This week, while visiting my sister in Colorado Springs, I have had the pleasure of taking to the land and foraging for wild edibles and herbs not commonly available to me in the low desert of Phoenix.
Imagine my surprise and delight when I stumbled upon a large patch of Red Clover growing in the sandy soil near a creek bed while hiking a few days ago!
Red Clover infusions have quickly made their way onto the list of my top 5 most favorite drinks — not only is the tea nourishing but the blossoms of this clover are super tasty when eaten raw, and they make a wonderful treatment for wounds when used topically.
In fact, Red Clover could be compared to the herb Alfalfa leaf simply because of it’s nutritional value.
Moreover, it is an all-around good immune system builder, blood purifier, and one of the best herbs for detoxification.
A list of health benefits may include:
1. It functioning as a good tonic for colds.
2. Make a salve or poultice with the blossoms and use it on burns, psoriasis, eczema, various sores, and acne.
3. A great respiratory system herb! It eases coughs, colds and symptoms of bronchitis.
4. Use it as a mild sedative to relax and calm the nervous system.
5. Known to relieve the symptoms of PMS in pre-menopausal women and can assist the body in establishing a healthy menstrual flow.
6. Reduces the symptoms of menopause. Notably hot flashes and may delay the effects of osteoporosis.
7. Great for liver health as it purifies the blood and helps to remove toxins.
8. Red clover also seems to reduce our levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and our risk for heart disease.
9. Nutritionally speaking Red Clover blossoms contain a good amount of calcium, magnesium, potassium, niacin, thiamine, and lots of Vitamin C.
How to Use Red Clover Blossoms
How should we use these beauty blossoms?
They are most often dried to be used in teas or herbal infusions. But they can be tinctured or used externally and made into salves…even used as a poultice. Likewise, Red Clover blossoms can be added raw to many culinary dishes such as salads and soups.
I have been enjoying these blossoms in a wonderful, cleansing infusion for the past couple of days. A perfect detoxifying drink for my time away from home!
And here’s how I’ve done it…
Red Clover Blossom Infusion
*For all of my herbal infusions, I follow the wisdom of Susun Weed. Click this link to read more about her methods. And I encourage you to read her books — Healing Wise (Wise Woman Herbal Series), Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, New Menopausal Years — if you are further interested.
Ingredients
-1 ounce Red Clover blossoms (about a cup)
-1 quart-sized jar filled to the top with hot water (just cooled from boiling)
Directions: Fill your jar with the blossoms and cover with hot water to the top. Place the lid on the jar and allow the mixture to steep for 4-10 hours.
To Use: Strain the plant material and enjoy the tea…drink 2-4 cups per day. The remainder of the liquid should be chilled and consumed within 36-48 hours — this prior to spoilage.
Fun additions: My sister has a beautiful mint garden, so I’ve been adding a few mint leaves…yummo! Sage would also be a wonderful addition.
Cautions for Red Clover: Do not consume internally during pregnancy. Do not use if you are taking anti-coagulant medications or if you have thin blood. Generally considered safe for children. Note…please consult with a medical professional before taking this or any other herbal supplement as it may interfere with certain medications and treatments.
Notes
-Don’t have access to freely growing Red Clover? I usually don’t either, so I buy them in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs. The quality is amazing!
Now it’s your turn! How do you use Red Clover?
Make Your Own Herbal Superfood Seasoning Mix
Can you only use RED clover, or would WHITE clover be OK too?
I love red clover! So tasty. I use it mostly for respiratory stuff with ginger or licorice root. I found it’s full of phytoestrogens and my estrogen levels must be fine because it actually increased my pms (like breast tenderness). I use chaste berry instead since it’s more balancing for both estrogen and progesterone. But I know ladies who swear by red clover. It would be an awesome tonic for menopausal ladies.
Yay! So grateful for this article. We had a patch of red clover pop up in our yard this spring, and I made my husband mow around it! It’s so cute, I love how cheerful the purple flowers are.
Quick question: do you have to dry the blossoms before making the infusion? I’ve been drying them in my dehydrator for later use, but now you’ve got me wondering if I can also use them fresh for infusions…
Thanks again! I love your blog. <3
I think I have almost a pound of dried red clover in my herb cabinet. I ordered it for an herb formula but only needed a small portion of it. Now I know what I can do with all the rest!
Yay for red clover infusions! You can also make a tincture with the blossoms!
http://theselightfootsteps.com/2012/06/15/get-your-red-clover-before-the-seasons-over/
I had lots of red clover around where I live earlier in the spring and I did get to make some infusions…But I noticed when was preparing the blossoms, there were tons of tiny little bugs crawling out of them. I tried looking around online to see how other people have handled this but I didn’t really find a great answer. Have you (or anyone else) come across this with red clover? I don’t consider myself to be overly bug squeamish, but I just didn’t love the idea of picking them again…
I find this to be true when I pick produce such as raspberries and broccoli, and I just soak them briefly in salted water and all the little guys float to the top. I assume that would work for this, as well. Good luck!
