Alfalfa has been known as a superfood since the early Greeks started using it to help heal soldiers injured in battle faster. It’s a flowering herb that can be found anywhere in the world that green grass grows. Hay fields that are rich in this plant are praised by dairy, horse and pig farmers because livestock that consume alfalfa are always healthier than those which don’t.
You can eat the seeds which contain plenty of nutrition, but the most potent form of alfalfa is after it’s been sprouted. The plant reaches maximum potency just before flowers appear.
Alfalfa supplements can be consumed by humans and pets, and offer a wide range of health benefits.
Health Benefits of Using Alfalfa Herbal Supplements
Low Calorie Nutrition:
One cup of alfalfa contains only 8 calories in total. The normal dosage of 5000 – 10000mg a day has no measurable calories whatsoever, making alfalfa a truly guilt-free superfood.
Cholesterol Lowering:
Taking the full recommended dose of 10,000mg of alfalfa every day has been proven to lower total cholesterol in humans and animals (ie., your pets), while also improving the ratio of LDL to HDL in our bloodstreams.
Science has shown that alfalfa definitely works in this respect, even though in depth studies into the process that takes place inside our arteries hasn’t been studied as yet. It’s thought that the high soluble fiber content in the herb binds to bad cholesterol and shuttles it out of the circulatory system before it oxidizes and sticks to the walls of our arteries.
Digestive Tonic and Enzyme Booster:
There are several crucial dietary enzymes in alfalfa, the combination of which aren’t found together in any other superfood on the planet.
1. Amylase – Amylase helps our body to digest starches from the foods we eat.
2. Emulsin – Also helps to break down the sugars we eat and turn them into energy.
3. Invertase – Responsible for converting certain dietary sugars directly into glucose for use in the body.
4. Lipase – Lipase is a powerful fat digesting enzyme. Fat slows down digestion more than anything else we consume.
5. Coagulase – Coagulase is shuttled from our digestive tract to the blood where it’s used for clotting when we injure ourselves.
6. Peroxidate – This enzyme acts as a low-level antioxidant, preventing oxidation of the cells inside our bloodstream.
7. Protase – Protase is solely responsible for digesting proteins. Next to fat, protein takes the longest for the body to process, slowing digestion down when the body can’t produce enough protase to keep up.
8. Pectinase – Pectinase is used by the body to break down cellular material from the plants we ingest.
Chlorophyll:
Chlorophyll is to a plant, what blood is to humans. It converts the UV rays from the sun into energy for the plant. It also carries nutrients from the soil and rain through the plant and kills any soil-born infections before they do harm.
For humans, ingesting chlorophyll has so many cleansing and healing benefits:
• Blood Detox – Binds with dangerous metals in the blood and transports them to be eliminated harmlessly through the colon.
• Food Cravings and Weight Control – Eating chlorophyll with each meal has proved to help eliminate late night food cravings.
• Heart Health – Prevents oxidation of cholesterol and lipids inside the bloodstream, to prevent arteriosclerosis. This disease leads to the thickening of the walls inside our arteries, which leads to high blood pressure and heart attacks.
• Antioxidant – Chlorophyll doesn’t just prevent the oxidation of cholesterol and lipids in the blood, it prevents oxidation of every live cell in our body.
• Inflammation – It’s thought that the antioxidant and detoxifying properties of chlorophyll are responsible for its resounding effects at reducing swelling and inflammation throughout the body.
• Improved Oxygen Levels – Our body is able to modify chlorophyll into a compound called chlorophyllin, which is then easily converted in the body to iron. Iron makes up the center of each oxygen-transporting red blood cell in our body.
Vitamin K:
Alfalfa has more vitamin K than most any other plant on earth. Vitamin K is responsible for helping our wounds clot after being cut, which is why alfalfa was so prized by warring cultures throughout history.
Vitamin K deficiencies have also been shown to be at least partially responsible for post-pardum bleeding in women who’ve recently given birth. Worse, those deficiencies are often found in those same women’s infants, leading to bleeding problems in both mother and child. It’s recommended that women consume at least 10,000mg of alfalfa during pregnancy and while lactating, to make sure their baby gets enough of it until they start consuming baby food.
Vitamin K also plays a role in helping the healthy microflora in our gut and intestines to thrive. Low levels of this flora lead to indigestion, constipation, anemia, and even unexplained chronic nausea.
What to Look for When Buying:
Choosing the right alfalfa supplement is pretty simple.
• Look for “Certified Organic” on the label to ensure no pesticides or unnatural fertilizers were used on the crop. There’s no sense spending your hard earned money on a superfood that also contains dangerous chemicals that will actually end up worsening your health!
• Purchase alfalfa supplement bearing a “Non GMO” or “GMO Free” label. GMO products have been genetically engineered to produce faster and in more abundance. Much like any genetically modified crop, potency of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are compromised as a result. GMO products are also now being shown to cause hormonal imbalances in our bodies that lead to numerous ailments and diseases.
The 10 Best Alfalfa Herbal Products on the Market:
You can buy alfalfa supplements in capsule, powder, liquid extract, and seed form.
The following 10 products offer the best in potency and value, and are made using carefully grown, non GMO strains of alfalfa in USDA certified organic growing environments and manufacturing facilities.
