Stinging Nettle -- Urtica dioica

It's hard to imagine that a plant that can be so irritating to our skin would make a delicious and nutritious tea!  Stinging Nettle has a slightly salty taste and is a cooling, drying, adaptogenic herb.  The aerial part of the plant is most commonly used, but the roots and seeds also have benefits.  Today's blog will focus on the therapeutic properties of Nettle leaves.

In Texas, I see a lot of folks dealing with seasonal allergies right now.  Nettle Leaf contains histamine in the stingers of the fresh leaf.  Combine that with it's anti-inflammatory and astringent properties, and you have a combination that may help reduce those allergy tendencies and symptoms. 

Nettle can also help with reducing swelling and pain from arthritis by lowering certain inflammatory markers.  Interestingly, using fresh leaves to sting the arthritic joint(s) has been proven to work in this area.  If you're loathe to deliberately sting yourself with the plant, you can consume it as a vegetable, tea, powdered capsule, or tincture.

As a nutritive herb, Nettle contains significant levels of fiber, Vitamins A, B complex, C, D, and K, calcium, Flavonoids, Tannins, Magnesium, Histamine, Serotonin, Carotenoids, Quercetin, Potassium, Manganese, Iron, Phosphorus, and even 2% protein.  These, and many more, nutrients may help provide energy, improve metabolism, and strengthen bones, teeth, nails, and hair.

​Nettle is also used to help with Type 2 Diabetes, to protect/restore health to the kidneys, the urinary tract, and adrenals It has diuretic properties that can help eliminate excess fluids.

Nettle can be used as food, tea, tincture, or infusion in vinegar or vegetable oil.  To prepare Nettle as a food,  you need to blanch the leaves before cooking to stop the sting.  You can then drink the tea made from blanching the herb.  An oil infusion can be used topically to calm minor skin irritations.  

For more detailed information on Stinging Nettle, watch for the membership section of this site to open up.