The Wisdom of Spring: Stinging Nettles
/This is the 100th pieces I’ve written for my column, “A Nutrition Mission” in the Idaho Mountain Express, our local newspaper. I pondered a poem: “100 lessons from 100 nutrition articles.” However, as our government threatens our public lands, and neighbors lose jobs that protect and educate about sacred natural spaces, what seems relevant is recalling Mother Earth’s wisdom. Stinging nettles, for example, are indicative of spring – potent, with a protective sting to awaken us!
Last week, while wandering out a canyon in Hailey, my friend pointed to bright green bushes of lomatium dissectum, a powerful antiviral plant, emerging on a western-facing slope. We continued, identifying velvety mullein leaves, shoots of arrow leaf balsam root, lupine, and bluebells. We walked carefully toward a creek and discovered a patch of stinging nettles. “I've always wanted to harvest nettles!” I beamed. So, we did. Wearing gloves (I always carry them), I pinched off the tops, leaving ample stalk for the nettles to blossom in their full potential.
For years I've been drinking nettle tea and recommending it to clients. Nettles are known to help the liver process fatty acids, improve lipid levels, reduce oxidation, and balance hormones. For clients who don't eat enough dairy, I suggest nettle tea to supplement their calcium needs.
In the past, I'd searched scientific articles about nettles to ascertain their calcium levels, always coming up dry. This time, I learned about the Italians enriching bread with stinging nettles. To “enrich” means to add nutrients to food products. In the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) culture, this helps prevent nutrient deficiencies (because, rather than encourage people to eat whole foods from Mother Earth full of nutrients, we endorse ultra-processed foods with added lab-created nutrients). Perhaps it’s not an Italian “tradition” to enrich bread with stinging nettles, yet researchers are experimenting, nevertheless.
The articles also indicate stinging nettles are, in fact, rich in calcium, as well as potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, and phytonutrients like chlorophyll, quercetin, lutein and beta-carotene – nutrients that, historically, might be low in the diet after a winter of eating preserved foods from autumn.
Suffering from seasonal allergies? Nettles are potent antihistamines, too. The “sting” produces histamines and protects us against them!
Like most plants, stinging nettles soak up nutrients from their environment, so nutrient composition varies upon location. In Idaho, thanks to our “hard water”, I wonder about the nutrient density of our nettles! The other emerging plants also inherently contain nutrients to help us step seamlessly into spring.
How to prepare fresh nettles? I made a house staple: pesto. It was delicious atop homemade sourdough pizza crust using local, organic flour, elk sausage, morels, and cheese (only the latter not from Idaho). Another night, I sautéed the greens to fold into pasta with artichokes, lemons, garlic, and a local chicken I roasted. Sadly, I over-cooked the greens. My kids frowned at the gelatinous, garlicky mush, remarking, “The flavor is good, mom, but we never need to eat them like this again.”
We locals value the wild spaces stretching every direction from the hubs of our modern, human life. As you venture out roads and trails recently covered in snow, in search of something – peace, clarity, movement, fresh air, signs of transformation – bend close to the ground to touch a soft leaf, cradle a tiny bud. What plant wisdom will you discover?
References
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8146119/