Have you met Stinging Nettle?
Urtica gracilis - Slender Nettle
Stinging Nettle leaf, seed & root
Urtica dioica + spps
Have you met Nettle?
Stinging Nettle is part of the Urticaceae family, and if you have ever brushed up against this ally you would surely know. Known as ‘stinging’ nettles due to their needle like tiny hairs on the stem and underside of the leaves, that hold irritating chemicals. These chemicals can cause a subtle awakening on the skin or an incredible wallop! Either way.. at this point you have been urticaed! (more on this later). The beautiful deep green leaves indicate its super power of being a nourishing ally that is high in iron, high in mineral, high in protein and amino acids. The leaves are consistently toothed and the tiny white/green flower clusters dangle from the base of the leaf stems. These flowers will soon give way to yet another super power of nettles… its copious amount of seeds. Making it fall into the category of abundantly growing weedy type plants. As a lover of ‘weeds’, I am here to let you know that their purpose is not to irritate the gardener within but to provide ample food or medicine.
As a culinary herb, nettle is know as a spring tonic and is one of the first green plants to appear as we awaken from winter. This gives you an indication to her importance to help awaken our bodies through nourishment and nature connections.
Adding her to part of your daily life …
Nettle is a wonderful early spring wild food plant, that is equally valued in both worlds of nourishment and medicine. You can add her into your daily life by harvesting the young leaves and sautéing as you would any other greens or you can use the seeds to sprinkle on food for a nourishing punch. Medicinally, making a cup of tea or infusion from the leaf can be considered a vitamin in a cup!
Dosage:
As a culinary herb, young nettle leaves can be cooked up as you would any greens. As it cooks it will lose the ‘sting’ and become pleasurable to eat. Enjoy often in dishes that call for spinach.
As a medicinal herb:
Strong Infusion: 1oz (or about 1 1/2 cups) dried herb or 3 cups fresh per quart of boiled water. Steep covered for 4-8 hours (or overnight). Strain and enjoy often. You can do a second infusion for a lighter cup of greatness.
Medicinal tea: 1 T per cup of boiled water. Steep covered for 20+ min. Strain and enjoy often.
Due to the leaves being so nourishing, I tend not to do a tincture with them. Tinctures are less supportive in this area. UNLESS I am looking to support histamine responses in the body. (more below)
Root or Seeds Tincture: 20 drops 3-4x day
Helpful tips:
Refrigerate your completed infusion for up to 3 days. Then feed to your plants or you can freeze infusions in ice cube trays for later use.
**always discard spent herbs respectively. Give back to your garden or plants.
**Nettle is a more drying herb. If you feel yourself become dry or already tend to be dry add some moistening friends like marshmallow, chickweed, plantain or red clover.
Did you know that Stinging Nettles ….
Is a versatile ‘weedy’ type herb that is easy to grow and abundance in the places it likes to be. Weedy plants can be a nuisance to some but if we stop and look at the bigger picture we might change some minds. With the rise of herbalism the education of ethical harvesting becomes rather important. Some of our dear plant friends are endangered and should be left to repopulate. On the other hand, our weedy plant friends provide us with a type of abundance that shouldn’t be over looked. On top of that, our coexistence with plants is incredibly necessary for life! These green friends are one of the wisest of teachers around. So if its abundant .. it is for a reason. Lets listen to the wild call of the weedy plants!
Nettles has a unique spirit and uses. She picks places to grow that are disturbed in ways. Along. a creek, in ditches and on mountain slopes, in meadows and within various types of contaminated soils. She can clean things up and provide what is needed to bring its environment into balance. If we sit and examine things within our lives that might need this energy .. we might find yet another place for nettles. So, cleaning up, nourishing, balancing and abundance! AND the strong fibrous parts of this plants have been used to make fabric for clothes! Hmmmmm! She’s perfect.
Nettle leaves:
We can already come to the conclusion that nettle is a wonderful nourishing herb! In being this, it means that she can help our bodies receive what it might be missing in order to thrive vs survive. Our fundamental nourishment is as vital for good healthy as is the air we breath. So all parts of you will be grateful for a cup of nettle tea!
She goes beyond nourishment and is a tonic for the kidneys, bones, the blood and our wonderful integumentary system.
Your kidneys will thank you for adding her into your daily life. This ally helps them process better while strengthening their function. This can be helpful for urinary issues, edema, gout and many kidney disorders.
Due to her high mineral, vitamin and protein content, nettle is fantastic for building and healing bones as well as build blood in the case of anemia and low iron. This same nature gives the skin, hair and nails what they need to reach their best potentials. This would be good for thin creepy skin, eczema/psoriasis, bruising, thing flaky nails and thinning hair. ** Please note: finding out WHY the body is exhibiting theses symptoms will lead you to long term healing. Get curious.
Her anti histamine nature make this ally suitable for all kinds of allergic responses. Nettle lowers histamine in the body as time goes on so that you are no longer dependent upon her for relief contrary to OTC allergies meds where you need to increase the dosage as time goes on. This is good for seasonal - food - pet - skin allergies as well as long term and acute allergic response. It is encouraged to start taking nettles before your known time of reactions if possible. For instance: My daughter is allergic to cats, so I would give her a dose before & after we went to friends houses that had cats.
Anti inflammatory by nature means she is good for arthritic condition like stiff joints. Coupled with her ability to encourage the kidney’s to filter makes her helpful when uric acid builds up in our body like gout or after strenuous activities that lead to stiffness.
Lets mention a seemingly odd topical use that is historical in nature, urtication. Remember those needle like hairs that contain various chemicals? Well, one being formic acid and this little love is what puts the sting in stinging nettles. Urtication is the act of deliberately taking fresh stinging nettles and whipping parts of the body to create blood flow which encourages healing. This can be done on achy joints, stiff or frozen muscles, damaged tissues from surgeries… any place that needs to stimulate blood flow or has pain to be released.
Nettle seeds:
Known as a retortive to kidney function and is useful with many types of kidney disease. Want to know more? Here is an article from David Winston AHG
https://www.davidwinston.org/extracts/stingingnettleseed.html
Nettle roots:
Put in a box for prostate health and anti inflammatory uses for a very good reason. Nettle roots are shown to be helpful in benign prostate hyperplasia or BPH and is a possible aromatase inhibitor making it helpful for folks experincing hormonal cancers and in post care.
So you can see, from the roots to the tops, nettles is a versatile, abundant and is just plain ol’good medicine!!
**With deep more complicated health issue, I suggest an Herbal Consult. Typically a formula with multiple herbs is needed as more info is gathered. No herbs take the place of good nourishing food and lifestyle choices.
