Stinging Nettle overview

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the hairs, stinging and non-stinging covering the leaves and stems of the Stinging Nettle

aka: common nettle, burn hazel, burn nettle and burn weed

Urtica dioica
Family: URTICACEAE

Blood Purifier and Tonic

One of the most effective herbs to detoxify the blood system and build up the blood is the Stinging Nettle ^[1].

When you brush against this herb your skin comes alive with its invigorating sting. Stinging Nettle is often found growing in close proximity to Yellow Dock, another excellent blood tonic and purifier, if you are stung by the nettle rubbing a leaf of the Dock on the stung area will bring instant relief.
Fresh Nettle leaves are used to stop all types of bleeding, due to its high Vitamin K content.

The flowers of the Stinging Nettle

The seeds are used for coughs and shortness of breath.

People with arthritis are encouraged to use this plant directly on their aching joints, it will stimulate the blood, which reduces the pain.

Stinging nettle is one of the richest sources of chlorophyll in the vegetable kingdom^[2], many tonnes of it are gathered yearly to meet the growing demand for chlorophyll due to its potent health benefits.

Stinging Nettle can be made into beer, used as a tea and cooked as a vegetable in soup, stir fry's, or used in place of spinach.

Once cooked or heated, there is no sting from the leaves.

Soaking Nettles in water will remove the stinging chemicals from the plant, which allows them to be handled and eaten without incidence of stinging.

A young flowering stalk

The young leaves are usually a lot more palatable and the leaves are high in nutrients and can be mixed with other ingredients to make a soup rich in iron and calcium. Crushing, cooking or chopping the leaves disables the stinging hairs.

Nettles can be used in a variety of recipes, the young leaves have a similar texture to spinach or other green leafy vegetables and are a very good replacement in any recipe.

When picking this herb use your gloves, unless you want to feel the invigorating sting sensation Nettle offers.

To keep your bloodstream rich and healthy and to ward off anemia symptoms this herbal tea formula is an excellent blood restorer:

1. Mix equal parts of dried Nettle, Yarrow, Yellow Dock and Peppermint together.
2. Pour one cup of boiling water over one teaspoon of the above mixture
3. steep for 20 minutes
4. Strain
5. drink one cup half an hour after eating, or make a pot of the tea and drink it cold during the day.
6. You may wish to add honey if you desire.

Stinging Nettle uses

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A superb blood tonic and conditioner, used for arthritis, painful muscles and joints, eczema, gout, anemia, urinary problems and infections.

Nettle is used effectively to treat these conditions and organs: ^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

as you can see it is an extremely broad-spectrum healing herb for humanity

adrenals anemia aphrodisiac arthritis asthma backache baldness bladder bleeding bronchitis colds constipation blood sugar level dandruff depression diarrhea digestion dizzy spells dysentery eczema edema fatigue fever

fluid retention gall stones gout hay fever headaches heavy menstrual bleeding hemorrhages hysteria insect bites intestinal worms iron deficiency kidneys leucorrhea low blood pressure lowers blood sugar lumbago mood swings menopausal problems migraines muscle power nervous system pre-menstrual stress prostate

post-natal tonic viral disease strengthen pancreas thyroid stomach problems liver lymphatic system night sweats neuralgia neuritis mucus paralysis phlegm rheumatism rickets sciatica stomach cramps stomach ulcers tendinitis urinary problems varicose veins weight reduction

  Contra-indications:  Nettle tea should not be used if you have a weak heart or bad kidneys except under the guidance of an experienced herbal practitioner or naturopath.

Stinging Nettle actions

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Major medicinal actions of Stinging Nettle^[15]

Nettle is alterative, antiscorbutic, antiseptic, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antispasmodic, astringent, circulatory stimulant, digestive, diuretic, expectorant, expel gravel and stones from any organ, especially the kidneys and gall bladder, hepatic, hemostatic, galactagogue, laxative, nervine, nutritive, refrigerant, styptic pectoral, tonic.

Major medicinal actions of Stinging Nettle^[15]

Nettle Tea

analgesic anesthetic antiaging antibacterial anticancer antidepressant antidiabetic antihypertensive antiinflammatory antileukemic antioxidant antipyretic antirheumatic antiseptic

antispasmodic antitumor antiulcerogenic antiviral ascorbic-acid astringent beta-carotene cholagogue choleretic choline

coagulant demulcent detoxicant diuretic emmenagogue emollient expectorant fungicidal hypnotic hypotensive

laxative linoleic-acid mucilage niacin riboflavin sedative thiamin vasoconstrictor vulnerary

That is a lot of health-maintaining activity in just one plant.

