Nourishing Herb Highlight: Nettle

When we hear the word herb, I think we tend to immediately ask:

“What does it treat?”

But that's not always how I want to look at plants.

Some herbs are simply incredibly nutrient-rich plants that can help nourish and support our bodies in different ways. And honestly, I think that's something many of us could use more of.

As a society, I believe many of us are undernourished—even when we're eating plenty of food. We can consume enough calories and still have diets that don't provide the variety of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients our bodies need.

Have you ever eaten a full meal but still didn't feel completely satisfied? I know I have.

There are a lot of reasons that can happen—stress, emotions, habits, sleep, hormones, and the foods we're eating all play a role. But it has also made me curious about something much simpler:

Are we actually nourishing our bodies, or are we just feeding them?

That's a question I've started thinking about more and more.

I'm especially fascinated by the relationship between nutrition, hunger, and the nutrients our bodies need. I don't think every craving means we're deficient in something, and nutrition is certainly more complicated than that. But I do think we've become so focused on how much we're eating that we sometimes forget to look at what we're actually getting from the food we're eating.

And that's one of the reasons nourishing herbs interest me so much.

Not because I expect an herb to fix everything, but because some plants naturally contain an impressive variety of vitamins, minerals, and other plant compounds that can become another part of how we nourish ourselves.

And nettle is probably one of my favorite examples. 🌿

Meet Stinging Nettle

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) doesn't sound particularly inviting when you first hear the name.

And if you've ever accidentally brushed against fresh nettle, you probably understand exactly where the name comes from.

The fresh plant has tiny stinging hairs called trichomes that can release compounds into the skin and cause that familiar burning or stinging sensation.

But once properly prepared, nettle becomes an incredibly interesting plant from a nutritional standpoint.

Nettle leaves contain minerals including calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and manganese, along with vitamins, amino acids, chlorophyll, carotenoids, polyphenols, and other naturally occurring plant compounds (Devkota et al., 2022).

That's what makes nettle so interesting to me.

I don't necessarily need to reach for it because something is wrong.

Sometimes I can simply use it because I'm looking for another way to add nutrient-rich plants to my routine.

Tea or Long Infusion?

This is where our recent conversation about herbal preparation comes back into play.

You can make a regular cup of nettle tea by steeping the dried leaves in hot water.

But nettle is also commonly used in long herbal infusions, where a larger amount of dried herb is allowed to steep for several hours.

Why?

Because when we're interested in nettle as a nourishing herb, we're particularly interested in its water-soluble constituents and minerals.

A longer extraction gives the water more time to pull soluble material from the plant.

The result is very different from a lightly steeped cup of herbal tea. A strong nettle infusion becomes deep green, earthy, and unmistakably plant-like.

And personally, I think that's part of the experience.

You're not drinking something designed to taste like a sugary beverage.

You're drinking a plant.

What Does Nettle Taste Like?

If you've never tried nettle, don't expect peppermint or chamomile.

Nettle has a green, earthy, almost spinach-like flavor.

I actually think of it more like drinking a leafy green than drinking a traditional herbal tea.

You can drink it by itself, but it also blends beautifully with other herbs.

A little peppermint can brighten it.

Rose hips can add tartness.

Oat straw can make a beautiful addition to a nourishing infusion.

And, of course, a little honey can soften that earthy flavor.

Why Nettle Is One of My Favorite Nourishing Herbs

For me, nettle represents something I really want to share more of through Rosemary & Cedar Botanicals.

Herbalism doesn't always have to start with:

“What's wrong with me, and what herb fixes it?”

Sometimes it can start with:

“What plants can I learn from and incorporate into my everyday life?”

That's where nourishing herbs really interest me.

Nettle is nutrient-rich.

It's incredibly versatile.

It can be enjoyed as a properly prepared food, brewed as a tea, made into a long herbal infusion, or prepared as a tincture. Nettle also has a place in topical formulations. We infuse nettle into oil for our Wild Roots Hair Oil, where it becomes part of a botanical blend designed to nourish and condition the scalp and hair.

That's another reason I love nettle—it's an incredibly versatile plant, and how we prepare it depends on how we want to work with it. 🌿

Rooted in Nature. Made for Real Life. 🌿

This article is intended for educational purposes and is not medical or nutritional advice. Herbs may interact with medications and may not be appropriate for everyone. Consult an appropriate healthcare professional regarding individual health conditions, medications, pregnancy, or nutritional deficiencies.

Reference

Devkota, H. P., Paudel, K. R., Khanal, S., Baral, A., Panth, N., Adhikari-Devkota, A., Jha, N. K., Das, N., Singh, S. K., Chellappan, D. K., Dua, K., & Hansbro, P. M. (2022). Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.): Nutritional composition, bioactive compounds, and food functional properties. Molecules, 27(16), 5219. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27165219