Nettles

I love starting my days with an early morning harvest. Today I picked some Urtica dioica (stinging nettle).

It's a bit late in the season but the young leaves from the top of the plants are still tender enough for eating (some nettle linguine for dinner tonight!). I'll also dry some out to make tea.

Nettles has always been one of my favourite herbs. Its health benefits are:
- helping to strengthen the adrenal glands
- acts as a diuretic and helps to detoxify the body
- helps to stimulate milk production for breastfeeding
- smooths the transition into menopause by balancing hormones
- reducing premenstrual symptoms
- clears uric acid to treat gout
- reduce inflammation

It's also an excellent source of vitamins A, C, D, E, and K, calcium, and iron.

Caution if you're harvesting. It's called "stinging nettle" for a reason... that sting! It's caused by formic acid, which is removed by boiling the leaves.

Dr. Cristina Allen ND