Stinging nettle is one of the most useful plants that traditional medicine uses.
This garden "weed" can not only be used as a healthy and tasty ingredient in summer cabbage soup, but also become a real home healer.
Useful properties of nettle: composition of the plant
It is in Russia that nettle grows in gardens and kitchen gardens like a weed. But some European countries cultivate the plant, using the beneficial properties of nettle on an industrial scale. Of course, nettle also has contraindications, but there are relatively few of them.
Perennial nettle contains many useful vitamins, minerals, organic substances that can have a beneficial effect on the human body. Scientists have discovered in a plant:
• vitamin K (nettle - the champion in the content of this substance), which has powerful antihemorrhagic properties;
• vitamins C, A, E;
• folic acid;
• chlorophyll;
• flavonoids;
• tannins;
• organic acids;
• rich mineral complex (iron, copper, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, chromium).
Nettle broth for a healthy person is a source of natural vitamins, prevention of vitamin deficiency and gum bleeding. However, the plant has specific properties that can be used to heal from serious ailments.
Useful properties of nettle
The property of nettle leaves to stop bleeding and tighten skin cuts is widely known. All thanks to a large amount of vitamin K, which improves blood coagulation.
The beneficial properties of nettle are its ability to have a healing effect on the circulatory, immune, urinary and even hormonal systems. The effect of the plant is as follows:
• stimulates metabolic processes;
• increases immunity;
• strengthens vascular walls, prevents hemorrhagic bleeding;
• soothes arthritic, head and muscle pains;
• normalizes the pancreas;
• Tidies up the digestive tract, relieving bloating and nausea;
• reduces blood sugar;
• has a mild laxative effect, cleanses the body of toxins;
• normalizes the work of the kidneys, urinary organs;
• beneficial effect on the liver;
• has a diuretic effect;
• used to treat sore throat, relieve gum disease;
In addition, the beneficial properties of nettle are manifested in its ability to strengthen hair follicles, relieve acne, restore strength and a healthy glow to weakened hair, and stimulate appetite. Nettle broth relieves the symptoms of gout: swelling, pain, stiffness.
If you make tea from nettles with lingonberries, you can get an excellent tool for combating bacterial infections of the urinary organs and bladder. Moreover, nettle broths also fight against fungal infections, which makes the healing plant unique.
Other plant properties that people should use are also known. For example, the use of nettle tea can be the prevention of one of the worst and incurable neurological diseases - Alzheimer's disease. In recent decades, the number of people with this disease has been steadily increasing.
Children's enuresis, which is also directly related to neurology, can be cured including using nettles. However, you should definitely consult a doctor regarding the use of nettle: contraindications for a child should be evaluated by a pediatrician.
Useful properties of nettle for women and men
It is especially important to know about the beneficial properties of nettle to women. Nettle tea should be brewed during heavy periods to reduce bleeding. Stinging nettles will help young mothers with lactation, as it enhances milk production. During menopause, it is nettle that will relieve discomfort and normalize hormonal levels. In addition, the plant is used in folk medicine to treat uterine fibroids.
At the same time, not all women can use nettle: a contraindication for taking decoctions inside is pregnancy. The fact is that the drink causes the uterus to tone, which is fraught with interruption of pregnancy or premature birth.
Men can also use the beneficial properties of nettles. The fact is that the leaves of the plant contain a special natural substance that stimulates the synthesis of testosterone - the male sex hormone. Therefore, with problems with potency, the help of nettles can be invaluable.
In addition, nettle tea relieves symptoms of inflammation of the prostate gland, is used in the complex treatment of adenoma.
A common useful property of nettle leaves for women and men in terms of normalizing the hormonal system is their ability to beneficially affect the thyroid gland. Thanks to this, endocrine diseases can be prevented and cured.
How to use nettle for healing purposes
To stop superficial bleeding, compresses from fresh leaves of the plant are applied to the wound. They quickly stop the blood. However, nettle compresses are applied to the skin affected by a pustular rash or ulcers. With frequent nosebleeds, a general strengthening nettle broth can be used.
To prepare a healing broth that preserves all the useful vitamins and organic substances, you need to take the top of a young nettle bush (about four leaves), pour glasses of cold drinking water and put on a slow fire. When the infusion boils, remove the dishes from the heat and insist under the lid for half an hour. Then strain and drink for general improvement or according to the selected regimen.
To improve the composition of the blood, you can prepare an infusion according to another recipe. You need to take a tablespoon of plant material, pour a cup of boiling water and insist for half an hour. Then carefully strain and take 2-3 cups a day inside.
If you need to quickly get rid of vitamin deficiency or prevent its development, you can drink daily a teaspoon of freshly squeezed nettle juice. Frequency of admission is three times a day between meals.
A mixture of nettle juice (two parts) and bee honey (one part) has an excellent restorative property. Take the drug three times a day for 1 tbsp. l about fifteen minutes before eating.
Herbal teas with nettles and other plants are very tasty and healthy. For example, if you mix dried or fresh nettle leaves with rose hips, currant leaves, you will get excellent tea, washing the kidneys, strengthening blood vessels and healing the liver.
Nettle: contraindications
Like any plant, nettle can have a negative effect on the body. Most often, the cause is individual intolerance or an allergy to a healing plant.
However, there are other contraindications. Nettle can provoke blood clotting precisely because it stops it very well. If a person has a tendency to thicken blood, then it is better to abandon the use of decoctions and juice inside.
Nettle is contraindicated in the following diseases:
• thrombophlebitis;
• varicose veins;
• hypertension;
• atherosclerosis;
• kidney inflammation;
• uterine bleeding;
• neoplasms (cysts and tumors).
The use of nettle leaves and roots in folk medicine has a thousand-year history. In the absence of contraindications, the benefits of healer plants, including stinging nettles, can and should be used today.
