Red Clover: Lucky News for Bones

Those little red clover flowers that pop up each spring aren’t just weeds—they may contain a powerful tonic for your bones.

In recent years there’s been tantalizing evidence that red clover supplements, which contain estrogen-like compounds similar to those in soy, may stem bone loss. Now, one of the largest and longest studies so far gives the herb the nod.

Researchers at the Medical Research Council’s Dunn Human Nutrition Unit, in Cambridge, England, gave 84 postmenopausal women a 40-mg dose of red clover-derived isoflavones daily: another 90 women took a placebo. After a year, the non- clover-takers lost about twice as much spinal bone mass as the others. That’s a big deal: Of the 1.5 million osteoporosis-related fractures each year, half strike the spine.

The clover didn’t help the hip bones, but the researchers suspect they’d need a longer study to see any benefit there.

In the meantime, you’ll find the supplement form of red clover at health food stores.