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Alfalfa fields and cows — those memories stand out from visiting Grandpa’s farm when I was a boy. Cows and milk: that’s everybody’s connection. But milk and arthritic inflammation is another, less wholesome connection — one that has concerned natural health afficianados for as long as I’ve been hearing from them. Admittedly, this is hardly abasis for a causal chain, but I’m wondering if we may some day piece together: 1) the fact that alfalfa seems to work so well for our milk-producing moo-ers and 2) suggestive evidence that alfalfa may reduce some joint inflammation in people, especially as aggravated by dairy intake.
Original impressive case
I hear so many allegations and promises about natural healing, that I don’t get overly excited from one person’s story about what s/he “thinks helped me.” But this first alfalfa-arthritis example was so clear and specific as to sound very promising. A violinist friend in his sixties had just started showing signs of getting arthritis in the two smallest fingers of his left hand, bad enough to start threatening his ability to finger the strings. His daughter followed news about dietary healing and supplements, and she suggested he try taking two or three alfalfa tablets with each meal. Improvement was apparent within a week, and in two weeks all hints of the arthritis were gone.
I can’t guarantee that the alfalfa gets all the credit for this healing, and I still don't know what dosage he needed or how I could generalize that to anyone else. I do know that fifteen years later, as of last reports, my violinist friend has been untroubled with any such symptoms.
Testing it on myself
I've got a history of rheumatoid arthritis in my family, so I knew I’d need to listen for signals of its development in my own body. I was concerned therefore when, during a period of a lot of stress, I noticed I was starting to get some swelling and soreness in the knuckles of one hand: not too serious in and of itself, but dangerous-sounding reminder of the arthritis that had been crippling for my grandfather.
I found that doing some Reiki on the knuckles during my drives between Winston-Salem and Greensboro would keep the joints comfortable. They still seemed to me a bit swollen, however, and I found that I was always having to dedicate my Reiki time to those joints instead of spreading it around the body. It was time to try the alfalfa.
At least two meals a day, if not three, I made sure to add three tablets to my meal. I forget exactly how long it took to bring me back to my original healthy-feeling joints, but I remember that I was pleased at the improved feeling within a few days. Eventually I felt comfortable being somewhat irregular about taking the alfalfa tablets (they tend to be horse-size). After I was no longer taking alfalfa regularly I noticed that after a couple dairy-filled meals I’d get some little twinges in my knuckles, so I began keeping a bottle of alfalfa on the table — just to add when I was doing a substantial dairy load.
My experience is also hardly a controlled study. But it fits with my approach of listening to my body, and I find that it tells me that dairy is easier on my joints if I make like a cow and “enjoy” some alfalfa with it.
Don’t overdo it — listen !
An herbalist friend of mine reported that she had tried alfalfa supplementation and found that if she took too much that her joints felt worse instead of better. What is too much will vary from person to person and may vary from one supplier of alfalfa to another. My apologies for being a broken record, but to pursue with success a natural approach to health, there’s no escaping...
© Richard Pinneau, 2003 Your feedback is appreciated: rp@richardpinneau.com |
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