7 Amazing Proven Stinging Nettle Benefits

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Stinging nettle close up view

Have you been outside picking weeds, grabbed a plant that looked like no problem–only to end up with stinging and rashes that were a nightmare?

Chances are that you encountered the Stinging Nettle.

The Stinging Nettle is a gloveless gardener’s and curious plant lover’s nightmare.  It doesn’t have thorns or prickers that are obvious to the eye, but instead it has fine hairs that look innocent enough, but they aren’t. However, once you get past its almost invisible prickers, there is a powerhouse of healing in that plant. The Benefits of Stinging Nettle are many.

Just the other day, I was bringing out our dried nettle for yet another ailment, and my youngest said, “ANOTHER thing that nettle is good for?!  Wow!”

and so I knew I needed to share.

Since we started on our natural-living quest years ago, I’ve made so many changes to our lives. We’ve gone to a completely gluten-free diet, we eat lower carb due to candida issues, have removed artificial colors, etc., out of our diets, eat as much organic as possible, and use natural healing remedies as often as possible.  And we’ve cleaned up our personal care products and home care products.

One of the most interesting and fascinating things about this journey, however, has been learning about the world of herbs, spices, berries and more.

Plants have so much power in them.  For centuries, herbs and other natural remedies were most of what people had for medicinal care. And in case you didn’t know it, many pharmaceuticals are made from plants so it’s not as if the medical community isn’t aware of these benefits–they just choose to change them to make more money off of them.  There’s not as much money in dried herbs, you see.

I’ve written about adaptogens, turmeric, elderberries, superfoods, and this adrenal tonic is just loaded with natural spices to give your body support.

Today, we’re turning our attention to the Stinging Nettle.

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What is Stinging Nettle?

Stinging Nettle’s botanical name is Urtica dioica.

Stinging nettle is often called common nettle, stinging nettle or nettle leaf and it is an herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae.

Why does Stinging Nettle Sting?

If you’ve ever picked a stinging nettle plant by mistake, you know how that feels.  Ouch!

The Stinging Nettle plant has lots of fine hairs (trichomes) on the leaves and stems that contain irritating chemicals. These chemicals are released when the plant comes in contact with the skin.

When you brush up against them, you break off the fragile silica tip and the hair then acts like a needle, piercing the skin and causing the chemical on the nettle to be injected into the skin.

What is curious, however, is that when these stinging hairs, or spines, of the stinging nettle plant come into contact with and area of the body that is experiencing pain, they can actually decrease the original pain. Scientists think nettle does this by reducing levels of inflammatory chemicals in the body, and interfering with the way the body transmits pain signals.

Stinging Nettle Venom

What is in stinging nettle that makes it sting?

There are actually a bunch of substances in the Stinging Nettle plant that cause the problems:

histamine
acetylcholine
serotonin
formic acid
tartaric acid
oxalic acid

From what I have read, the acetylcholine and serotonin cause the stinging and the acids cause it to last longer. The tartaric and oxalic acids aren’t in all species of Stinging Nettle, but when they are present this is their function.

Serotonin is an odd one on this list. It’s typically thought of as something that makes you feel good, but it doesn’t feel good injected into your skin :).

What’s interesting as well, is that scientists think that any one of these ingredients alone isn’t enough to cause as much discomfort as one typically gets from the Stinging Nettle plant, but that in combination, the effects might be enhanced.

This is something to consider when you hear people say “well, this synthetic chemical hasn’t been shown to cause any damage”–because synthetics typically haven’t been studied in combination with others.  Now of course, we’re talking about natural substances here and not synthetic chemicals–I’m just sharing something to be considered.

Portrait of stinging nettle

Stinging Nettle Benefits

Despite all of the irritation that the Stinging Nettle plant can cause, it’s a nutritional powerhouse to be reckoned with.  It’s loaded with protein, fiber, fat, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, tannin, and anti-oxidants. (source)

There is even a Tibetan Buddhist figure named Milarepa who is said to have subsisted only on nettles for years–he apparently even turned green in the process. Hmmmm…

Now, I’m for sure not suggesting that as a dietary regimen, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Stinging Nettle has a long medicinal history. In medieval times, it was used as a diuretic and to treat joint pain.

Following are some of the stinging nettle benefits that have been proven:

Cardiovascular

Nettle has been shown to have beneficial effect on high blood pressure which backs up it being widely used in Morocco for hypertension (source).

This study states that Stinging Nettle use in the treatment of prevention of cardiac disease is warranted.

Prostate health and Urinary Issues

Another of the many stinging nettle benefits is that nettle has been shown to support prostate health.  It has also been shown to be beneficial in treating BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia – enlarged prostrate gland).