Great tIp, thanks!
I regularly harvest, dry and then use red clover. I drink it in infusions. Red clover has all the good attributes of soy with none of the bad. It is also a legume.
I was intrigued to notice the blood thinning effects when I drank red clover infusions initially. I think I must have made and drank the quart jar daily for a couple of days and then noticed increased, random bruising without injury. So, do be aware of the benefit/excess potential. http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/red-clover-000270.htm
Pat
Susun talks about Red Clover as having lots of phyto estrogens… i always thought that was the bad part of soy? Do you have any more info on this?
phyto-estrogens is what makes soy perfect for women in menopause as they make your herbal substitution hormonal therapy… but you must allways be careful with the amount of hormonal…… and it’s not quantifiable in plants.
I have fields of red clover where we live! I used to eat it as a child but never knew of the health benefits. How do you dry it? I would love to do this 🙂
Wow! We have red clover blossoms growing literally everywhere here in Finland and I never this about them. Thanks for the info!
I recently came across a Women’s Health tea at our local herb shop and have been drinking it daily with great benefit- one of the ingredients is red clover! It is so great to know the health benefits, thank you so much for this post. I can’t wait to be able to harvest red clover next time I find it growing wild!
Oooh, I love red clover blossom infusions!
Question for all of you wise ladies: how much does the weight change from fresh blossoms to dried? For example, if I had a pound of fresh blossoms, how much would they weigh once dried?
Thanks for your help!
– WOW! Those images are goreuogs!!! I love the family’s clothing choices.. they look fabulous. You really did a wonderful job. Can’t wait to see what else you do i’ve been a fan for a while now and, I’m so happy to be able to follow you on your blog. Great job with these, Kara!
My parents have tons of these in their back yard! I didn’t imagine they are so healthy. I will make a stash of things of all these goods. Lucky me for finding this post!
I just did a post on using red clover: http://mountainhomequilts.blogspot.com/2012/07/using-herbs-red-clover-fritters.html
Just another great way to consume this wonderful plant! 🙂
I stumbled upon a huge patch of red clover. We picked a ton and I am drying it now. I was wondering if you have a recipe or instructions on how to make a salve with this. Should I infuse it in some kind of oil and then just use the basic salve recipe? Thanks so much for all you share here on your blog. I love it!!
Thank you so much for mentioning that it’s unsafe during pregnancy! Do you know if it’s safe for nursing mothers?
Red clover grows naturally in areas where nature is OK with encouraging fertility; white clover actually discourages fertility and does not have the same benefits as red. Also, the estrogens in Red Clover are balanced and more complete than in soy, so they can be a good friend to balancing the body! Great post, loved it!
Thanks for all the info I live in Ontario and have been reading lots about the health components in red clover we have lots around here. Cant wait until I stumble across another patch. I use to eat raw as a childto but never knew of the health benefits. Thank you
Hi Can red clover blossoms help balance any hormonal problem. Like infertility caused by hormones disorder.? Please let me know anything that can cure this please.
Red flower clover is just great!! the cancer cure attributions are very well founded, my husband was diagnosed very aggressive and very advanced prostate cancer, not too long to live.. that was almost two years ago, as soon as he knew of his illness, he started taking the water from decoctions of red clover flower, the treatment started two months after the first diagnosis and his numbers were already lowering, today between the radio therapy, the hormone therapy and mostly the red clover flower treatment, he is doing just fine and the numbers are lower than ever before..
BUT… !!! Be aware ladies that have or are family prone to having breast cancer!! red clover flower is FULL of estrogens, or oestrogens, the female hormone that helps develop breast cancer.. I had it, and having heard of the red clover cancer cure I took it for three weeks only, it was enough to double the size of the tumor! this was my own experience.. other wise I am very thankful because of its results with my husband’s prostate cancer ..
Hello, thanks a lot for this helpful information ! I would like to ask how often can/should we take this tea ? Especially for women who has a menopause ? Thanks again !
woundering is red clover help with LDL
pls. can i use red clover for uterine fibroids tumor.
this is a great website, first time for me. I am 5 years into menopause, and just using black cohosh which worked for my hot flashes in my 40’s, but not helping now. Am hoping this might. I read {sorry, don’t remember where} that you should use the leaves instead, they have more isoflavones in them. It makes sense, since other teas use the plant’s leaves. also, it would allow for reseeding of the plants. Can you clarify this?