Nourishing Nettle

Many people are introduced to Nettles in an abrupt and often uncomfortable way due to its protective needle-like projections that inject irritating substances into the skin. But when approached with attention and respect, Nettle can often be touched and harvested without stinging, its only when carelessly brushed and bumped that nettle is known to impart its sting.

Once you get to know this powerful herb, it’s easy to fall in love with it as it treads that fine line between a nourishing food and medicine, restoring energy levels, detoxifying, relieving allergies and strengthens both women’s and men’s reproductive health as well as bones, hair, nails and teeth.

Nettles have been worked with for thousands of years and has been recorded as far back as the Bronze Age (3000 BCE – 1200 BCE), its stimulating properties were said to have assisted Julius Caesar’s troops in staying awake and alert during the night. Aside from its herbal properties, Nettle has also been popularly processed as a textile, from silky to coarse textures and was a common household textile in Scottish households during the 16th and 17th centuries. During the First and Second World Wars, Nettle fiber was substituted for cotton yarns, when this material was unavailable and to this day wildcrafters work with the fibers to create cordage and powerful home remedies.

Common Name: Nettle, Stinging Nettle

Latin Name: Urtica dioica

Parts Used: Young leaves before the plant flowers, seeds and roots

Applications: Arthritis, eczema, sluggish metabolism, hypothyroidism, weak hear/teeth/bones, fatigue, deficient blood, seasonal allergies, urinary tract infections, asthma and menstrual cramps.

Preparations: Infusions, tea, tincture, food and freeze-dried products.

Primary Actions

Diuretic: Expels water from the tissues and drains moisture from the body.

Alterative: Nettles has a long standing traditional use as a mild but effective remedy for detoxification, opening up the channels of elimination in the body. It also has a strong action upon the blood and the skin, building up the blood through it’s rich mineral content and nutrients, helping to cleanse and detoxify the blood of stagnation and accumulation of metabolic wastes.

Nutritive Tonic: Nettles are extremely rich in iron, protein, chlorophyll, vitamin C, dietary fiber, potassium, silicic acid (silica), and calcium, among others. It has classically been an additive to soups and stews to imbue it’s wide nutrient profile.

Astringent: Nettle leaves are an astringent for tissues that have become weak and lax. It brings extra tone to the intestines, the uterus and blood vessels.

Rubefacient: This action is sometimes also referred to as “counterirritant.” where the fresh Nettles are brushed against the skin to stimulate a greater level of activity, primarily through an increase in blood flow and circulation. The rubefacient action is typically used for stiff, tight, swollen, and achy arthritic joints, sore muscles, and areas of the body that have a relative low grade but annoying level of pain. After the initial pain of having the Nettles brushed over the of skin wears off, the increased blood flow to the area brings a flood of fresh oxygenated blood loaded with nutrients, which not only benefits the tissues nutritionally, but also enables stagnated waste products to be purged from the tissues and ultimately eliminated. This type of treatment can relieve the pain for up to eight days!

Inflammation Modulating: Nettle is an excellent remedy to modulate the body’s inflammation processes. The rich content of chlorophyll cools the tissues, from puffy swollen arthritis joints, GI inflammation, and excessive heat in the cardiovascular system, to inflammation in the urinary tract, womb, and prostate gland.

Nettle is classically worked with internally for clearing dampness from the body through it’s diuretic, alterative and astringent actions, it is known as a “spring cleanser” helping the liver to process accumulated metabolic waste, purging dampness from joints and tissues and stimulating blood to circulate, and ultimately drains the excess fluids via the kidneys. It then provides a spectrum of minerals, vitamins and micro-nutrients to strengthening and rebuild strength.

From its diuretic properties for urinary tract infections and inflammation, to its astringent drying nature of the mucosal membranes as well as its nutritive aspects, Nettles operates on a number of different levels.

The astringent and tonifing action of Nettle has a positive effect on the male reproductive system, by bringing more tone back into the tissues and reducing any swelling of the prostate associated with BPH (Benign Prostate Hyperplasia). Nettles help to increase circulation and the elimination of waste products, which can “bring back to life” an organ or tissue which is inactive or weak. As a nutritive tonic it helps to replenish and regenerate the reproductive organs, sperm count, and seminal fluids.

For women the nutritive properties of Nettles also supports the reproductive system, helping to rebuild and replenish tissues and organs which have become weak, providing a deep sustaining nourishment to both mother and growing baby, it also tonifies, strengthens, and nourishes the uterus, making the muscles strong for upcoming childbirth and increasing it’s expulsive power. As a tonic astringent, it is also beneficial for post childbirth hemorrhage and bleeding, as well as a stimulant to lactation.

Vinegar extracts the mineral properties of Nettles extremely well and can be done simply by filling a glass jar 1/4 full with fresh leaves, roughly chopping them will provide more surface area for the vinegar to extract from, then fill the rest of the way with apple cider vinegar making sure all parts of the plant are covered, place wax paper on top of the jar and secure with a lid, this will prevent the vinegar from corroding the metal. Keep in a cool dark place for three to six weeks and shake occasionally, then strain and use however you like, it is especially good as a base for salad dressings, or add a tablespoon to water for a mineral rich tonic, or to bone broths as the vinegar again helps to extract the minerals in the bones.

Nettles can be eaten after blanching in boiling water for two minutes, the residual blanched water can be drunk as a tea, or as a base for soups and the Nettle greens can be put into soups, lasagna, stir-fried greens, spanakopita, green smoothies and pestos.

If working with dried Nettles place one ounce into a quart sized jar, fill with just boiled water and stir well, then cover and steep for 4-8 hours, strain and drink the infusion throughout the day. Try adding the infusion to other herbal teas such as peppermint or ginger for a variety of flavours. The Botanical Safety Handbook gives Nettle the highest safety rating, however in the case of kidneys stones, it is best to be avoided.

References: www.gaiaherbs.com; www.theherbalacademy.com; www.evolutionaryherbalism.com