 Have you ever driven across the western desert of the United States and noticed the occasional field of bright green grass? If so, the chances are you were looking at a field of alfalfa. The name Alfalfa comes from the Arabic language and is translated as the "father of all foods." It is one of the oldest cultivated plants known to mankind. It has been used for thousands of years as a dried food source for animals (hay) as well as an important source of human food.
Dietarily this herb is a good source of calcium, copper, folic acid, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, silicon and zinc.
It contains vitamin A, K and many of the B vitamins as well. Many natural health care professionals use it to detoxify and alkalize the body.
It is traditionally used by herbalists for treatment of such conditions as
arthritis, atherosclerosis, anemia, bad breath,
cancer, constipation,
diabetes, endometriosis,
osteoporosis and ulcers. The seeds, sprouts, and the above ground parts of the plant are all used in the preparation of
teas, in capsules and eaten as sprouts.
If you choose to eat alfalfa sprouts they are to be found in grocery stores and health food stores. The better supplied health food stores will also carry
capsules, tablets or the
powdered herb. The usual dose of powder for tea is 1 to 2 tsp per cup. It should be steeped in boiling water for 10 to 20 minutes. Capsules and tablets of alfalfa should be taken according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
Alfalfa is one of the best natural food sources of vitamin K. This nutrient helps your blood to clot by moving calcium into proteins that form a microscopic net to capture red blood cells. Vitamin K also helps to knit bones by working with
vitamin D and glutamic acid to activate osteocalcin. This combination of the three nutrients is essential to building good bones. The human body can not use calcium without it. Alfalfa helps to keep calcium in the bones and it helps keep calcium out of the linings of the arteries.
In simple medical terms atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis is known as a "hardening of the arteries". Hardened arteries are a result of calcium replacing cholesterol in the lining of the blood vessels. This "calcification" will happen when a microscopically small amount of cholesterol becomes lodged in the arterial walls. White blood cells known as "macrophages" feed on the cholesterol and they run throughout the bloodstream to keep the arteries open.
However macrophages can get embedded in the arterial wall. It will then "die" trying to feed on the excess cholesterol. At this point the body signals the release of other macrophages to clean up the new and larger problem in the lining of the blood vessel. When this happens there will eventually be a visible mass. This can range in size from something the size of the head of a pin to roughly the size of a dime. It will consist of a tiny bit of cholesterol and a whole lot of dead white blood cells. The dead white blood cells can be replaced by artery-hardening calcium. However, Vitamin K from alfalfa keeps this from happening. Current scientific evidence states that alfalfa keeps calcium out of arterial clogs.
This being said preventing arteriosclerosis isn't quite the same thing as lowering cholesterol. There is good preliminary scientific evidence that alfalfa seeds can lower cholesterol levels in a condition called "familial hypercholesterolemia" (Inherited High Cholesterol). This is a form of high cholesterol that does not usually respond to other medications. The levels of cholesterol after taking it for eight weeks are not considered to be the best but they are 18 to 20% lower than the levels for "statin" drugs. This statistic does not apply to people who don't have familial hypercholesterolemia. For other forms of cholesterol problems there is no clear beneficial evidence for lowering cholesterol.
Alfalfa is also used by many professional health care practitioners with a homeopathic remedy called
Lactuca Virosa in order stimulate or increase milk production in breastfeeding mothers. It can also be used with fenugreek, and/or marshmallow for this purpose.
With a few notable exceptions listed below eating alfalfa sprouts and consuming alfalfa in herbal form is considered to be inherently safe. Alfalfa is known to interact with certain medications. If you are taking anti-rejection drugs for kidney transplant please do not use any form of alfalfa. The herbs and the medications you need to benefit from the transplant may not mix. While the risk of damage to the kidneys is very remote it is also very serious. Similarly, if you take Coumadin you probably should treat alfalfa the same way you treat any other green leafy vegetable. Alfalfa is rich in vitamin K which can interfere with the Coumadin's anti-coagulant effects. If you choose to try alfalfa please advise your health care provider so that your Coumadin can be adjusted appropriately. The other main concern is the chemical L-cavanine found in raw alfalfa, sprouts and seeds. This chemical is only a concern in raw alfalfa and product made from it without heating. In extremely rare instances of excessive consumption L- cavanine can cause the production of abnormal red blood cell counts, enlargement of the spleen, or a relapses of the disease lupus. Recent epidemiological research has found that alfalfa itself does not cause lupus. In fact, in the most recent research and studies found that women with lupus were less likely to have eaten the herb than women who are free of the disease. If you are concerned about the effects of L- cavanine you can still use alfalfa, just used it in a tea or as a cooked vegetable.
This herb and formulas featuring this herb are available through licensed health care practitioners, and may be prescribed as herbal decoctions (teas you brew), or in convenient tablets and fluid extracts. For information on obtaining the benefits of TCM and natural medicine please contact East West Center for Natural Medicine at 574-210-4982 | 
