A nourishing, iron-rich plant, nettle revitalizes the blood and energizes the body. It is well suited for treating anemia, exhaustion, allergies and painful muscles and joints. The leaves are used to make an infusion and are harvested before the flowering period begins. The fibrous stems can be made into twine, nets, clothes or other items.
Photo by @krnel
Be careful with 5 of the 6 species that have hollow stinging hairs on the leaves and stems. They act like needles that inject histamine and other chemicals which cause a painful stinging feeling It's not too pleasant.
wikimedia/Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0
Nettle is also called common nettle, stinging nettle, burn nettle, burn weed, burn hazel or nettle leaf. It's a herbaceous perennial flowering plant with the scientific botanical name of Urtica dioica. Other names include Bichu, Common Nettle, Feuille d’Ortie, Graine d’Ortie, Grande Ortie, Great Stinging Nettle, Nettle Seed, Nettle Worth, Ortie, Ortie Brûlante, Ortie des Jardins, Ortie Dioïque, Ortie Méchante, Ortiga, Small Nettle, Urtica, Urtica urens, Urticae Herba et Folium, Urticae Radix.
Key Points
- nutritious plant, high iron, useful for treating anemia
- stem fibers can be used like hemp to make clothing
- used to treat urinary problems
History
Nettle is featured in Aesop's fable "The Boy and the Nettle". Urtica comes from the Latin urere, which means to burn.
Where is it found?
Nettle is native to Europe, Asia, North America and north Africa. It's also been introduced elsewhere. You can find it in waste grounds, disturbed areas, hedgerows, woods and more places. It really likes soil with phosphate and nitrogen.
What's it used for?
Nettle is extremely edible and nutritious, once you deal with the annoying needles. Young leaves alone should be used for eating, and can be cooked, which gets rid of the stinging needles. They can be added to soups or other meals. Leaves are also dried for later use which also gets rid of the needles. Older leaves develop gritty particles called cystoliths which act as an irritant to the kidneys.
Nettle is a good source of nutrients, including high amounts of minerals like iron and vitamins like A and C.
The plant is harvested commercially for chlorophyll and used as a green coloring agent in food and medicine. Nettle tea can be made from leaves. Juice from the leaves can be used to curdle plant milks.
Medicinally, nettle is widely used, but "scientific" evidence is lacking to back up all the claims.
The root is used to treat urination problems related to an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia [BPH]), which include nighttime urination, too frequent urination, painful urination, inability to urinate, and irritable bladder. It's also used for joint ailments, as a diuretic, and as an astringent.
The aerial parts are used with fluids for "irrigation therapy" to treat urinary tract infections (UTI), urinary tract inflammation, and kidney stones (nephrolithiasis). They are also used for allergies, hayfever, and osteoarthritis.
Other uses include to treat internal bleeding, including uterine bleeding, nosebleeds, bowel bleeding, anemia, poor circulation, an enlarged spleen, diabetes and other endocrine disorders, stomach acid, diarrhea and dysentery, asthma, lung congestion, rash and eczema, cancer, preventing the signs of aging, "blood purification", wound healing, and as a general tonic. Applied to the skin it's been used for muscle aches and pains, oily scalp, oily hair, and hair loss (alopecia).
In ancient Greece, it was used as a laxative and diuretic.
Are there any risks?
Stinging nettle appears to be safe for long term use up to 2 years, either orally or on the skin. But it might cause stomach discomfort and sweating. Pregnant women should avoid as nettle might stimulate the uterine contractions and cause miscarriages. Breast feeding women should also avoid.
Those with diabetes should be careful, as nettle can decrease blood sugar levels. Nettle might also lower blood pressure, so be careful if you have low blood pressure. People with kidney problems should also know about nettle's ability to increase urine flow.
Some drugs interact with nettle, such as lithium which can stay in the body longer; antidiabetes drugs that lower blood sugar will lower it more with nettle; antihypertensive drugs that lower blood pressure with interact; and sedative medications might also be affected as nettle may cause sleepiness and drowsiness.
References:
Previous posts on Getting to Know Herbs:
Peppermint | Dandelion | Feverfew | Lemon Balm | Hawthorn | Chickweed | Northern Bayberry | Lady's Mantle | Hyssop | Burdock | Catnip | Lavender | Yarrow | Marshmallow | Skullcap | Codonopsis (Poor Man's Ginseng) | Schisandra | Rhodiola | Canadian Goldenrod | German Chamomile | Blue Vervain | Blessed or Holy Thistle | Common Horehound | Cayenne | Ashwagandha | Gotu Kola | Common Verbana/Vervain | Holy Basil | Sweet Annie | Globe Artichoke | Butterfly Weed / Pleurisy Root | Joe-Pye Weed / Gravel Root | Valerian | Malva/Mallow | Boneset | Elecampane | Lungwort | Cramp Bark | Motherwort | Common Plantain | Eleuthero (Siberian ginseng) | Black Cohosh | Common Bearberry | Mahonia Mountain Grape (Oregon Grape) | Blue Cohosh | Goldenseal
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Nettle is one of my favourite wild herbs. They are so many positive effects for health. I like to drink tea and also mixed in smoothies. You can also eat the seeds. Thanks for sharing and your great work! :-)
Cool, you use it already! :) The seeds too, nice. What do they taste like? You're welcome, thanks for the feedback.
Difficult to say, what they taste like. I would say, they taste a little bit nutty. You can use them in salad, smoothie, cereals, on bread, and so on.
These Getting to Know Herb posts are appreciated, thank you for capturing and sharing your knowledge. I look forward to reading more, if you take requests or know much about Comfrey please share if you like. We enjoy Stinging Nettle Tea, I was not aware of it should not be consumed long term. Perhaps we need to take breaks between periods of drinking it daily. I will need to explore that more, thank you again for sharing your wisdom.
Thanks, I appreciate your appreciation :) I have been going with pictures of plants I took, but I think I can do posts on any plant and just use allowed images from others :) I'll try to remember comfrey to do in the future. Thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, maybe after a year or two take a break for a few weeks? I dunno... heh. I think it may just be the studied long term use, and it might still be safe for indefinite use.
Very nice I do like nettle tea proper tasty. Although I do wonder about getting the olde leaf and tend to miss them too often. Do the cystoliths cause any lasting damage? I have loads around me but all quite old leaf. I'll have to do some research on the drying and storing 💯🐒
Well I think you just need to get younger plants ;) The cystoliths seem to only be an irritant, not causing permanent damage. You can make tea from the old leaf, just not eat it ;)
Right on! tea with the older leaf sounds great! I can get collecting eat it in the new season. Great info 💯🐒
What would you say if I told you I consume Nettle every single day :) hehe
Great read!
I don't think it's a problem. I don't think the safety was studied longer. As long as the dose isn't very high, it's probably indefinitely safe ;)