.

4. Healthy Heart

Researchers have found that the plant flavonoids in Astragalus protect the heart by keeping plaque from building up in the arteries and making the walls of the blood vessels narrow. This is done by protecting the inner wall of the blood vessel. It has also been shown to lower triglycerides and lower blood pressure. In one study that was published in the "Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine," it was found that a flavonoid called "Astragaloside IV" helped protect the heart.

5. Sexual Wellness

Astragalus has long been used in Chinese medicine to treat male infertility. Now, a study by the Institutes of Traditional Medicine and Clinical Medicine has shown that it also increases the movement of sperm. It helps male hormones a lot. By keeping glucose levels in check, it can boost testosterone and growth hormone levels.

6. Alleviates Chemotherapy Signs and Symptoms

Astragalus has been shown to help people who are getting chemotherapy recover faster and live longer. Astragalus has been given intravenously and mixed with other Chinese herbs to treat severe side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and a lack of bone marrow. Early research shows that it might be able to reduce these symptoms and make chemotherapy work better.

7. Helps with colds and the flu

Astragalus has been used to treat colds and the flu for a long time because it kills viruses. It is often mixed with other herbs like ginseng, angelica, and licorice. As with many other natural cold remedies, it seems to work best when healthy people take the supplement regularly to avoid getting sick in the first place. Astragalus may help prevent or lessen the number of colds and upper respiratory illnesses people get during the colder months of winter if it is taken regularly before those months.

Folklore and history:

Astragalus has been used in Chinese medicine for a long time. In China, it is called "huang qi," which means "yellow leader," and has been called that for a long time. In his 1911 book "Chinese Materia Medica," G A Stuart wrote: "It is well known as a tonic, pectoral, and diuretic medicine, so it is used to treat almost all kinds of diseases."

Astragalus is one of the herbs used in fu-zheng therapy. This is a way to treat illness by boosting the body's natural defences or bringing the central energy back to normal.