Stinging Nettle - more than just a menace!

It's edible and can be substituted for spinach in the spring time when the shoots are young and tender. Nettle soup is delicious and so easy to make.

The plant is particularly nutritious and contains calcium, vitamin C, iron, potassium and silica. It has always been used to feed farm animals and can be used to make a powerful and natural plant fertiliser.

Uses as a herbal medicine

As a herbal medicine, it has a long history across many nations with documented use across Europe and in Africa. Its many traditional uses include treatments for joint pain, rashes, prostate trouble, water retention and even balancing blood sugar.

Gout

It's historically been used as a particularly good and cost effective remedy for gout. Gout is an inflammatory condition that affects the joints, often the toes. The pain can be sudden and severe with redness and tenderness. Nettle is thought to help break down the uric acid crystals that can form in the body and accumulate in the small joints of the hands and feet. It's these crystals that cause the inflammation and pain.

Rheumatic joint pain

Another traditional remedy for joint pain was to sting a rheumatic joint with nettle plants - although users would get localised rashes and discomfort, there was empirical evidence to show that the stings could relieve inflammation and reduce pain. Roman soldiers were apparently keen on this 'home remedy' for the rheumatic pains they suffered when experiencing the damp conditions of UK life.

Urinary conditions

Also, nettle's silica content and action as a diuretic have made it a useful remedy for a number of urinary conditions; it is often recommended to older men to help with benign prostatic hyperplasia and to women who may suffer with bladder issues, especially in support of other urinary tract remedies.

Itchy skin

Another useful application is for itchy skin conditions. It is used (ironically!) for hives or urticaria, named after nettle's Latin name. This is an allergic rash featuring welts that may itch or burn.

Anti-histamine

Finally, nettle is thought to reduce histamine levels and works really well when combined with vitamin C (another great natural anti-histamine). They can also reduce the prickly, itchy discomfort of heat rash, experienced when overheating on sunny days or in hot climates.

A.Vogel' Stinging Nettle

If you are looking for an organically grown and fresh herb tincture, our A.Vogel Stinging Nettle is just that.

Plus, don't forget that the fresh plant blooms in spring and the tea is available all year round!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003499/?report=reader