Stinging Nettle: Herbal Medicine Cabinet

This hoary herb is usually put in the category “to avoid at all cost” (like poison ivy) due to its burning stings. But in fact, you should be doing the opposite! Stinging Nettle has anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-infectious, hypotensive, and anti-ulcer characteristics, as well as the ability to prevent cardiovascular disease, in all parts of the plant (leaves, stems, roots, and seeds).

Nettle stems are quite slender, square, and can grow up to 6 to 8 feet tall, with occasional thin branches. Leaves are thin, dark green, 2 to 4 inches long, with a tapered tip. The edges of the leaves are toothed and the leaf surface is distinctly veined and rather rough looking.

Stinging Nettle is high in amino acids, protein, flavonoids, and bone-building minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

Nettles are best when very tender, so pick them in the spring when the nettles are about 2-4 inches tall, or later in the season before they are flowering. Use rubber gloves or pinch the leaves hard, so you don’t get stung. Some of the chemicals injected by the Stinging Nettle include histamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and formic acid.

Nettle use has been recorded as far back as the Bronze Age (3000 BCE – 1200 BCE), and it is still used in herbalism today. Between 58 and 45 BCE, records show Nettle’s stinging properties assisting Julius Caesar’s troops in helping them stay awake and alert during the night.

In modern clinical studies, Stinging Nettle has been investigated for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, rheumatic complaints, acute arthritis, and as a diuretic.

To learn more about Stinging Nettle and other herbs you should have in your medicine cabinet, join our Herb Nerd meetings on the third Thursday of each month at The Herbal Oracle, located at 161 E. Lincoln Hwy, in DeKalb. For more information, please visit www.herbaloracle.com.

The Herbal Oracle

161 E. Lincoln Hwy.

DeKalb, IL 60115

Ph: 815-201-0820

www.HerbalOracle.com