Alfalfa - general description
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) - a perennial herbaceous plant, sown or wild, belonging to the legume family. The rhizome is thick, lies very deep. The stem is erect, in numerous forms, naked or pubescent, the upper part grows up to 90 cm. Ellipsoid leaflets densely dot the stem. Small moth flowers of blue-violet color, gather in brush, flowering period almost all summer. The fruit is spiral-twisted beans, the ripening period is the end of August - the beginning of September.
Alfalfa - types and places of growth
Alfalfa comes from Central Asia, grows wild in the Balkans and in Russia almost everywhere in various places - on the banks of rivers, on forest edges, in the steppe regions, on meadow and steppe pastures. In Europe, the plant was introduced back in the 5th century AD and was originally used as feed for horses.
As a cultivated plant, it is mainly grown for livestock feed, various countries of the world (India, Argentina, USA, Western Europe) also use its crops to enrich soils in the fields of the atmosphere with nitrogen.
Alfalfa - medicinal properties
Alfalfa is a very useful plant and is quite intensively used in home and medical treatment. It is almost impossible to list all the diseases in which this drug may be useful. It normalizes the action of the intestine, the state of the circulatory system, enhances lactation, lowers cholesterol and blood sugar. Also, this plant is used to prevent a number of diseases: anemia, cancer, malnutrition, to strengthen bones, with diseases of the kidneys, spleen, and physical weakness.
Alfalfa preparations are especially useful for pregnant women and nursing mothers, since the calcareous substances that make up its composition help form the baby’s bones and restore the mother’s calcium balance. Alfalfa has an alkaloid effect that helps neutralize stomach acid. You can list many more diseases in which this unpretentious plant can help.
Alfalfa - dosage forms
Official medicine uses grass in the form of the drug of the same name Lucerne (Alfalfa), as well as GREEN CARE, where it enters along with magnesia. Traditional medicine uses grass and leaves, as well as fruits (pods). The biologist Frank Bower, in the description of his research, called this herb “the great healer”, as it discovered eight amino acids in it. A large number of vitamins A, K, B6, E, D, calcium and phosphorus.
The powder from its leaves is used externally as a wound healing hemostatic agent for cuts. Many doctors use alfalfa for gastrointestinal diseases and poor appetite, as it has a high content of vitamin U (ulcus), which is considered an anti-ulcer vitamin.
Alfalfa - recipes
-Cosmetic mask for any skin from alfalfa: mix a decoction with honey and apply to the skin. You can use a brush and apply several layers. Wash off after 15 minutes.
- Infusion for the treatment of diabetes mellitus or pancreatic dysfunctions: chopped alfalfa grass, 2 cups of boiling water, infused for 4 hours in a bundled form. It is filtered. Apply before meals three times a day for a quarter cup. You can make alfalfa juice diluted with water 1: 1. Alcohol tincture is prepared within 14 days, 10 drops are taken.
Alfalfa - contraindications
Contraindication to the use of alfalfa is a disease of lupus erythematosus. In addition, when taking Syncumart preparations to prevent blood coagulation, as well as for autoimmune diseases, a doctor's consultation is required, since alfalfa preparations are undesirable.
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