Nettles: Three Medicines in One

NETTLES – Three Medicines in One

              

Conditions treated by nettles (a partial alphabetical list):

* anaemia * arthritis * asthma * burns * eczema * hayfever * infections * inflammations * kidney stones * mineral supplement * prostate enlargement * reducing blood sugar levels * regulating breast milk production * regulating blood pressure * rheumatism * a sexual tonic * skin problems * a spring tonic * urinary problems * vitamin supplement

Nettle is three medicines in one because its roots, tops (leaves/stalks) and seed have separate but overlapping significant medicinal uses. Let’s look at each briefly.

Freshly dug nettle roots

Nettle roots: digging these can be tough on the back as well as the hands, but it’s worth it. The roots are yellow and tangled. Wash well, cut into smallish pieces to dry in the oven or airing cupboard. Or use fresh, also cut up.

Make into a decoction (a boiled tea) or tincture (with vodka, after boiling in water, throwing away the water but keeping the roots). Decoction ready in 20 minutes, tincture in 3 to 4 weeks.

Use for: prostate; infections; inflammations. Avoid in pregnancy.

Nettle tops

Nettle tops: spring picking is best, but nettles grow back strongly and fresh shoots can be harvested through summer and into autumn. Cut off top 6 inches, wearing rubber gloves or cut with scissors and lift them into a bag or basket. Used fresh or frozen – blanch in boiling water, drain and cool them before storing in freezer bags.

Make a nettle tea (infuse for 15 minutes, with boiling water on fresh nettle tops in your teapot), nettle soup or nettle juice powder – see recipe in our book Hedgerow Medicine, p117.

Use for: a spring tonic; anaemia; gout; low or high blood pressure; coughs; allergies; inflammations; regulating breast milk production; skin problems; high blood sugar. Nettle tea is a great hair rinse.

American herbalist Susun Weed wrote in 1989 (Wise Woman Herbal, p371):

Use nettle leaves and stalks as an everyday nourisher, an energetic changer, a marvelous kidney/adrenal ally, a digestive restorative, a respiratory strengthener, an ally for women, a hair and skin nourisher, and a prompt hemostatic.

Nettle seed: nettle flowers and seeds are best in summer; gathered in same way as tops. The taste is strong and mineral-like, and a small bit goes a long way. It is powerful: a friend took a tablespoonful of nettle seed instead of the usual dose of a teaspoon, and whizzed around like a dervish for several hours, full of manic energy.

Best way to take is as dried, ground-up seeds (use a coffee blender), and mix the powder into a paste with honey. This is called an electuary, and will keep for months in an air-tight jar. Otherwise, nettle soup or a tincture – see recipe in Hedgerow Medicine, p118.

Nettle flowers in summer

Use for: stopping bleeding; promoting urine flow; treating burns and skin problems; a spring tonic; anaemia; kidney support; as an aphrodisiac.

©Julie Bruton-Seal & Matthew Seal www.hedgerowmedicine.com 2014