However there is more - here are other actions attributed to the constituents found in Stinging Nettle. Of course not all of these are considered major actions of Stinging Nettle, however the list does demonstrate just how comprehensive Stinging Nettle’s health maintaining abilities are.

Other actions of Stinging Nettle^[15]

allergenic antiacne antiadenoviral antiaggregant antialcoholic antiallergic antialzheimeran antianaphylactic antiandrogenic antianemic antianginal antiangiogenic antianorexic antianxiety antiarrhythmic antiarthritic antiasthmatic antiatherogenic antiatherosclerotic antibackache antiberiberi anticarcinogenic anticardiospasmic anticarpal-tunnel anticataract antichilblain anticoeliac anticold anticolitic anticonvulsant anticoronary antidandruff antidementia antidermatitic antidote antidyspeptic antieczemic antiedemic antielastase antiencephalitic antiendometriotic antiepileptic antiestrogenic antifatigue antifertility antifibromyalgic antiflu antigallstone antigingivitic antiglaucomic antihangover antiheartburn antihemorrhagic antihepatitic antihepatotoxic antiherpetic antihistaminic antihiv antihyperactivity antihyperthyroid

antihypoglycemic antiimpotence antiinfective antiinfertility antiinsomniac antiischemic antilupus antilyme antimaculitic antimelanogenic antimenopausal antimetastatic antimigraine antimitral-valve-prolapse antimutagenic antineuralgic antineuramidase antineuropathic antinociceptive antiobesity antiophidic antiorchitic antiosteoarthritic antipapillomic antiparkinsonian antipellagric antiplaque antipneumonic antipoliomyelitic antipsoriac antiradicular antirhinitic antiscorbutic antiseborrheic antiserotonin antishingles antispasmophilic antistaphylococcic antistress antistroke antisunburn antithrombic antithyroid antitinnitic antitriglyceride antiulcer antivertigo anxiolytic beta-adrenergic beta-blocker beta-glucuronidase-inhibitor calcium-antagonist cancer-preventive candidicide carcinogenic cardioprotective cardiotoxic chemopreventive clastogenic cold-preventive

collagenic colorant comedolytic contraceptive cytoprotective cytotoxic deodorant dermatitigenic dna-protective ergogenic estrogenic fibrinolytic hemolytic hemostat hepatoprotective hepatotoxic hepatotropic histamine-inhibitor hypercholesterolemic hypertensive hypocholesterolemic hypoglycemic immunomodulator immunostimulant immunosuppressant insectifuge irritant leukotriene-inhibitor lipoxygenase-inhibitor lithogenic litholytic lubricant metal-chelator metastatic mucogenic mucolytic myorelaxant nematicide neuroprotective neurotransmitter oleic-acid osteogenic pesticide phagocytotic preservative prooxidant prostaglandigenic protein-kinase-c-inhibitor protisticide serotoninergic sialogogue tranquilizer tumorigenic tyrosinase-inhibitor uricosuric uterorelaxant vasodilator xanthine-oxidase-inhibitor

Stinging Nettle constituents

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Nettle is rich in Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K.

Minerals in Nettle are: Iron, Calcium, Chromium, Copper, Chlorine, Magnesium, Potassium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Selenium, Silica, Silicon, Sodium, Sulphur and Zinc.

Active constituents found in Stinging Nettle^[15]

Nettle Tea

5-hydroxytryptamine acetic-acid acetophenone acetyl-choline alpha-tocopherol ( Leaf 16 - 94 ppm ) aluminum ( Leaf 62 - 345 ppm ) arsenic ( Leaf 0.02 - 0.11 ppm ) ascorbic-acid ( Leaf 830 ppm ) beta-carotene ( Leaf 94 - 202 ppm ) betaine boron ( Leaf 6 - 36 ppm ) butyric-acid cadmium ( Leaf 0.01 - 0.05 ppm ) caffeic-acid

calcium ( Leaf 5,940 - 33,000 ppm ) cellulose ( Leaf 103,000 ppm ) chlorine ( Leaf 2,700 ppm ) choline chromium ( Leaf 0.18 - 1 ppm ) cobalt ( Leaf 0.03 - 0.16 ppm ) copper ( Leaf 2 - 15 ppm ) ferulic-acid folacin formic-acid glycerol ( Seed 6,975 - 9,045 ppm ) histamine iron ( Leaf 44 - 418 ppm ) lecithin linoleic-acid ( Seed 114,235 - 148,137 ppm ) lycopene magnesium ( Leaf 860 - 8,600 ppm ) manganese ( Leaf 31 - 172 ppm ) mercury ( Leaf 0.005 - 0.028 ppm ) molybdenum

