Author: Dara Dietz

The herb alfalfa is good for man or beast.  Alfalfa is a plant we can use with complete safety.  It is non-toxic, non-poisonous and non-habit forming.  This qualifies it as one of many herbs which are beneficial for mankind.  It is “seed bearing” and a green herb, fulfilling the Biblical specifications in Genesis 1:29 and 30.

It is only in recent years that we moderns are rediscovering its valuable nutritive properties, which include organic minerals of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, plus all the known vitamins including Vitamin K and the recently discovered Vitamin B-8 and Vitamin P.  Alfalfa’s organic salts are among the richest known, the depth and spread of its roots enabling it to absorb its valuable nutrition as far as 125 feet below the earth’s surface. This deep growing plant is seen from Maine to Virginia and westward to the Pacific Coast in the United States.

Vitamin D & B12: Alfalfa is one of the few vegetable sources of Vitamin D. Although the sun is generally regarded as the best source for getting this vitamin there are about 4740 International Units of Vitamin D per pound of Alfalfa.  Another important element in Alfalfa is vitamin Bl2. Most nutritionists claim that it is only present in animal products, dairy products, or sewage.

Significant Source of Protein: Alfalfa, along with other foods, is known to help remove cholesterol from the system. Alfalfa has a significant amount of protein–18.9%, as compared with 16.5% in beef, 3.3% in milk and 13.1% in eggs. Eating the sprouts can add a significant amount of important protein into a vegan’s food program whose diet may include so many grains and beans that concentrated proteins are difficult to obtain.

Alfalfa was discovered by the Arabs and is one of the first known herbs.  They called it the “father of all foods.”  An amazing label to apply when one considers the only obtainable herbal wisdom was use and observation.  There were no testing facilities to determine the dense nutrient value within the herb.  Their only knowledge of alfalfa came by evidential experience.

Alfalfa is helpful for every condition of the body whether it be maintaining or regaining health as the contents are balanced for complete absorption.  Each nutrient perfectly supports absorption, enabling 100% usage of the dense nutrients found in this plant.  Alfalfa may be used by itself or blended with other herbal teas with or between meals.

Alfalfa and Pregnancy

Alfalfa is an important herb to take throughout pregnancy. For morning sickness a daily green drink consisting of Alfalfa, comfrey and fresh red-raspberry leaves has been used with great success.  The fresh green drink is much more effective than a  tea made of the same substances.

Green Drink: Make in a blender using Alfalfa, comfrey, and fresh red-raspberry leaves.  The addition of pineapple juice, fresh or canned, may enhance the flavor.  Lamb’s quarter may also be added for extra nutriments.

If the mother-to-be would make use of this God-given herb, she would provide the growing infant with nutrient rich blood, the best raw materials for building a healthy body.

Alfalfa also contains hormones.  These hormones are utilized by the pituitary gland.  This is the gland which regulates labor.  It is essential to have this gland in top condition.

Clotting Factor: Vitamin K, present in alfalfa, is the substance which has been called “the clotting factor.” Many unnecessary hemorrhages can be prevented by the daily ingestion of alfalfa tea, capsules or tablets during pregnancy.

After delivery, the ingestion of alfalfa will facilitate the healing of the uterus.  Pregnant women would do well to take no less than 15 alfalfa tablets or capsules daily.

Rich Milk: Alfalfa is also thought to dramatically help bring the milk in for the nursing mother. It certainly enriches the quality of the milk and is much preferable to other hot beverages, such as regular tea, which can pollute the breast milk. It can be flavored with mint, orange peel, and honey.

Dr. Christopher speaks about the Elder’s great healing powers.  The Elder is an indigenous shrub growing in all parts of the United States and Canada  “The great herbalist, Henry Box of England, stated, “For colds, influenza, fevers, inflammation of the brain, pneumonia, inflammation of stomach, bowels, or any other part, this is a certain cure.  I have never known it to fail, even when given up and at the point of death.  It will not only save at the eleventh hour, but at the last minute of that hour.  It is so harmless that you cannot use it amiss and so effectual that you cannot give it in vain”.

“Elder’s most famous effect lies in its cure of colds, fevers, flu, etc.  Dr. Shook noted that since upwards of six million people died of influenza after the last World War, it would be an important remedy to store and use.  He explained that all forms of catarrh are caused when fibrin is not dissolved properly; it is thrown into the blood as a stringy, insoluble mass which forms an excess of phlegm and catarrhal mucoid matter.  Potassium chloride keeps this fibrin in solution, but when the body lacks enough, the fibrin blocks the circulation of the blood.

“Potassium phosphate, on the other hand, activates and feeds the skin and mucous membranes, and potassium sulphate acts similarly to iron as an oxygen-carrier and oil-former to lubricate and feed the sebaceous glands and the epithelial covering of the mucous membranes.  All three of these potassium compounds are found in the Elder plant.  Potassium chloride and sulphate are contained in its inner bark.

“The Potassium phosphate, chloride, and sulphate are found in the flower (which, incidentally, is the part most used in colds and flu), and potassium sulphate and nitrate are found in the leaves.  The fruit contains a number of potassium compounds besides the above mentioned compounds.  These potassium compounds are one chemical reason that the Elder so effectually removes colds and flu.

“Since the Elder flowers are emetic and sometimes nauseating to some people, they are often blended with Peppermint to use in this flu remedy.

“The Elder effects diaphoresis and helps the body eliminate toxic material from the body through the pores of the skin.  The Elder-Peppermint tea should be made in the proportions of one ounce of the herb to a pint of water, and drunk as hot as possible, drunk in bed or just before taking a hot bath, so as to sweat out the cold or flu.  You can cover a hot water bottle with a cloth or towel dipped in vinegar to place near the feet.  This tea will also induce sleep, while the patient sweats, and allow for a complete cure.”