Nettles - natural treasures within arm’s reach
The old practice of beating children with nettles has its grounds just like shredding them and using as a fodder for chickens. When somebody gets stung by the nettle, we say “don’t worry, it’s good for your health”. Finally, dermatologists advice people with greasy hair to use shampoos with nettle essence.
In the past, people used it for various medical purposes such as healing wounds or to stop bleeding. What is more, some ancient people considered this plant a magical one. People kept dry nettles at home to prevent themselves from neurosis and deter the powers of evil. Another, untypical use of nettle was to make fishing nets and ropes. During the First World War, Germans produced a kind of fabric to sew clothes with the help of nettles.
All these practices are connected with the fact that this herb is very healthy and multi- purpose. Only few people know how many valuable substances it contains. Its leaves contain: flavonoids, fitosterols, acetic acid and mineral salts. Nettle’s roots are rich in healthy components us well.
There have been many cosmetics and herbal medicines prepared on the basis of its essence. Its major cosmetic properties are: improving skin’s firmness and improving the condition of greasy hair. Thanks to their diuretic properties, nettles are helpful for people who have problems with kidneys. Nettle tea is advisable for people who have various stomach problems (e.g. ulcers) and helps to maintain an appropriate level of sugar in human blood. Healthy people can also drink it as the tea removes toxic substances from our organisms and to increase the immunity system.
It is amazing that a commonly disliked plant has so many uses and that the majority of its properties has been discovered so many years ago. It is worth to mention, that animals can benefit from eating nettles as well. The big nettles’ advantage is that we can prepare medicines on the basis of them on our own- it can be found almost everywhere and the drying process is not very complicated.
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