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Benefits of Nettle (Urtica dioica):

Stinging nettle has many uses.  It is used by many different cultures for a wide variety of purposes in herbal medicine.  Cooking, crushing or chopping disables the stinging hairs.  Stinging nettle leaves are tasty and high in nutrients.  The young leaves are edible and make a very good pot-herb.  The leaves are also dried and may be then be used to make a tisane, as can also be done with the nettle's flowers.

Nettle stems contain a bast fibre which has been traditionally used for the same purposes as linen, and is produced by a similar retting process.

The nettle plant is used for treating high blood pressure, gout, PMS, rheumatism, and ending diarrhea, scurvy, liver and prostate problems.  Externally it is used as a compress to treat neuralgia and arthritis.  It is a very high source of digestible iron.  Nettle is also used to treat anemia, fatigue, edema, menstrual difficulties, eczema, enlarged prostate (especially when combined with Saw Palmetto), urinary tract problems, hay fever and allergies.  It is very supportive during pregnancy.  Nettle infusions can be used as a hair rinse to treat dandruff and to stimulate hair growth.

GROWING:  As nettle is considered a bothersome weed, it is often exposed to herbicides and chemical treatment.  It is best to purchase this herb from a store.  The spines on a nettle plant can cause painful stinging, and should normally be avoided for cultivation in your own herbal garden.

Influence on language and culture

In England the stinging nettle is the only common stinging plant, and has found a place in several figures of speech in the English language.  To "nettle" someone is to annoy them.  Shakespeare's Hotspur urges that "out of this nettle, danger, we grasp this flower, safety" (Henry IV, part 1, Act II Scene 3).  The common figure of speech "to grasp the nettle" probably originated as a condensation of this quotation.  It means to face up to or take on a problem that has been ignored or deferred.  The metaphor refers to the fact that if a nettle leaf is grasped firmly rather than brushed against, it does not sting so readily, because the hairs are crushed down flat and do not penetrate the skin so easily.

However the sting of nettles has been recommended to relieve the pain of rheumatism as the effects of the sting can last up to twelve hours.  The stinging feeling becomes a warm feeling on the area treated so helping the pain of the rheumatism to subside.

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