PLANTIVA HEALTH BRIEFS

Nettles: A Superfood that Belongs in Everyone’s Kitchen

If you’re a hiker or gardener, you may be familiar with stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.) as an annoying plant that reaches out to bite you whenever you pass nearby.

Armed with prickles loaded with formic acid (the same acid that ants bite with), nettles are famously unpleasant to touch. But they’re also delicious in the kitchen (when they're cooked they lose their sting) and they pack an amazing cornucopia of health benefits!

In modern Western herbalism, nettles are well known as a diuretic (promoting urine production), blood builder, and rich source of minerals, essential amino acids, and other nutrients. They’re also – somewhat counterintuitively in view of their irritating stinging qualities – known to help with allergies and skin conditions.

But they do much more than that!

Here are just a few of the benefits of nettles which have been substantiated through modern science:

• Nettles have long been used in Iran to treat and prevent diabetes. Studies have shown that nettles stimulate insulin production, protect insulin-producing cells, prevent glucose absorption in the gut, and inhibit enzymes that turn starch into sugars. In short, this plant beneficially affects a wide range of physiologic functions that factor into diabetes.

• Nettles have traditionally been used for inflammatory joint conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism. Topical use for this purpose dates back to antiquity when Roman soldiers used nettles on their joints. Clinical trials of both topical and oral formulas containing nettle have shown promising results for arthritis. These effects are likely due to the strong anti-inflammatory properties nettles have been shown to possess.

• A compound derived from nettles called UDA (Urtica dioica agglutinin) has been shown to have potent antiviral activity against a wide range of viruses from influenza to dengue fever, HIV, rabies and COVID-19. We wouldn’t recommend relying on nettles to prevent or cure these infections, but someday the world may see powerful antiviral drugs derived from this plant.

We could go on and on listing the health benefits of nettles, but suffice it to say this plant is GOOD FOR YOU!!

And just as importantly, nettles are DELICIOUS. Their mild, buttery flavor makes them a wonderful green vegetable. You can serve them simply steamed or sauteed and dressed with some butter and salt, or use them in soups, pasta, risotto, dips, or anywhere else you’d use cooked spinach.

We recently came across a fabulous nettle paté recipe from Juliet Blankespoor at the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. A mouthwatering umami-bomb of nettles, sundried tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms and more, we can’t wait to try it!

So the next time you come across nettles on the trail or in the farmers market, be sure to take some home for dinner. Especially if it’s spring, when nettles are at their best. Just be sure to wear gloves while you’re handling them!

Selected further reading:

Nutritional and pharmacological importance of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.): A review

Anti‑diabetic potential of Urtica Dioica: current knowledge and future direction