Do you dare with nettles? try them

We know that nettle is used for medicinal purposes, and we will see how to do it, but nettle can also be used in the kitchen, in tasty recipes. Yes indeed, deciding to eat nettles is not easy from the outset. This plant arouses apprehension for its power stinging. However, as the people of the countryside or whoever has an orchard know, the nettle is a nature’s bounty that allows you to prepare a wide variety of dishes, and whose flavor will surprise more than one, that you will not hesitate to repeat.

Whether boiled, sautéed with walnuts or pine nuts, in juice, integrated into soups, pies or omelettes, nettle gives a lot of itself. They are harvested mainly young shoots and leaveswhich appear in spring and are more delicate and tasty than the large, rougher and more fibrous leaves.

In times of scarcity it has been consumed as vegetable substitutebeing a plant always at hand.

The properties of nettle, very rich in calcium

The nettle, due to its composition, is both food and medicine.

very nutritious

One hundred grams of nettle provide 480mg calcium, no less than 60% of daily needs. Those 100 grams also contain 57 mg of magnesium (one-sixth of the daily requirement), 1.6 mg of iron, and 800 micrograms of manganese.

As for the vitaminsprovitamin A, B2 and folic acid stand out, and especially vitamin K, since 100 g of nettles supply four times what is necessary.

Health benefits

With medicinal purposes the leaves and roots are harvested, for all of which it is necessary to protect the hands with garden gloves.

The sheets contain flavonoids (quercetol, kenferol), mucilages, organic acids (caffeic, formic, gallic) and mineral salts; stinging hairs contain histamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, and formic acid; the roots, meanwhile, phytosterols, lignans, lectin and polyphenols, among other active ingredients.

The fresh nettle, recently harvested, was applied in folk medicine on the skin as a revulsive, so that itching relieves pain in rheumatic problems and low back pain.

The plant also shows a clear effect astringent, hemostatic and vasoconstrictorand applied in washes, scrubs or baths, it is indicated to stop various bleeding, such as nasal and uterine bleeding, on superficial wounds, on sores and skin ulcers, on dry eczema and seborrheic dermatitis.

And a preventive effect is attributed to the hair lossTherefore, it is used in hair loss formulas to strengthen it.

Thanks to its richness in iron, it is considered a good restorative to treat anemia and weaknessand ingested also has a slight hypoglycemic and hypotensive effect.

Its use as a plant is not negligible diuretic and depurative, since it favors the elimination of urea and uric acid through urine. Helps combat fluid retention and edema due to insufficient venous return.

Due to its high sterol content, the root acts as an inhibitor of the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme, used to treat the most bothersome symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

It is also of great value as natural antihistamine and it can be used, paradoxically, in infusions to relieve hives.

How to take nettle

With a first boil, scalding them, or washing them well with a jet of cold water, they lose their stinging power and can be ingested without fear despite their stinging effect.

The fresh leaves can be taken in a blender in juices, smoothies and liqueurs.

The dried plant, in purifying infusion, as in this cleansing infusion of nettle and apple. It is also marketed as a tincture or liquid extract, in creams or ointments, and as a dietary supplement for its calcium content.

How to prepare it in the kitchen

Many popular dishes they include nettle as the star ingredient. This is the case of rice with vegetables sautéed with nettles, scrambled eggs with mushrooms and nettles, omelette with nettles and young garlic, nettle soup with oat flakes, cheese and nettle croquettes, vegetable lasagna with nettles and spinach or the nettle quiche.

The nettle is not lacking in the high kitchen. For example, chef Pelle Johansson, whose restaurant Ulla Winbladh in Stockholm is Michelin-rated Bib Gourmand, grows this plant and regularly includes it as an accompaniment to some fish stews.

Precautions

The decoction of the roots can cause gastric irritation in sensitive people. If it is taken by diabetic patients, strict control must be maintained to avoid decompensation.

The seeds they can be very laxative if two dozen are exceeded.

How to use nettle in external use

Nettle infusion can be used in washes, partial baths and mouthwashes, or in gargles for bleeding gums. In capillary friction it strengthens the scalp.

In another order of things, as a final curiosity, we can also use nettle to make our own organic fertilizer.