Nettle grows worldwide, and is a favorite of mine. It has a long history as a food and a medicine. It’s actions are astringent, diuretic, galactagogue, hemostatic, and tonic. Typical preparations of nettle as food is steamed and eaten in salads or pastas. Nettle soup is served by a hospital chef nearby. Nettle can be used as a pot herb, so go ahead and throw some into your pot of stew or soup or sauce. Nettle leaf is used traditionally as a diuretic, and has even been used to make a hair rinse for dandruff. Nettle has been found to be a valuable anti-inflammatory particularly in the treatment of allergic rhinitis, relieving almost all symptoms of itchy and watering eyes, sneezing and running nose.
If you are wild harvesting your own nettle, wear gloves, or figure out how to become a nettle charmer (someone who knows how to pick it without getting stung). Precautions are advised for people on diuretics meant to lower blood pressure. It’s unlikely that small doses, like in cooking or tea blends, would be deleterious. Herbalist Susun Weed suggests making a nettle tonic to cleanse and tonify the body systems and she uses a lot - about a cup of dried herb, covered with boiling water in a quart jar - steeped for 4 hours.
I like making a cup of nettle tea with about a tablespoon of the herb to a cup. If you decide to use nettle like a tonic, use it daily for a week or so, then take a break. The taste is mild and it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals. I do not sweeten this tea. This is an herb that needs to find it’s way back to our kitchens. It generally reaches maturity in the summer months and is worth learning to identify and harvest.
Dr. Nancy Offenhauser makes a strong endorsement for the use of nettle tea in her groundbreaking book, “Healing Cancer Peacefully” - see chapter 28 - ‘Polly Put the Nettle On.’
Dr. James Duke, the retired FDA herbalist, lists nettle for allergies, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, asthma, baldness, bladder infections, bronchitis, bursitis, cough, gingivitis, gout, hives, kidney stones, laryngitis, multiple sclerosis, PMS, prostate enlargement, sciatica, and tendinitis, which are mostly symptoms related to inflammation, diuresis, or allergic reactivity.
Dr. Judy Griffin reminds us about the use of nettles by Native Americans to relieve arthritis.
So even though the classifications like anti-inflammatory or diuretic weren’t common knowledge, people used nettle to treat exactly those kinds of conditions. None of this information is a secret. It’s a healing plant found almost everywhere growing naturally. My belief is that when we utilize the herbs, flowers, and plants of Creation they are both healing and preventative.
