There is no obvious toxicity nor serious side effects caused by Astragalus membranaceus or its bioactive molecules.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] However, human studies often fail to record the side effects of astragalus.[8][9][4][6][7][10]
The main drawback is that research in this field has major limitations. For example, systematic reviews conclude that evidence in this field is generally of low quality.[6][7][8][11][12][10][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Furthermore, it is often unclear which species (e.g., Astragalus membranaceus) or part (entire plant, roots, flowers, etc.) of an Astragalus plant is used or which type of extract is administered (i.e., a purified bioactive molecule or a collection of molecules). Additionally, astragalus supplements/extracts are often combined with other compounds or drugs, so their direct effects cannot always be determined. These limitations reduce the certainty of the claimed benefits.