The assumption is that there is some natural steroidal component in the Stinging Nettle roots that suppressed the prostate cell metabolism and growth. (source, source)

Nettle has also shown some promise against prostate hyperplasia (source)

Hayfever

Stinging Nettle is a well-known on the list of natural allergy remedies.  Well, if you feel better during allergy season after using nettle, it’s not all in your head.  It has been shown that there are bioactives in Stinging Nettle that inhibit the pro-inflammatory pathways related to allergic rhinitis.

Now above, I mentioned that histamine is one of the components of the Stinging Nettle that makes it sting.  It would seem counterintuitive that something with histamine could actually help treat allergies, but there is research showing that to be the case. (source)

I suffered horribly from hayfever in my teens and twenties.  You’d better believe that I have nettle in my pantry all the time! (source)

Joint Pain, Osteoarthritis & Other Inflammatory Conditions

Stinging nettle leaf extracts are actually registered in Germany for therapy of rheumatic diseases. It’s an adjuvant therapy meaning that it is used alongside other mechanisms to make them work better.

In this report, it’s speculated that Stinging Nettle might inhibit the inflammatory cascade of diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. (source, source)

Bleeding

Nettle has been used for internal bleeding, including uterine, nose bleeding and bowel bleeding. As it turns out, this might be a valid use.

Although it is only one of the components, nettle is part of the Ankaferd Blood Stopper, an herbal blend that has been proven to be effective in stopping bleeding. (source)

Burn Wounds

Burns are a horrible trauma to the body.  Several things need to occur for the body to heal itself after a burn occurs and there are many concerns, one of them being infection.  The main goal of burn healing is to accelerate skin healing and prevent infection. To that end, often silver sulfadiazine and vaseline are employed.

However, in this study, Stinging Nettle was shown to be more effective than traditional burn treatments using silver sulfadiazine and vaseline. (source)  Just amazing!

Insulin Resistance & Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes is a disease that often leads to devastating damage to the body including inflammation that can lead to cardiac issues.  IL-6 (interleuken-6) is a big factor in this disease and is secreted by fat tissue.  (source)

Believe it or not, Stinging Nettle has also been shown to be effective in modulating these key players in Type 2 Diabetes (source), making it something that one could consider if one is thinking about preventing diabetes.

Other Stinging Nettle Benefits:

Over many many years, many health stinging nettle benefits have been noted.  Following are some of the benefits that have been reported and for how nettles have been used traditionally, but these do need further study:

promote hair growth
help immune system
help for anemia
supporting adrenal health
promoting lactation
address kidney disorders (source)
preventing and addressing diarrhea (source)
decrease menstrual flow
provide asthma relief
soothe hemorrhoids
stimulate contractions in pregnancy
soothe insect bites
relieve tendonitis
promoting skin and nail health
soothe acne
soothe eczema
support for thyroid health

Pinterest collage for 7 Proven Stinging Nettle Benefits post

Ways to Use Nettle

Now that you know about the many stinging nettle benefits, the question is–how do you use this tricky stingy plant?

There are many ways to use Nettle.  I will be writing more about these, but here is a quick list of ways to use nettle.

You can buy or make the following:

Tea

Tincture

Infusion

Capsule

Eaten as Vegetable

Juiced

Clothing (yes, it’s true)

I likely will not be telling you how to make your own clothing out of nettle, but we will talk about all of the rest of these in the near future.

Where Can You Buy Nettle?

You can find a great source or two for nettle in the herb section of my Resources Page.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty overwhelmed by all that this plant can do.

So the next time you are tempted to curse the existence of that plant, put on some gloves instead, and be thankful for its presence!

Did you know about all of these stinging nettle benefits?
Have you used nettle before?

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33 Comments

  1. I’m really surprised by all the benefits of Stinging Nettle, I don’t even believe most of them because I fell right into a big bush today on a scout camp.

    1. Yikes. Not fun! You can pick some with gloves and enjoy the good side of them later. Thanks for commenting and hope you are OK!

  2. I have been taking Nettle tea bag whenever my bronchitis develops, proved to be effective. Even let my friends tried when they had cough and throat irritation, all came back and showed a positive sign that this herb remedy does the wonder!

  3. I am interested in using the excess nettle in my yard, but I am not sure how to cultivate it. Can you give some pointers on safely drying it out for use and if it can be eaten fresh?

    1. Yes you can eat them fresh and you can just dry them like any other green. However, when eating raw you do want to address the stinging first.. you can put them into smoothies, juice them, or ferment them. Hope that helps!

    2. Oh my goodness! Please, do not eat stinging nettle fresh! Always blanch, cook, or dry before ingesting.

      1. Hi there. You actually can do it – they have to be macerated first. I just edited the above comment to reflect that – thanks for reading!

    1. I’m reading it might curb the effectiveness of blood meds like warfarin. Please consult your physician if you have a concern such as this. Thanks!

