Red Clover Uses and Plant Monograph

Red clover has been a favorite herb of folk herbalists for many years, playing a prominent role in many Western herbal formulas, notably the Trifolium Compound of the Eclectic herbalists, the Hoxsey Formula, and Essiac. While it was traditionally used as an alterative and anti-cancer herb, in more recent years, red clover has made the headlines due to its isoflavone content.

Red Clover as an Alterative

Alterative is an herbal action with far reaching definitions ranging from “altering” a person towards health to more specific actions such as lymphatic movement or hepatic detoxification. Older herbal literature often describes “bad blood” as an indication for alterative herbs, with specific afflictions being skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis, chronic inflammation, chronic infections, skin ulcers, and glandular swellings. Modern day herbalists often believe the term “bad blood” refers to poor lymphatic movement or cloudy extracellular material rather than the actual blood being bad.

I define alteratives as herbs that help the body eliminate metabolic wastes. Our bodies naturally perform elimination actions every day and alterative herbs can further assist in that process.

Red clover is commonly used as an alterative herb to support skin health, both through internal and external use, and is also considered a mild lymphatic. Herbalists use it for a variety of skin ailments, from eczema to psoriasis to acne. It was historically used for scrofula, a disease of lymphatic swellings related to a form of tuberculosis. It is commonly combined in formulas with other alterative herbs, such as dandelion, burdock, chickweed, and nettles.

In the past, red clover was frequently used as an anti-cancer herb. It plays a prominent role in several famous anti-cancer remedies, including Essiac and the Hoxsey Formula. To date, I haven’t seen any case studies from herbalists regarding red clover in cancer and there have been no human clinical trials using whole red clover. There have been some promising studies using isolated chemical constituents (isoflavones) of red clover including studies for breast cancer and prostate cancer.¹² I would love to see more human clinical trials using extracts of whole red clover herb rather than isolated constituents.

Other studies have shown that extracts of red clover are safe for women with a history of breast cancer and that taking red clover extracts does not increase breast density.³⁴

Red Clover as a Phytoestrogen

Red clover is a favorite herb for women experiencing hot flashes and other hormonal changes throughout menopause, including vaginal dryness and osteoporosis. Numerous studies have shown extracts of red clover to be safe and effective for hot flashes in particular.^56 7 Again, I would love to see human clinical trials performed using the whole herb rather than isolated extracts.

Folk herbalists regularly recommend red clover for many hormonal imbalances for women, including infertility and PMS symptoms like sore breasts.

In recent years, there has been some concern that red clover may increase cancer recurrence in estrogen-receptor positive cancer. This has not been shown to be true or false. The conservative recommendation is to avoid red clover in cases of estrogen-receptor positive cancer.

Red Clover as a Nutritive

Red clover contains many phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals, including genistein, diadzen, formononetin, potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, and manganese.8 The flowers taste fresh and sweet and can be added to salads or dipped in a batter and fried as fritters. Making a vinegar extraction or a nourishing infusion is another way to enjoy the nutrient benefits of red clover. 

Red Clover for Whooping Cough

Red clover is a mildly antispasmodic herb that was historically used for whooping cough. While many Eclectic herbalists mention red clover for addressing dry spasmodic coughs, some caution that it doesn’t work as often as does.

When using red clover for dry spasmodic coughs, I recommend combining it with other moistening herbs like marshmallow root, plantain, licorice, or violet.

Red Clover for Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes?

While more information is needed, it’s hypothesized that red clover could be an important herb for people with insulin resistance (sometimes referred to as metabolic syndrome or Syndrome X) and type 2 diabetes. Possible positive effects for metabolic syndrome include red clover’s potential to downregulate chronic inflammation, increase insulin sensitivity, and support healthy cholesterol levels.⁸

Red Clover for Healthy Soil

Various Trifolium species are commonly used as cover crops on farms and in gardens. As a member of the pea family it fixes nitrogen in the soil, can break up heavy clay soils, and provides organic biomass that can be plowed in to improve the soil. If you’re a gardener, consider growing a rotating row of red clover in your garden and harvesting the flowers before digging the plant back into the earth.

Can other clovers be used similarly to red clover?

We don’t have historic or clinical evidence of other clovers (Trifolium spp.) being used in similar ways as red clover. There have been a couple studies showing there is a significant difference in the individual chemical constituents of various clovers, meaning that other types of clover probably do not substitute for the actions of red clover.⁹

Plant Preparations

Red clover is a nutrient dense herb that is best extracted with water. It is often used as a nourishing herbal infusion, using 1 ounce of dry herb infused in a quart of just-boiled water.

There is a lot of poor quality red clover on the market. If possible, harvest and dry your own to get the best quality. Because it can mold quickly, I recommend harvesting it at its peak and drying it in a single layer. If you live in a humid environment then a dehydrator may be the best drying method. If you purchase red clover, make sure you get freshly dried tops that have vibrant color.

Dosage Suggestions

• Tea: Up to 1 ounce of dried flowers/leaves in infusion daily
• Tincture: 1:5, 30% alcohol: 3-5 mL up to three times a day¹⁰

Standardized Extracts of Red Clover

There is a growing interest in using extracted isoflavones from pea family plants like red clover and soy. Studies have shown there is a significant variation in isoflavones in these products.¹¹

 

 

Special Considerations

• Until we know more, it is recommended to avoid red clover in people who have (or have had) estrogen-receptor positive cancer.
• There has been some concern that red clover may thin the blood, but this seems to be a concern for red clover that is fermented or not properly dried.
• Red clover has not been established as safe during pregnancy and lactation.
• There is one case study that may show a possible interaction with high doses of methotrexate.¹²
  
  

Written by Rosalee de la Forêt

Rosalee de la Forêt is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She’s a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild. Explore Rosalee's website and podcast. All content and photos in this article are © Rosalee de la Forêt.