Highly nutritious, astrigent, tonic and circulatory stimulant, rich in vitamins and serotonin, flavonoids and histamins, nettles are the best gift of Spring. Shoots of nettles make a revitalizing spring tonic. Infusion of fresh herb taking three times a day (1tbs) helps raising low hemoglobin levels which can be due to a poor diet, digestive disorders or heavy menstruation. 

A simple infusion made with aerial parts of nettles stimulate poor circulation and cleanse the system in arthitis, rheumatism, eczema  and gout. The high content of vitamin C in this plant helps the body properly absorb the iron, a life important mineral.  Nettles’ roots were made as decoction were traditionally used to improve falling hair and a rinse for dandruff, and as a natural, green, smooth conditioner.  If nettles combined with other cleansing herbs like red clover, cleavers, heatsease or figwort they make an effective treatment for skin and hair problems. Want to keep your health in balance during spring? Make sure you add iron-rich green foods: apricots, parsley, watercress to your diet. 

Nettles can be many things, including an efficient women’s healer. Kami McBride, my cyber friend, a herbalist from California calls stinging nettles a woman’s weed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              by by Kami McBride

With high content of iron and calcium Nettles offers herself as a valuable herb for all stages of a woman’s life. Stinging Nettles? You mean the stuff that caused me so much pain when I fell into it as a kid? You mean the weed that Dad made sure was pulled out from our area of the creek because he was tired of tending to screaming children that had been stung by it? Yes, that plant.                                                             

The iron and blood rebuilding qualities of Nettles make this herb a valuable remedy for many women’s health care issues. When a woman looses lots of blood during heavy menses, abortion, or chidbirth, Nettles comes to our aid to nourish our blood and more quickly restore balance. Its blood building abilities also make it a very useful remedy for anemia.

Much of Nettles fame for blood building comes from its high chlorophyl content. Chlorophyl is literally the blood of the plant and has a very similar structure to human red blood cells. When we have access to lots of chlorophyl we make higher quality red blood cells. During pregnancy a woma;s blood volume can increase by one half, so having access to high qualities of chlorophyl can help her to have a healthier pregnancy by building healthier blood. Nettles is a wonderful tonic that can be taken throughout pregnancy and it is known that drinking Nettles in the last trimester of pregnancy helps reduce the possibility of hemorrhaging. Nettles are also famous for its ability to increase the richness and quality of breast milk.

For the menopausal woman Nettles offers us a rich supply of calcium. Many calcium supplements are difficult to absorb and many menopausal women are concerned about relying heavily on dairy products for their calcium intake. Not only is Nettles high in calcium but it is easily absorbed as well!!!

An active, creative woman at any stage in her life needs plenty of good vitamins and minerals. There are many studies out how that link degenerative diseases with lack of minerals in our diets. The quality and quantity of vitamins and minerals in our foods is continually eroding. Due to poor farming practices and the use of pesticides and herbicides, the soil that our food grows in continues to be depleted of valuable nutrients and trace minerals. Have you noticed that most of the time tomatoes in the stores taste more like cardboard than anything else? Minerals are what give vegetables a rich, sweet taste. It is easy to tell the difference between the taste of a mineral-rich, home-grown tomato and a pesticide grown tomato that is lacking in minerals.

To ensure that you are getting good resources of vitamins and minerals in your diet you can grow your own vegetables or buy organic vegetables from organic farms that take better care of their soil and do not use pesticides.

Another GREAT dietary source of vitamins and minerals is Stinging Nettles! The rich minerals in Nettles are easy to absorb and are much better for you than vitamin pills! Nettles is high in calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, trace minerals. Chlorophyl, and B vitamins. I use Nettles regularly in my diet as a major source of easy to absorb vitamins and minerals.

* One of the best ways to take Nettles is to make it into a water infusion or strong tea.  Add four tablespoons of dried Nettles to four cups of water. Bring to a boil and let it sut covered for four hours. You can pour your infusion in a glass mason jar while it is steeping and carry it with you. Drink at room temperature throughout the day or re-heat your infusion as desired. Water infusions need to be prepared daily as they go rancid without anything to preserve them. Nettles is a nourishing tonic that can be taken in this infusion from daily for as long as you like. One way to introduce Nettles into your diet could be to drink one cup a day for six weeks.

Drinking Nettles can also help reduce spring allergies and improve digestion and elimination. The B vitamins in Nettles help with stress and depression and the trace minerals are known to help increase stamina and energy. Enrich your life by bringing this powerful herbal ally into your life.

Kami McBride is the founder of Living Awareness Institute. Her herb classes can teach you Herbs for Stress, Herbal Detoxification, The Edible and Medicinal Garden, Healing Herbal Oils, and How to Make Herbal Lotions and Creams. Visit her website at www.livingawareness.com   and reading useful information there “can help you feel better and enjoy living on the earth more fully!”

Winner, 2009 Mom’s Choice Gold Award in Adult Books: Health, Nutrition, Fitness & Safety, Mama’s Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living by Svetlana Konnikova, MA, AN Foreword by Anna Maria Clement, PhD, NMD Codirector and Chief Health Administrator of Hippocrates Health Institute

Source: Photo 3 Urtica Dionica, American Stinging Nettle by Ben Cody

Copyright 2009