Alfalfa Grass
Essential Medical Benefits of Alfalfa Grass
The essential benefits of alfalfa grass have been known to the indigenous people of Arabia, or the ‘Arabs’, for thousands of years. These people noticed that the skin and overall general health of the individuals that added at least a small portion of alfalfa grass, to the average daily diet, seemed in better spirits and improved health. Ever since those ancient times, individuals have used alfalfa grass in a variety of nutritional as well as medicinal and aesthetic ways. The Arab meaning of the word for alfalfa grass is 'the father of all foods’ and this is exactly what alfalfa grass has been called, even in recent times. Alfalfa is a perennial plant that grows 2 to 3 foot tall and has a striking similarity to clover. With grayish-green fully-veined leaves, shades of violet, blue, pale blue or yellow flowers, and seed pods, alfalfa is a very useful as well as a beautiful plant specimen.
Alfalfa grass has been grown commercially, since the late 1800’s throughout Southeast Asia, all the way to Europe and even North America. Packed with 8 essential amino acids, alfalfa grass leaves are rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and iron, plus a host of other minerals that are good for the human anatomy. Alfalfa is also a great source for beta-carotene, which is a benefit to the transfer of vitamins A, D, K, and E. Naturalist as well as herbalists found out that alfalfa plays a vital role in the overall well-being of the body, and have been using this benefit for centuries.
Alfalfa grass also consists of active medicinal properties that can relieve anything from chronic constipation to rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers have discovered trace amounts of many other elements, which may promote the lowering of salt, which is great for the ‘high-risk’ cardiovascular individuals. This is great news for those that have diabetes or any other physical disorder that elevates the blood- pressure and narrows the arteries, and everything else, that are a consideration, for a stroke-ready, victim.
Alfalfa grass research is unfortunately based on animal studies and has not been deemed effective by the Food and Drug Administration or the FDA of the United States. A good example of how animal testing correlates badly, to the effect that it has on humans, is the example of alfalfa grass in monkeys. Alfalfa has been shown to have a lowering effect on blood pressure levels in monkeys yet not on humans, as there can be no effective way, to test this safely, as of today. For those wanting to see if alfalfa is a benefit for the diet and the metabolism and overall general-health benefits, a trip to the local natural foods store could do the trick.
Alfalfa grass is sold in packages of 10 to 12 ounce samplings and can be ingested or mixed-up in a delicious alfalfa grass shake! The end result should be quite good as alfalfa grass is a naturally-occurring substance on planet earth, and has shown to have no detrimental or dangerous effects when tested on animals. That is a step in the right direction, for the use by humans, of alfalfa.