mucilage niacin nickel ( Leaf 0.5 - 2.7 ppm ) oleic-acid ( Seed 17,825 - 23,115 ppm ) p-coumaric-acid palmitic-acid ( Seed 10,000 - 13,500 ppm ) pantothenic-acid ( Leaf 10 ppm ) phosphorus ( Leaf 920 - 6,800 ppm ) potassium ( Leaf 6,700 - 37,220 ppm ) riboflavin ( Leaf 4 - 15 ppm ) scopoletin selenium serotonin ( Plant 200 ppm ) silicon ( Leaf 1,170 - 6,500 ppm ) sodium ( Leaf 49 - 1,400 ppm ) sulfur ( Leaf 1,200 - 6,665 ppm ) thiamin ( Leaf 0.8 - 5.4 ppm ) tin ( Leaf 27 ppm ) violaxanthin zinc ( Leaf 17 - 95 ppm )

Stinging Nettle tea

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Stinging Nettle tea

Why choose a Herbal Tea?

Plants produce a vast range of substances - phyto-chemical s - which are very beneficial in restoring and maintaining health in we humans without side-effects. We believe that they are perfectly suited to preventative and curative health care because they are natural and harmonious to our bodies.

If you do not have fresh Stinging Nettle nearby or are not confident you can identify Stinging Nettle then dried material is the next best way to obtain their beneficial influence.

How long will Stinging Nettle tea keep it's potency?

Stored properly - in an air-tight glass container away from direct sunlight - Stinging Nettle tea will keep for up to 18 months without losing it's potency. If you are dealing with the onset of a severe condition we suggest it may be worth purchasing fresh material to have complete confidence in its healing potency.

When should I drink my Tea?

For best absorption, consume herbal teas 30 minutes or more before meals or drinking other liquids to avoid diluting it while it is in your digestive tract.

Caring for your Stinging Nettle herbal tea

If you don't plan on using the tea immediately, it's best to keep it unopened and away from direct sunlight (in a closed cupboard or drawer). Exposed to the air it may absorb moisture and humidity, so if they are opened, reseal them tightly, or (preferably) put it in a glass jars with a tight-fitting lid (avoid metal containers).

Most will never require refrigeration or freezing - just keep them at average room temperature (70-80 degrees). Generally, the "shelf-life" for optimum freshness will be about a year if stored properly.

If you live in a warm, high humidity area, it may be impossible to keep moisture out of regularly opened and closed glass containers, and the plants may become mouldy. If this happens, discard them and purchase fresh ones. To prevent mould, try storing them in paper lunch bags so they can “breathe” (although this will reduce the shelf-life significantly).

Making an Infusion

pour a cup after it has infused

Preparing an infusion is just like making a cup of tea but allowing more time for the water to absorb the Stinging Nettle essence.

Pour boiling water over the tea (use a glass, stainless steel or ceramic vessel), cover it and allow to soak/steep for 20 minutes or so. Stirring it a few times while steeping is helpful - and is an ideal opportunity to focus your mind on the benefits it will bring to you.

Generally use 1 teaspoon of dried Stinging Nettle in a 250ml cup of water is sufficient. The standard dosage is one teacup (250ml), two or three times daily.

For convenience, your entire day's dosage can be prepared at night (2-3 cups at one time) and left overnight and then refrigerated for use throughout the day. You can drink it cold or heat it if you want it warm.

Stinging Nettle tincture

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Is it Safe for me to take Stinging Nettle Tincture?

If you have any concerns or apprehensions please use our free Herbal Tincture enquiry service so that we can make sure that what you want is completely safe for your situation or condition.

We especially encourage you to get in touch if you have any of the following health problems or conditions:

An enlarged prostate gland Are preganant or breast-feeding Blood clotting problems Cancer Diabetes

Epilepsy Glaucoma Heart disease High blood pressure Immune system problems

Liver problems Psychiatric problems Parkinson's disease Stroke Thyroid problems

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You have two options when you purchase Stinging Nettle tincture:

1. For external use which you can apply externally to the soles of your feet or topically on an external condition - you can purchase these without a consultation.
2. For internal use. If you wish to take it internally because of the potency of these tinctures you need to be sure they will not cause complications with an existing health condition or prescribed drugs you may be taking.

If you are in any doubt about the possibility Stinging Nettle tincture causing complications with prescription drugs or a medical condition you may have please get in touch so that we can advise you on the suitability of a particular tincture.