  4. In your article you implied that topical applications can be used to relieve local pain, but you didn’t mention ointment preparation. Could you some help in developing a cream or ointment?
    Bill Caviness Rph

  5. My older, neighbor told me how the Stinging Nettle was such a great herb plant over 2 yrs.
    ago. I have some growing in one part of my back yard. So last spring, I decided to pick some & steam
    it like he said, saving the liquid from the steam process. My one cat was sick on a long week-end in May last spring, was throwing up, not wanting to eat or drink. So I took an eye dropper & gave it to her 3 times daily, until when on Tues. I got into see the Vet. After I gave it to her, she would drink, stopped being nauseus, would eat a bit of soft food off my finger, I know it definitely helped her thru the wkend, to learn on Tues. from the vet it was an inner ear infection. Also twice when I have had flu like systems, I know it has helped me. Now it is up again this spring, so I am steaming & drinking the left over juice with adding it to other juice. I am quite sure that it gives me more energy. So I now have the dried leaves, to use for tea, & plan on giving them to some friends. Am looking forward to other benefits along the way.

    1. What great info!! I’m going to make some nettle tea now for my husband b/c he’s under the weather. Perfect timing!!

      So you just use the steam and you don’t make tea from it?

  6. No I haven’t but certainly I will use it and I’ll recommend it to my family and friends thank you for this information.
    I didn’t even know about this plant I might see it before but I didn’t know the name, I was checking for joint and bones pain relief plants and this name come out and here I was looking for pictures to see how the plant looks, thanks again for you time shearing this information

  7. Great article! But I’m sitting here with a large bag of foraged nettles wondering how to cook it. I know some people eat it raw in salads but how????? Would also love to know how to prepare it for medicinal use. If you’ve posted something like this, perhaps you could provide the link? Thanks!

    1. Thanks! I’m hoping to have a post up on this soon. Pretty much you can cook and use them but I have more work to do. Thanks for reading!

  8. I’ve been hearing sooo much about nettle lately, I think it’s finally time I do some reading about it! This really is such a great guide and so so soooo informative! Do you think nettle would be a good herb to turn to when dealing with postpartum hemorrhage? I’m really wanting to have a home birth this time around, and want to know some herbs and things I should have on hand. Thanks for sharing! <3

    1. You are so welcome. I have read this in several areas. Try searching “nettle” and “postpartum bleeding”.

  9. Thanks Adrienne for the post about this wonderful plant. Now, the spring (March, 2017 when I am writing this)
    the start of the year is a great time to gather the fresh young sprouts. I use gloves. Then I boil them for about 20 minutes- longer than I would a farm raised plant- Nettles are wild and much tougher than human raised plants. Then I put it in casseroles or in a stir fry with eggs and onions. Would be wonderful in a souffle.
    They are one of the few plants that can fix Nitrogen- the first step to making protein. Baked in casseroles they just taste good. I have to say, while gathering nettles with my home care worker ( I am disabled and have CNA helpers), her hands were stung pretty intensely by the time we were through gathering nettles. She usually has bad arthritis in her hands. The arthritis went away immediately and did not return for many months. I had to check in with her and see if the arthritis was back. She just forgot about it and did not even remember she had it. Wow! That’s a powerful plant. Thanks again Adrienne

    1. Wow. Now THIS is something. Thanks for sharing! I don’t know if you know but I just published this yesterday. (since you mentioned March 2017). Hope to see you around again.

  10. I once read an article from a
    Doctor… “the nutritional, herb, homeopathic sort of a doctor” and he told a lady about five things to do to maintain her health. One was to take 5,000 mg of vitamin C and to drink a cup of Nettle tea everyday. (I wish I’d written down the other three or so things.) However, what I wanted to say is that whenever I’m faithful in drinking my daily cup of Nettle tea, I actually feel so much better. This has proved true time and time again. As a girl my grandma always told me Nettle was filled with trace minerals, which we all know how important those are. Thanks Adrienne for sharing!

    1. So interesting. Thanks for sharing and you are welcome! I admit I haven’t enjoyed the taste as much recently but I’m getting back on the bandwagon!

    2. Joyce, can I ask how much nettle you use per cup of tea and how long you let it steep? Am looking forward to further articles, Adrienne ~ thanks for sharing!

  11. I had a reaction with taking nettle. It made my allergies worse & pushed my immunity over the edge. I would not recommend

    1. Oh no – What do you mean specifically by pushing your immunity over the edge?

      Of course everyone is different. Perhaps you are allergic to nettle.

  12. I have encountered this before. They itch and sting when rubbed up against. I was big pregnant the last time I encountered one. My grandparents and I were in a corn field at the time, my grandmother dipped snuff, and put some of the wet snuff on where it was stinging and it stopped it really fast. Now, if I encounter one, I will harvest some of it. They are hard to kill. A good thing.