Huang Qi (Astragalus root): dose, uses, and cautions
Huang Qi, Astragali Radix, the root of Astragalus membranaceus and Astragalus mongholicus, is the chief qi tonic of the Spleen and Lung in Chinese medicine and the herb that raises the yang and secures the exterior. It is sweet and slightly warm and enters the Spleen and Lung channels. The classical dose in decoction is 9 to 30 grams, rising to 60 grams and more when it leads a formula, and to 120 grams in Bu Yang Huan Wu Tang. Huang Qi strengthens the defensive qi, and it is not combined with the immunosuppressant drugs given after organ transplant or for autoimmune disease, whose action it opposes.
Actions
The Shennong Bencao Jing lists the root in its upper class, and Li Shizhen ranks it in the Bencao Gangmu as the leader among the tonifying herbs. The modern materia medica gives it six actions.
Tonifying qi and raising yang: fatigue, poor appetite, and loose stools from Spleen qi deficiency, and the sunken qi of rectal and uterine prolapse, chronic diarrhoea, and uterine bleeding that the Spleen no longer holds. It is chief in Li Dongyuan's Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang, the formula for raising the middle.
Tonifying the wei qi and securing the exterior: spontaneous sweating and the person who catches every cold. Yu Ping Feng San, the Jade Windscreen, is Huang Qi with Bai Zhu and Fang Feng, the tonic given between colds and never during one.
Promoting urination and reducing oedema: swelling with a heavy body and a weak pulse, where qi cannot move water. Fang Ji Huang Qi Tang, from the Jingui Yaolue, is the model.
Expelling pus and generating flesh: sores and ulcers that will not close because the qi cannot push out the pus or build new tissue, in Tou Nong San and the later formulas for chronic wounds.
Generating fluids and Blood: the wasting-thirst disorder (xiao ke) with Shan Yao, and Blood deficiency after blood loss in Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang, Li Dongyuan's pairing of Huang Qi 30 grams with Dang Gui 6 grams, in which the large dose of the qi herb generates Blood because qi is the mother of Blood.
Moving the channels through qi: post-stroke hemiplegia with qi deficiency and stasis in Wang Qingren's Bu Yang Huan Wu Tang, from the Yi Lin Gai Cuo, where Huang Qi at 120 grams drives small doses of Blood-moving herbs.
Dose and preparation
| Use | Form | Dose in decoction |
|---|---|---|
| General qi tonic, Spleen and Lung | Honey-fried (Zhi Huang Qi) | 9 to 15 grams |
| Spontaneous sweating, frequent colds | Raw (Sheng Huang Qi) | 9 to 15 grams |
| Oedema, chronic sores | Raw | 15 to 30 grams |
| Prolapse, sunken qi | Honey-fried | 15 to 30 grams |
| Post-stroke, Bu Yang Huan Wu Tang | Raw | 60 to 120 grams |
The raw root disperses outward, to the surface, the water, and the sore; frying with honey turns it inward to the middle burner and the tonifying of qi. As food, a few slices of the root are simmered with chicken and Dang Gui in the soups given after illness and childbirth.
When it is not used
Huang Qi is a tonic and is withheld during an acute exterior invasion with fever and chills and no sweat, because tonifying then locks the pathogen in. It is not given in qi stagnation with fullness, in damp obstruction with a thick greasy coat, or in food stagnation, all of which it worsens; nor in yin deficiency with heat, with a red peeled tongue and night sweats, which its warmth aggravates; nor at the early stage of a sore that is hot and toxic, where it would feed the fire. Its sound is often confused with Huang Qin, Scutellaria root, a bitter cold herb that clears heat and does the opposite work. Ren Shen tonifies the yuan qi deeply and the Heart and Kidney; Huang Qi tonifies the surface and the middle, and the tradition sums it up as ginseng for the interior, astragalus for the exterior. In Western herbalism astragalus has the same reputation as a tonic for the defences.
Not medical advice.