Especially if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.

You can have an online consultation or visit our clinic for a thorough consultation if you wish to purchase our potent tinctures for internal use.

There are fewer concerns when using Stinging Nettle tincture externally and our many years of experience has shown that the tincture is just as effective being applied into the soles of the feet or applied topically on external conditions where they will be absorbed into your system.

Our clients who have come for a consultation use the same tincture internally and we recommend they take half an eyedropper (about 1.5ml) of herbal tincture in a small glass of water three times per day for adults and a quarter of an eyedropper in a small glass of water for children.

Stinging Nettle tincture is a potent liquid extract made from organic Stinging Nettle. It is a concentrated way of getting herbal medicine into your body easily especially applying them to the soles of your feet. Once a tincture is prepared, it has an extremely long shelf life. Tinctures should be kept in a cool, dark cupboard to maintain their potency.

If you are on any prescribed medication we strongly advise you to use our free Herbal Tincture enquiry service to make sure that the medication and potent Stinging Nettle tincture are compatible.

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making medicine for internal use

How to Use Stinging Nettle Tincture internally

How do I prepare my Stinging Nettle Tincture?

Just add the recommended dosage - which is usually 1.5ml or one eyedropperfull - to a glass of drinking water or any other cold drink.

Then drink it.

When should I drink my Stinging Nettle Tincture?

For best absorption, consume herbal tinctures 30 minutes or more before meals or drinking other liquids to avoid diluting it while it is in your digestive tract.

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How to Use our Tinctures externally

how to apply a tincture to the soles of your feet

If you are treating an external condition - such as a skin infection - then simply apply the tincture directly to the site using the eyedropper or a suitable swab.

If you are treating an internal condition then the best way to get the tincture into your body is through the soles of your feet. The skin is a highly absorptive organ and the feet have the reflexology facility which helps get the healing properties of the herbs right to the place inside you where they will do the most good.

If you don't have someone to do it for you, the easiest way we've found is to apply it sitting down. Rest one foot on your other leg's thigh (use a towel to make sure the tincture doesn't drip on your furniture or clothes), squirt a small amount of tincture onto the palm of one hand (about 1.5ml or half an eyedropper), rub it gently into the sole of your foot. In most cases you will find it has been absorbed within 30 seconds or so - you'll know when your foot feels dry. Then do the same to your other foot and the treatment is complete.

Stinging Nettle history

Stinging nettle has been used since ancient times as a source of food, fiber, and medicinal preparations^[2]. In Denmark, burial shrouds made of nettle fabrics have been discovered that date back to the Bronze Age (3000-2000 BC). Europeans and Native Americans used the fibers from stinging nettle to make sailcloth, sacking, cordage, and fishing nets. These fibers have also been used to produce cloth similar in feel and appearance to silky linen. During World War I, the German Empire, plagued by textile shortages, used nettles as a substitute for cotton. Captured German uniforms were found to be 85% nettle fiber.

Stinging nettle is one of the richest sources of chlorophyll in the vegetable kingdom. A decoction of the plant has been used to produce a green dye for clothing for centuries. At the beginning of the Second World War, a request by the British government was made for the collection of 100 tons of nettles, which were used for the extraction of this green dye for camouflage. This property has also been used commercially in Germany as a food coloring agent for canned vegetables.

the gentle practice of urtification

In ancient Egypt reports are found of the use of nettle infusion for the relief of arthritis and lumbago pains. A standard practice of flogging oneself with the fresh nettle plant, called urtification, was prescribed to treat such illnesses as chronic rheumatism, lethargy, coma, paralysis, and even typhus, and cholera. This practice of urtification is known to many cultures and has been used for thousands of years. The Roman soldiers are said to have brought their own nettle to the British Isles to treat their tired, painful legs on long marches in the cold and wet climate by urtification, thus stimulating the circulation. Documentation or anecdotal reports of its use in this way have been found among the Ecuador Indians, ancient Romans, and Canadian and American native tribes.

Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) and his followers reported 61 remedies using nettle. In the second century A.D., Galen, the Greek physician, recommended nettle in his book De Simplicibus^[16] as “a diuretic and laxative, for dog bites, gangrenous wounds, swellings, nose bleeding, excessive menstruation, spleen-related illness, pleurisy, pneumonia, asthma, tinea, and mouth sores”. Two hundred years after Galen, Apuleius Platonicus (circa 400 A.D.), in his book , added nettle combined with hemp or cannabis to “treat symptoms of feeling cold after being burnt (shocked)”, and nettle by itself for “cold injury”. Throughout the Dark Ages (fifth to tenth centuries) uses of nettle were expanded to include treatment of shingles, constipation, and “dry disease”, which probably meant problems with the sinuses or lungs, mucous membranes, and skin.

