Urtica dioica L.
The nettle family is Urticaceae
What does it look like? Perennial herb 30-150 cm tall. Its rhizome with underground branched shoots; the plant grows in groups. The stem is obtuse-triangular, dotted with stinging hairs, like the leaves. The walls of the hairs contain silicon, they break easily, the sharp ends injure the skin, and formic acid and histamine get into the wound from the broken hair. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, rough-hairy, heart-shaped at the base, large-toothed at the edges, opposite, long-petioled. The flowers are dioecious, small, green, collected in bunches in branched spike-shaped inflorescences, female — pendulous, male — upright. The fruit is a nut. Blooms from June to autumn.
Where does it grow? All over the territory of Ukraine — in littered places, in cities, in gardens, under mud, in raspberries (annoying weed).
What and when are collected? Young shoots and leaves – in spring and during flowering, roots and seeds – in autumn.
In addition to dicotyledonous nettle , we also grow the so-called small nettle (stinging nettle) — Urtica urens L. — annual, with elliptic or lobed leaves, 15-60 cm tall. The action of both types of nettle is almost the same.
When is it used? To increase the secretion of milk in breastfeeding women, as well as to increase the amount of hemoglobin and red blood cells in the blood, raising the general tone of the body; vitamin borschts and gruel are prepared from young nettle leaves for vitamin C and K deficiency (vitamins, mineral salts, glycokinins, acetylcholine, histamine, serotonin, sitosterol, formic acid, 5% chlorophyll, iron. Enzymes stimulate the action of the pancreas).
It is used as a diuretic for kidney diseases, hemoptysis, nosebleeds (returns the lost sense of smell), for hemorrhoidal bleeding, for excessive menstruation during menopause, for diarrhea (including hemocolitis – the effect of carotene, vitamins C and K), for blood purification for boils and rashes on the body (phytoncidal effect), for malaria, pulmonary tuberculosis (silicic acid effect). As a hemostatic agent, it replaces poisonous hornwort (Claviceps purpurea Tut.).
Used in the form of tea. For 1 cup of boiling water, take 1 teaspoon of a mixture of leaves, seeds, and roots. Boil for 1 minute, infuse for 10 minutes and drink 3 glasses a day, in sips. In particular, fresh raw juice from small nettle leaves is used for bleeding – 1 teaspoon three times a day for excessive white hair in women. With a long menstrual cycle in the climacteric period, tea is prepared from the leaves of the same nettle – take 1 tablespoon per 1 glass of boiling water, drink 3 glasses a day. You can also use freshly squeezed juice – 1 teaspoon three times a day. To revive the basic metabolism and increase the tone of the uterus, intestines, cardiovascular system and respiratory center, with atherosclerosis, to improve digestion 1 tablespoon of powder from a mixture of leaves Nettles , St. John’s wort root and sugar in a ratio of 9:1:5 pour half a glass of water, infuse and use three times a day before meals (glycoside urticine , tannins, organic acids, etc. are effective). To improve digestion, pour 1 tablespoon of a mixture of buckthorn bark, nettle leaves and yarrow in a 6:2:2 ratio with 2 cups of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes and drink 1/2 — 1 cup at night.
With chronic inflammation of the kidneys, take 1 tablespoon of a mixture of nettle leaves , nettle roots and licorice root in a ratio of 5:3:3 per 1 cup of boiling water, insist 15-20 minutes and drink 1 cup twice a day.
For kidney stones, use 1 teaspoon of a powder made from a mixture of nettle seeds , spore of the mace plant and sugar in a ratio of 5:2:3 three times a day. (Nettle has an excitatory effect on the cortical part of the kidneys).
With swelling of the liver and spleen due to chronic malaria and in general with inflammation of the liver and biliary tract, powder is used in a mixture of (equally) nettle leaves, sage leaves, lanceolate plantain leaves on the end of a knife three times a day.
For malaria fever, take 1 tablespoon of a mixture of nettle leaves , sunflower petals, three-leaved leguminous grass and licorice root in a ratio of 5: 5: 10: 3 per 1 glass of boiling water, infuse for 30 minutes and drink 1 glass three times a day.
In case of metabolic disorders (acne, boils, rashes on the body, itching, eczema), pour 2 tablespoons of a mixture (equally) of nettle leaves, dandelion leaves, and blackthorn flowers with 2 cups of boiling water, steam in the oven for 2-3 hours and eat every day for 2 weeks. You should follow a dairy-vegetable diet (without meat, eggs, fish and alcohol consumption)
With internal hemorrhoids (pain in the lower back, a cut in the abdomen below the navel), according to the recommendation of M.A. Nosal, drink 4 cups of a decoction of a mixture of small nettle leaves (stinging nettle) and buckthorn bark, taken in equal amounts (1 tablespoon each with the top of each in 1 cup of water). The mixture is boiled for 10 minutes.
With hemocolitis, they drink a decoction of a mixture (in equal parts) of nettle leaves and blackberry leaves (1 teaspoon of each in one and a half cups of boiling water – steamed in the oven for 2 hours). In case of rheumatism (muscular and joint), painful places are irritated with nettle. For the treatment of varicose ulcers, stimulation of granulation and epithelization of wounds, apply sterile tampons saturated with raw juice from crushed nettle leaves.
In case of hair loss, wash the head three times a week with strong steam of nettle leaves , rubbing it into the skin (the head is not wiped after washing). To do this, take two handfuls of fresh nettle leaves, pour 1 liter of boiling water, infuse for 15-20 minutes and rub part of the infusion into the scalp, and rinse the hair with the rest after washing. You can also do the same with a strong decoction of a mixture (in equal parts) of heather grass, burdock root and nettle root (burntwood) or even better with a liquid prepared in this way. Nettle leaves(80 g), nettle root (20 g), yarrow rhizome (10 g) are infused for 6-7 days in water (50 g) and 95% alcohol (30 g), strained, squeezed, poured into a jar and massaged, rubbed in the scalp with hair loss, as well as dandruff (there are many tannins, calcium salts in the roots).
And also pay attention to the article Nettle is dioecious