Red Clover

Red clover is a dark-pink herbaceous plant originating from Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Plus, it’s now popular throughout South America as a fodder crop to improve soil quality (1).

The flowering portion of red clover is used decoratively as an edible garnish or extract, and it can be extracted into essential oils (2).

Finally, it’s widely used as a traditional medicine to treat osteoporosis, heart disease, arthritis, skin disorders, cancer, respiratory problems like asthma, and women’s health issues, such as menstrual and menopausal symptoms.

 

Potential Benefits

Despite limited scientific evidence, red clover is used to treat a variety of conditions.

 

Bone Health

Osteoporosis is a condition in which your bones exhibit low bone mineral density (BMD) and have become weak (3).

As a woman reaches menopause, a decline in reproductive hormones — namely estrogen — can lead to increased bone turnover and a decrease in BMD (4, 5).

Red clover contains isoflavones, which are a type of phytoestrogen — a plant compound that can weakly mimic estrogen in the body. Some research has shown a connection between isoflavone intake and a decrease in osteoporosis risk (6, 7,  8). 

A 2015 study in 60 premenopausal women found that taking 5 ounces (150 mL) of red clover extract containing 37 mg of isoflavones daily for 12 weeks led to less BMD loss in the lumbar spine and neck, compared with the placebo group (9).

Older studies have also shown improvements in BMD after taking red clover extract (10, 11).

However, a 2015 study in 147 postmenopausal women found that taking 50 mg of red clover daily for 1 year resulted in no improvements in BMD, compared with the placebo group (12).

Likewise, other studies have failed to find that red clover can help treat BMD (13, 14).

 

Menopausal Symptoms

Red clover’s high isoflavone content is believed to help lower menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats.

Two review studies found that 40–80 mg of red clover (Promensil) per day may help alleviate hot flashes in women with severe symptoms (5 or more per day) by 30–50%. Still, many studies were funded by supplement companies, which may lead to bias (14, 15). 

Another study observed a 73% decrease in hot flashes within 3 months after taking a supplement containing numerous herbs, including red clover. Yet, due to the large number of ingredients, it’s unknown whether red clover played a role in these improvements (16).

Red clover has also shown mild improvements in other menopausal symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and vaginal dryness (14, 17, 18).

Yet, numerous studies have shown no improvements in menopausal symptoms after taking red clover, compared with a placebo (19, 20, 21, 22, 23).

Currently, there’s no clear evidence that supplementing with red clover will improve menopause symptoms. Higher quality, third-party research is needed (24).

 

Skin And Hair Health

Red clover extract has been used in traditional medicine to promote skin and hair health.

In a randomized study in 109 postmenopausal women, participants reported significant improvements in hair and skin texture, appearance, and overall quality after taking 80 mg of red clover extract for 90 days (25).

Another study in 30 men showed a 13% increase in the hair growth cycle (anagen) and a 29% decrease in the hair loss cycle (telogen) when a 5% red clover extract was applied to the scalp for 4 months, compared with the placebo group (26).

 

Heart Health

Some preliminary research has shown red clover may improve heart health in postmenopausal women.

One 2015 study in 147 postmenopausal women indicated a 12% decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol after taking 50 mg of red clover (Rimostil) daily for 1 year (27).

One review of studies in postmenopausal women taking red clover for 4–12 months showed a significant increase in HDL (good) cholesterol and a decrease in total and LDL (bad) cholesterol (28).

However, a 2020 review found red clover did not reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol or increase HDL (good) cholesterol (29).

Despite some promising results, the authors argued that many studies were small in sample size and lacked proper blinding. Therefore, higher quality research is needed (29).