Nettle Tea

Tea is a universal drink that’s drunk all over the world. You don’t have to go to your grocery store to reap the benefits of tea; in fact, you can get tea from your own garden. What we mean by this is by using nettles Nettles are found everywhere, in your garden, on streams, in meadows, and in ditches.
A Few Facts About Nettle Tea
Nettle tea is not made from all of the nettle plants, just the leaves. While the plants can be prickly and itchy to touch, the tea itself is known for a range of health benefits. It’s also been a traditional medicine for a variety of indigenous cultures across the world. If you’re interested in trying nettle tea, check out our table of top picks below.
What Is Nettle Tea?
Nettle tea is tea that comes from parts of the nettle plant. The plant has heart-shaped leaves with yellow or pink flowers. However, the stem contains tiny, small hairs that release chemicals that sting when touched. The leaves, stem, and root of the nettle plant are often crushed and made into teas alongside other things.
Benefits Of Nettle Tea
Nettle tea benefits are plenty; if you consume nettle tea, you might find yourself gaining from the following:
- Better urinary tract health: Nettle tea can help flush away harmful bacteria that lingers in your urinary tract. This can be incredibly beneficial if you suffer from urinary conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH); it may help alleviate the symptoms by reducing prostate size.
- It’s full of nutrients: Nettle tea is packed with lots of nutrients, in particular, it has the following: vitamins: K, C, and D; minerals: Iron, Selenium, Zinc, and Magnesium; antioxidants: Polyphenols, Carotenoids, and Terpenoids. In addition to getting more nutrients, Nettle tea can particularly help you if you suffer from anemia.
- Can help arthritis: It’s believed nettles have anti-inflammatory properties and can often reduce the dependency for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for arthritis.
- May help with blood sugar management: Nettle can trigger the pancreas to produce or release more insulin, which triggers your body to lower your glucose levels.
Origin, Regions of Growing
Nettle tea has been around for thousands of years and is thought to have first come into existence in China for medicinal purposes. Today nettle tea is still used for its herbal benefits and also acts as a calming agent. Nettle tea is also grown in the following regions:
- United States: Nettles grow in all parts of the USA, but it most commonly in the wetlands, banks of streams, and farmlands. In the hotter parts of the USA, they tend to grow in the shade, but generally, they grow in moist soils.
- Europe: In Europe, the nettle plant is known as stinging nettle and has been cultivated there since the 19th century.
- Asia: In Asia, nettles are usually found on the edges of forests in particular countries like Japan, India, and China.
- Northern Africa: Nettle is also commonly grown in Morocco.
Types Of Every Kind of Tea
There are a few different types of nettle tea you can buy on the market, which are:
Loose-leaf nettle tea
Loose-leaf nettle tea contains just the leaves from the stinging nettle plant and no extracts in the tea.
Nettle tea bags
Teabags contain parts of the nettle plant in but usually; they have a really low dosage. In addition to this, this tea often has additional ingredients in the tea, which could add caffeine and more.
Nettle and peppermint tea
Sometimes nettle tea is infused with peppermint tea in the form of a teabag; this is more of a blend.
What To Look for In a Nettle Tea
If you’re thinking about buying nettle tea, you should think about the following before buying:
Any medication you’re taking
Always read the packaging and instructions of the nettle tea as sometimes it might interfere with medication. Don’t take nettle tea without consulting your doctor if you are taking the following:
- Blood thinners.
- Blood pressure medication.
- Diabetes medication.
- Lithium.
- Diuretics.
Side effects
Most of the time, dried or cooked nettle is usually safe to consume. However, they can sometimes inject chemicals such as histamines, serotonin, formic acid, acetylcholine, and leukotrienes. These can cause rashes, itchiness, hives, and bumps.
Best Nettle Tea for You
Overall, organic nettle tea is pretty healthy to consume and has a lot of health benefits surrounding it. So much that this tea has been used for thousands of years in indigenous cultures. Nettles grow pretty much anywhere, so you can easily find the tea in your local supermarket, health store, or online retailer.
FAQS
What is nettle tea good for?
There’s a range of health benefits to consuming nettle tea, such as helping your urinary tract, reducing inflammation, helping reduce symptoms of benign prostate hyperplasia, lowering blood pressure, helping with blood sugar control, and more.
How to make nettle tea?
Nettle tea is easy to make and only takes a few minutes. First, get your nettle leaves and add water to them. Second, bring the water to a boil in a pan. Then turn off your stove and let the nettles steep in the water for 3-5 minutes. Following this, strain the nettle tea into a cup. If you wish, you can add extras like sugar, stevia, honey, etc.
Where to buy nettle tea?
You can easily get nettle tea from your local health store. If they don’t stock it, you can find it from many online retailers that can deliver it to your door within a few days.
What does nettle tea taste like?
Nettle tea has a similar taste to what green tea gives off. It has a mellow body with a grassy and earthy flavour when drank. If honey is added to it, it can create a hay flavour.
How much nettle tea should I drink a day?
There’s no set rule to the amount of nettle tea you can drink a day. However, it’s believed that you should have around 2-3 cups on average.
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