Nettle tea: healthy green and medicinal

Caterpillars love stinging nettle. About 50 species of butterflies live on it! The plant is somewhat less popular with humans. We especially don't want to touch him. But that wasn't always the case.

Stinging nettles used to be used as medicine. And it used to be eaten as a vegetable. Nettle won't be in the supermarket that quickly, but nettle tea will!

Why drink nettle tea?

Nettle is therefore very healthy, despite the prick of the plant.

It contains vitamins A, B2, C and K and minerals such as iron, calcium, chromium, copper, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, silicon, sodium, sulfur and zinc.

The leaves and roots also contain a lot of plant compounds with difficult names.

Due to all these substances, nettle was used as a medicine and as a source of food. It was boiled, baked, soaked or dried. By cooking the plant, the stinging hairs no longer work.

What does nettle help against?

Nettle therefore contains very good substances, but what are they good for?

Urination problems

Nettle is known as a remedy for all kinds of urinary problems. Such as inflammation, frequent urination or not being able to empty the bladder completely. It also ensures that waste products are removed faster through the kidneys. That way you will get rid of, for example, a bladder infection faster.

Joint pain

You don't always have to eat or drink nettles. In the case of joint pain, for example due to rheumatism, it can also help externally. This is due to the silicon substance. Silicon is a mineral that is part of our connective tissue. Silicon is also in oats and banana.

And at the same time it helps keep your skin supple.

Bones

Brittle nails, cartilage wear and osteoporosis are ailments that you can combat with nettle. In this case, the dust of boron helps. That is a building block of bone tissue. And it compensates for calcium loss. Together with other substances such as calcium, it makes your bones strong.

Digestion

Nettles help to remove waste faster. They also stimulate gastric juice secretion. And that ensures better digestion. You also absorb iron better.

aphrodisiac

The Romans also used nettle as an aphrodisiac. So an aphrodisiac.

Hair growth

Nettle is also good for your hair. It stimulates hair growth. Do you want that? Then make hair water based on nettles. You do this by boiling two small bunches of nettles in half a liter of water and half a liter of vinegar for half an hour. Then strain your water. Wash your scalp with this water before going to sleep.

Hay fever

Nettle helps against all kinds of allergies. Such as house dust mites, hay fever and nasal mucosal inflammation. This is because nettle improves the immune system.

Nettle tea during your pregnancy

It is not recommended to use nettle during pregnancy, it may stimulate the uterus. And you don't want that in your first trimester. During the third trimester, nettle tea is good for you. Nettle tea also has a blood purifying and diuretic effect. Ideal when you retain some moisture. Also read our article about tea and pregnancy.

Where can I find nettles?

The nettle plant is mainly found in Europe, Asia and North America and grows best in vacant lots and fields or in the woods. The plant grows well in soil with a high level of nitrogen and is therefore often found around abandoned buildings.

Do you want to pick nettles yourself? Which can! Go to place where they are not close to the road. These are polluted. Preferably use long gardening gloves and long trousers. Then you know for sure that you will not be stung. In theory you won't get stung when you pick the plant from below, but if you'd rather not run that risk, prepare yourself well.

Pick the nettle in the spring and only the top tops. These contain the most nutrients. In principle, small nettle can be harvested all year round, even during flowering. This is more powerful than the large nettle.

Make your own nettle tea

Do you want to enjoy the benefits of nettle tea without much hassle? Then buy our ready-to-use Detox Matcha. Both contain nettle, as well as many other powerful herbs.

If you prefer to get started yourself and you have picked nettle, then proceed as follows:

1. Wash the nettle leaves
2. Place the leaves in a teapot and pour boiling water over them
3. Let the tea steep for 10 minutes

You can also dry the nettle:

1. Spread the leaves on a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray
2. Dry the leaves at 50 degrees for 30 minutes
3. Crumble the leaves and store them in a sealed jar

What else can I do with nettles?

You can make much more with nettle than tea.

Cooking with nettles

You can make all kinds of dishes with it. Think of nettle soup or a green nettle omelette with onion, shallots and cream cheese. Boil the fresh nettle first so that the stinging hairs no longer work. After that, you can treat it like any other vegetable. Cut them finely and add them to your omelette.

Or add some nettle tops to your cottage cheese and smoothies. You can just eat the buds raw. There are also people who add dried nettles to a salad. Dried nettles are for sale at health food stores, but you can also pick fresh ones yourself.

Make nettle vulture

Nettle vulture is an effective remedy against aphids, mildew and rust, among other things. You can also use it to give the soil of your vegetable garden a nitrogen boost. Tomatoes and cucumbers are very happy with that.

You can make nettle vulture by mixing a kilo of non-flowering nettles with 10 liters of water. Let it stand for 10 days, but stir every day. Before use, dilute the mixture with water: as fertilizer 1:10, as insect control 2:10.

But watch out!

Stinging nettle can lower blood pressure and blood sugar. That is good for some, but not for others. If you take medication for high blood pressure, be careful. The medicines and the nettle reinforce each other. And you don't want too low blood pressure either.

In addition, vitamin K has an effect on blood clotting. Do you take blood thinners? So watch out. You don't want to reverse the effect of the drug.