June 2026 Herb of the Month: Stinging Nettles

Stinging Nettle is a fierce little plant with a protective quality. It leaves a lasting impression on anyone who comes into contact with it. As its name suggests, it’s most well-known for its sting, which comes from hollow stinging hairs called trichomes. These trichomes cover the stems and undersides of nettle leaves and break when they come into contact with humans or animals. These sharp points then release a combination of chemicals beneath the skin, causing a stinging sensation. These chemicals include histamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and formic acid. It’s for many reasons, but perhaps most notably its stinging capabilities, that stinging nettle is considered a plant of mindfulness. Stinging nettles dot the landscapes and hunker down in the underbrush of riparian areas, which means this little plant almost demands that you pay attention when out on a walk. 

Common name: Nettles/Stinging Nettles

Latin name: Urtica dioica

Part Used: aerial parts (anything above the ground!)

Properties: Nutritive, Antiallergenic, Anti-inflammatory, Diuretic, Blood Tonic, Kidney Tonic, Uterine Tonic

Taste: Earthy, salty, slightly bitter

Energetics: Cooling, drying

History

The use of stinging nettles dates back thousands of years. In the 2010s, a piece of nettle cloth was discovered within one of Denmark’s best-known Bronze Age burial mounds, Lusehøj. Fiber analysis showed that these nettles were grown in present-day Austria and were likely traded. Using other clues, researchers date this cloth back to around 800 BCE. There are stories that Julius Caesar’s troops would even whip themselves with nettles to help them stay awake and feel warmer (a process known as urtication) during campaigns between 58 and 45 BCE. Nettles have a long history of use as textiles throughout much of Europe and actually became the textile of choice in Scottish households by the 16th and 17th centuries. Culinarily, cheese-makers would use nettles in place of rennet to curdle milk and were, of course, used in recipes for salads, soups, and even beer!

North American Indigenous peoples also have a long relationship with nettles. They often used them to make fishing nets as well as plant medicine. Healers used nettles to help pregnant women strengthen the uterus and fetus while also hoping to ease labor pains. Additionally, nettles are considered a styptic, which means they help stop bleeding. Records indicate that several Nevada tribes used to burn nettle leaves in their sweat lodges. This was to act as an offering as well as to treat pneumonia and flu symptoms.

Benefits

Reduce Inflammation:

Nettles inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1, interleukin-6, and prostaglandin E2. This means that nettles can help calm chronic inflammation brought on by allergies and autoimmune diseases. Nettles act as a general diuretic, meaning they remove excess fluid from around the joints and help alleviate joint discomfort, such as arthritis, gout, and edema. Practitioners also recommend nettles for patients with rheumatic conditions, as they can suppress cytokine production while enhancing uric acid excretion.   

Allergies:

Nettles bind to H1 histamine receptors, modulating and downshifting their activity. They also inhibit COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes, which reduces overall inflammation. Basically, nettles act as a natural anti-histamine, specifically for pollen allergies. However, they can also help ease symptoms of mold, dust, and animal dander allergies.  

Blood cleaner:

Practitioners have long used nettles to tame skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, acne, and allergic dermatitis. This is because of nettles’ ability to “purify” the blood by promoting detoxification via the liver and kidneys. Nettles are rich in chlorophyll and key minerals that help build healthy blood.

Mineral deficiencies: 

Nettles are an excellent herb to add to your diet any time of the year, but especially as you welcome spring. Nettles are extremely nutritious and contain many vitamins and minerals. They are rich in vitamins A, C, and K, as well as several B vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium. They also contain healthy fats like linoleic acid, linolenic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and oleic acid. 

Diuretic:

Nettles are a tonic for the urinary system. This means that herbalists typically recommend them to help with UTIs, nephritis, urinary stones, kidney issues, as well as gout. Nettles help the kidneys remove uric acid from the blood. Additionally, animal studies show that nettles can help your body shed excess salt and water, temporarily lowering blood pressure. 

Emotional Aspects of Nettles

Nettles are rich in vital minerals and vitamins, which shows how they support the physical body. But just as they nourish the physical body, they also nourish the emotional body. It is said that they spiritually symbolize the vital Earth force and serve as a grounding herb. Much as its sting forces you to be mindful of where you step, energetically nettles help the dazed, the brain-fogged, and the worn down stay in the moment. Herbalists and energy healers use nettles to help re-center those who seem untethered and boundariless.