Have you heard that eating beans is a really healthy thing to do? 

You know the saying..."Beans, beans, good for the heart, the more you eat...."etc.  Beans are great but they can be hard to digest unless they are cooked really well.  Even then, they can cause some minor digestive upset.

They are a great source of protein and B vitamins, but can be a little too much fiber. 

They help moderate hormones and help prevent estrogen based cancers, but oh, the bloat!

Don't get me wrong!  I love beans...black, pinto, and chili... baked, refried, and simmered.... but sometimes they make me bloated and gassy....ugh.  The good gut microbes love all that fiber.  They love it so much, it turns into a party in the gut and we feel it!

That is why I love Red Clover blossom infusion.  Not only does it taste good, but it is easy to digest and it provides the same benefits as beans, and more! 

Red Clover is in the same plant family as beans.  It is a legume.

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense), makes a nourishing herbal infusion that tastes similar to earl grey tea. 

It is made with 1 ounce of dried blossoms, steeped in 1 quart of boiling water, covered tightly, for 4-8 hours.  I think it tastes best when it is cold, right out of the fridge or over ice.  It would also be nice with a little honey or other sweetener added.  I like to drink at least 1 quart of Red Clover blossom infusion one day per week. 

The infusion is anti-cancer, hormone moderating, improves reproductive health and lymph flow, and is considered a blood tonic.

Red Clover contains a range of vitamins, minerals, protein (15-20%), and phytosterols.
 
What are phytosterols?  They are basically plant chemicals that our gut flora can turn into hormones.  Red Clover phyotsterols are often called phytoestrogens.  They are known to turn into a compound that mimics estrogen, binding to our receptors, thereby blocking the more harmful estrogens, including our own estradiol and xenoestrogens from our environment. 

Red Clover is commonly thought to have the ability to thin the blood.  It contains a variety of chemical constituents called coumarins. Some coumarins thin the blood, some have the opposite effect, and some have no effect. Red Clover happens to contain a range of coumarins with all of these abilities, generally offering a modulating effect on the blood. The blood thinning drug, Coumadin is derived from plant coumarins that thin the blood. This is where the confusion often lies with the thought that Red Clover thins the blood.

However, herbs are not drugs. Especially when they are consumed in their whole form and in a water based infusion. Drugs have a direct and specific action on the body. Whole nutritious herbs have a nourishing, normalizing, and modulating effect on the body.

I prefer to work with Red Clover blossoms, and not the leaves. In general, when we consume plants in the legume family, we are not consuming the leaves. The leaves can be upsetting to people’s digestion and may have other undesired effects.  I feel safe working with the blossoms in moderation.  However, if you are taking blood thinning medication and drinking Red Clover infusion, be aware that there may be a potentiation of the drug, and the dose may need to be adjusted.

Red Clover Nourishing Herbal Infusion

Ingredients:

1 oz by weight of dried Red Clover Blossoms, whole

1 quart of boiled water

1 quart ball canning jar with a tight lid

straining set-up:

I prefer to use a ceramic coffee drip filter, a potato sac towel square, and an empty quart jar

Directions:

1. Boil water.

2. Place Red Clover Blossoms that have been weighed to 1 ounce, into the canning jar.

3. Fill the jar with boiling water, stirring in the Red Clover and topping it off with more water.

4. Cover with a tight lid.

5. Let it sit on the counter for 4-10 hours, overnight works well.

6. Strain by placing the cloth in the filter, place the filter on an empty jar, and pour the infusion through the cloth and filter into the empty jar.

7. Empty all of the Red Clover into the cloth and squeeze out any excess infusion still in the herb.

8. Store the infusion in the fridge.  Drink within 48 hours.  It will go bad relatively quickly, due to it’s protein content.

9. Drink 1-2 quarts a week over ice.

10. Red Clover infusion can be sweetened with a little honey, if desired.

If you want to dig deep into Red Clover and learn how to make nourishing herbal infusions, check out my online course, Nourish Yourself.

With Nourish Yourself, you will learn how to work with common herbs in simple ways to build and support health.