Nature’s Life Alfalfa Leaf Tablets
At a 1000mg per tablet these alfalfa tablets are some of the most potent you’ll find anywhere. They’re reputed for have a special coating that makes them much easier to swallow than smaller alfalfa tablets, despite their large size. Nature’s Life tablets are great for people who’re looking for the most potency possible, to cure ailments like arthritis, joint pain, and digestive disorders like IBS and chronic constipation. Each container comes with 500 tablets, making this an excellent bulk value at just over $11.
Now Foods Alfalfa 10 Grain
This Now Foods product doesn’t quite measure up to the 1000mg tabs offered by Nature’s Life, but they’re close. Each container comes with 500 tablets, offering 650mg of pure GMO free alfalfa per tablet. Each tablet is rich in trace minerals, vitamins, and immune boosting chlorophyll. The lesser potency offered makes it perfect for giving to cats and dogs to alleviate joint pain and digestive upset. The lower dosage per pill is reflected in the lower price, falling just below $10.
Nature’s Way Alfalfa Leaves
This Nature’s Way alfalfa product offers even less potency for people who like the benefits of concentrated alfalfa leaves, but find they have negative reactions when they take larger daily doses. This product is certified organic and non GMO, so it’s great for vegetarians and health purists alike. This product offers 400mg of alfalfa per tablet and is one of the #1 rated herbal supplements of its kind for breastfeeding mothers who’re looking to safely increase their milk production!
Frontier Alfalfa Leaf Powder
This loose bulk alfalfa from Frontier is a super deal! Each bag holds over a pound of loose ground leaves, certified to be both Kosher and 100% organic. The contents have not been irradiated like many other commercial products, ensuring the purest alfalfa possible. You can purchase a capsule kit of your own and fill each to your own specifications instead of being forced into a set dosage like you’ll find with prefilled capsules. The savings of filling your own alfalfa tablets can easily equal $100 or more every year if you’re a religious user.
Starwest Botanicals Organic Alfalfa Leaf
This loose leaf bag of alfalfa from Starwest Botanicals is the perfect way to save extra cash over the price of premade capsules. This product comes with a net weight of 1lbs and the stay fresh, resealable bag is perfect for tossing the ground leaves in the fridge for long term storage. Starwest Botanicals are famous for their 100% organic growing practises, using non GMO growing environments with non GMO alfalfa strains. If you love the taste and health-boosting benefits that come from drinking alfalfa tea, this Kosher product from Starwest is exactly what you’re looking for!
Now Food’s Alfalfa Powder
We all have different tastes and preferences for how we want to take our alfalfa supplements. This powdered formula from Now Food’s is great for mixing with your favorite drinks, shakes and smoothies.
This is a 1lb container of finely ground powder that mixes easily with hot or cold beverages, but also can be added to soups, salads and other prepared dishes of all kinds to get your daily dose of alfalfa without worrying about any bitterness or aftertaste. Like all Now Food’s products this alfalfa strain has not been genetically modified or grown using pesticides.
Swanson Alfalfa Juice Powder
Yet another alfalfa powder that’s made specifically for mixing in water, juices, smoothies, yogurts and any other food you want to add extra nutrition to. This is a new product from the Swanson company; an organic, non GMO whole foods company specializing in superfoods like alfalfa.
Each container has some of the finest ground, easy-mixing powder you’ll find in any similar products. Mix in hot or cold water for the best experience – drinking the light green water is really fulfilling and the natural aroma is invigorating.
Nature’s Answer Alcohol-Free Alfalfa Herb
Taking a bunch of pills and powders every day just doesn’t suit some of us. Nature’s Answer has the solution you’re looking for, with this concentrated formula that allows you to take 2000mg of liquid extract. Unlike some products, this extract is made using only purified water and alfalfa extract. No alcohol is used in the extraction process.
The one drawback of using extracts is that you have to measure each dose with a dropper and several small drops are required to make up a single dose. Less chlorophyl taste, but more painstaking measuring is required.
Herb Pharm Alfalfa Extract Supplement
This is a premium alfalfa extract from Herb Pharm. They take careful precautions throughout the harvesting and extraction process to ensure you’re getting the most potent benefits from each drop of liquid. They harvest their herbs just before they begin to flower to avoid potency degradation, then shade dry the alfalfa to further reduce potency issues that come from drying the plants in the heat of the sun. Herb Pharma products are certified organic and are never fumigated or irradiated.
Now Foods Organic Alfalfa Seeds
The only true way to ensure that your alfalfa supplements are as rich in chlorophyl, minerals and antioxidant vitamins, is to sprout the plants from seed yourself. This bag of sprouting seeds from Now Foods is a great value at $9 for close to a pound of seeds.
The seeds are certified USDA organic and GMO free. You can eat the seeds raw if you wish, adding them to salads, yogurt, sandwiches, stir frys and any dish you want to really. They’re easy to grow using an indoor sprouting garden or seed starting kit.
Summary:
As you’ve learned, alfalfa offers many disease fighting benefits that stretch far beyond what an apple a day can provide. Alfalfa supplements are inexpensive and easy to take. Make sure you always remember to choose organic, GMO free products to ensure maximum potency supplements that are free of dangerous pesticides and fertilizers.
