Alfalfa Usage

Alfalfa is high in vitamin content—providing beta-carotene ; various B-vitamins ; and vitamins C , E , and K —and can be used as a nutritional supplement. ¹ However, keep in mind that high doses of alfalfa may present some health risks. (See Safety Issues below.)

Numerous animal studies ^{2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12} and preliminary human trials ¹³ indicate that extracts from alfalfa seeds, leaves, and roots might be helpful for lowering cholesterol levels. However, there have not been any well-designed, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials demonstrating alfalfa useful for this (or any other) purpose. (For information on why double-blind studies are so important, see Why Does This Database Rely on Double-Blind Studies? )

Studies using mice to investigate alfalfa's traditional use for diabetes found that it improved some symptoms. ¹⁴ Alfalfa has also been investigated in the laboratory (but not yet evaluated in people) as a source of plant estrogens, which might make it helpful for menopause . ¹⁵ Alfalfa may also have some use in fighting fungi. ¹⁶ Rats fed a disease-causing fungus were able to eliminate more of the fungus from their systems when fed a diet high in alfalfa. It has been suggested that one of the saponins from alfalfa causes damage to the cell membranes of fungi.

Finally, alfalfa has been proposed as a treatment for hay fever , but there is no scientific evidence that it is helpful for this purpose.