News: Red Clover Properties

Article Date(s):07/27/2018
Pratense or red clover is only one of about three hundred species of Trifolium, genus included in the legume family and in the papilionacea subgroup. The pratense clover plant grows wild and can be found anywhere from sea level up to 3,000 meters in height. Red clover species are mainly distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere of the globe, avoiding excessive moisture or dryness of the soil. The name of the genus Trifolium reflects the characteristic of the plant, that of having the leaves
composed of three leaflets in a typed arrangement. The flowers are gathered in inflorescence to peep or to
spike, with tubular, deep and thin glass. The fruit is a legume of oval and compressed form, covered or just protruding from the membranous remains of the glass. The red clover plant is perennial, with an average duration of two years, with sturdy roots with long stems; the stems grow from 40 cm up to 70 cm in height and the trifoliate leaves are oval or elliptic with a typical "V" whitish stain on the upper page. The flowers, red-violet, are numerous (from 50 to 250) and gathered in globose heads. In addition to being an important forage plant, called "bread of milk" as appreciated by cattle, red clover is used in the agrarian rotation for the enrichment of the soil.


Red clover isoflavones



There are four isoflavones that, contained in red clover, play a unique and important role

in the biology of the human organism. for this reason the red clover turns out to be the plant

with the fullest content in phytoestrogens: biochanin a, formononetine, genistein and

the daidzein which, together, have an intense estrogenic activity; they are therefore considered

the four basic isoflavones indicated for phytotherapeutic hormone replacement therapy (1). The red clover, as mentioned, contains in abundance all four of the isoflavones that they exercise

a strong estrogenic activity. In the organism they are metabolized, in a completely similar way

to endogenous estrogens, at the liver level and eliminated through the kidneys. The therapeutic effects of the

phytoestrogens of red clover, are developed by two mechanisms; the first, receptorial, develops estrogenic and at the same time antiestrogenic activity involving estrogen receptors. The second, non-receptorial, however, involves effects such as regulation of protein synthesis, cell cycle and antioxidant activity. Isoflavones act essentially as weak estrogen on the two estrogenic receptors (ERa and EBß) contained in human tissues. This means that these active ingredients are sufficiently powerful to promote the formation of bone, but not as much to induce tumor formation related to the introduction of hormones in the body. High levels of estrogen, in fact, have been related to the onset

of breast cancer and other cancers related to hormone intake. Now, blocking

the estrogenic effects dangerous for the organism, the isoflavones play a role of "calmiere".


Clinical studies



As far as efficacy is concerned, today more than 1,000 women have been involved in the various clinical studies concerning red clover extracts. Five randomized double-blind trials have

evaluated the use of red clover isoflavones for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms (4,5,6) (graph 1). Furthermore, two open-label trials have been completed demonstrating the reduction in the intensity of flushes (7.8).

In a further study (9) the average reduction in the frequency of flushes was shown of 48.5% (active) versus 10.5% (placebo) with reduction, in the active group, of the severity index (graph 2) .

A randomized, double-blind, 12-week (10) study, in which 40 mg red clover isoflavones was given daily, showed the reduction of total cholesterol and LDL / HDL ratio (graph 3). The safety of products based on clover isoflavones

has been evaluated in different studies. In over 1,000 women recruited there were no serious reactions or hazards with the use of red clover isoflavones (6).

Another study (11) comparing the genomic action of the mammary tumor line McF7

extracts of red clover, showed that, contrary to hormones, red clover extract

did not induce in the "up-regulation" culture of the genes of the metallothionein group (Mt), proteins very important in the genesis of the tumor.

In a recent study (12), March 2008, published by an important journal (Menopause International) organ of the English Society of Menopause, was evaluated and confirmed, out of 401 women with a family history of breast cancer (aged between 35 and 70 years), the safety and tolerability of the daily use, for three years, of red clover isoflavones (40 mg). The integration with red clover isoflavones does not modify the breast density and the thickness of the endometrium and has no negative effects on the state of the bones and on the cardiovascular system; on the contrary, it can make an improvement.
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