ASTRAGALUS: HEALTH BENEFITS, APPROPRIATE DOSE, SIDE EFFECTS [caption id="attachment_9226" align="aligncenter" width="2240"] Astragalus[/caption] INTRODUCTION Astragalus has been consumed in Asia for more than 2,000 years for heart health, autoimmune and allergic diseases, boosting the immune system, and for cancer treatment or in conjunction with chemotherapy. It can be prepared and consumed as a tea, in soups, liquid tinctures, capsules, and sometimes intravenously (in certain hospitals). Astragalus membranaceus (known as Huang Qi) is a plant belonging to the Luguminosae family. The active ingredient is Astragalus membranaceus (the same name as the plant) and it comes from the root of the plant. When it comes to disease prevention, and possibly treating various diseases, it checks multiple boxes for maintaining health with the following properties observed either in scientific studies or anectodatally : Anti-diabetes Anit-inflammatory Anti-oxidant Anti-cancer Anti-viral Cardioprotective Diabetic nephropathy (complication of diabetes mellitus reference: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11155431/) hepatoprotective Neuroprotective