The 16th century herbalist John Gerard used stinging nettle as an antidote for poison. In the seventeenth century, Culpeper, the astrologer-physician, recommended a nettle and honey extract as a gargle for throat and mouth infections, and claimed that nettles were helpful “for bladder stones or gravel, worms in children, an antiseptic for wounds and skin infections, gout, sciatica, joint aches, and as an antidote to venomous stings from animals”. In the nineteenth century, Phelps Brown suggested nettle internally as a diuretic and tonic. He hailed it as a remedy for dysentery, hemorrhoids, bladder and kidney stones, and used the seeds and flowers in wine for fevers. It was also employed in cases of infant diarrhea and eczema.

from the Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism:

Urtica dioica L URTICACEAE Stinging Nettle Nettle/Common Nettle The Nettle is now a common and painful stinging weed which appears wherever land is disturbed by man and left derelict. In the past, however, it has variously been used in cloth manufacture, as a food, and medicinally. It was once even cultivated in Scotland, Denmark and Norway. The use of the plant in cloth manufacture only stopped in the first quarter of the twentieth century but can be traced back to the Bronze Age - and is recorded in the common name, nettle, from an old word meaning to twist (and hence make fibre). Greeks knew it as akalyphe and Romans as urtica - but the ancients probably used the annual U. pilulifera L (or Roman Nettle) rather more, since it is native to southern Europe. Both this species and the Small Nettle (U. urens), which is also an annual, have the same values as U. dioica. Description Dioccious perennial, from 80-180, cm tall, sterns bristly, sparsely branched, bearing opposite and decussate, acuminate, deeply serrate, petiolate and ovate leaves to 14 cm long. Flowers minute, in pendulous axillary racemes, appearing mid-summer to mid-autumn. Distribution Widespread; Eurasian native. On wasteland, especially damp and nutrient-rich soils which have previously been disturbed by man; to 2700 m altitude. Cultivation Wild plant. Cultivated only rarely for medicinal purposes, and as a source of commercial chlorophyll. Propagated from seed, or by root division in spring. Constituents (leaves) Histamine; acetylcholine; formic acid. gallic acid; tannins. 5-hydroxytryptamine; vitamins A and C; mineral salts including calcium, potassium, silicon, iron, manganese and sulphur; other active substances; unknown components. Uses (fresh or dried leaves, root-stock rarely) Astringent; antihaemorrhagic; diuretic; galactagogue. The Nettle has many therapeutic applications, but is principally of benefit in all kinds of internal haemorrhages. as a diuretic; in urticaria, jaundice, haemorrhoids; a laxative; and it is used in dermatological problems including eczema. The powdered leaf used as a snuff stops nose bleeds. It has been shown to lower the blood-sugar level and also to lower the blood pressure slightly. Used to promote hair growth rarely, and fresh branches applied externally in rheumatism. Young shoots and leaves cooked like Spinach. A commercial source of chlorophyll. Used in paper and cloth manufacture.

Stinging Nettle cultivation

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica, Linn) Family Urticaceae

There are over 500 species of Nettle that are growing throughout the world.

Stinging nettles are a dioecious herbaceous perennial^[1] and can grow 1-2 m high in the summer and dies off to the ground in winter.

Nettle has widely spreading roots, rhizomes and stolons and the green leaves are 3-15 cm long are borne oppositely on an erect wiry green stem.

The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs and also many stinging hairs called trichromes, whose tips come off when touched, transforming the hair into a needle that will inject several chemicals: acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT or serotonin, and possibly formic acid.

This mixture of chemical compounds cause a sting or paresthesia from which the species derives its common name Stinging Nettle as well as the colloquial names burn hazel, burn nettle and burn weed. The sting can last from as long as a week to only a few minutes.

We both enjoy an occasional sting when we harvest Nettle as it makes us feel alive and tingling.

Peacock Butterfly larvae on Stinging Nettle

Nettles are also a larval food plant for several species of butterfly, such as the Peacock Butterfly or the Small Tortoiseshell.

They are also eaten by the larvae of some moths including Angle Shades, Buff Ermine, Dot Moth, The Flame, The Gothic, Grey Chi, Grey Pug, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Mouse Moth, Setaceous Hebrew Character and Small Angle Shades.

The roots are sometimes eaten by the larva of the Ghost Moth Hepialus humuli.

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