/oss/taxonomy/term/1013/all en /oss/article/drugs-health/should-we-root-astragalus-root <p>Dr. Oz likes the herb astragalus. He says that it "actually slows down the aging process right where it happens, inside of our cells, where the blueprint of our cells resides." This is based on some preliminary experiments that show astragalus may boost the formation of the enzyme telomerase that protects DNA from unraveling. But suggesting that this test tube observation means it can prevent aging is a stretch. Astragalus root, though, is interesting. In China, it is sometimes is scraped into snake soup to treat the common cold because it is said to increase qi!</p> Tue, 14 May 2013 15:12:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1936 at /oss