Benefits of Nettle Leaf Tea

While every kind of tea offers up a warm cuppa comfort, not every single one is packed with as many benefits as nettle leaf tea  — an unsung, and under-brewed hero of the tea world. Nettle leaf tea comes from the stinging nettle plant; a perennial flowering plant that tastes amazing in tea form and it comes with a slew of health benefits.

Read on to find out why you need to cut back or ditch your daily coffee and turn to nettle leaf tea instead.

1. Anti-Inflammatory Properties

Anything with anti-inflammatory properties is good in our books. The ability to reduce swelling, pain, and discomfort is nothing to sneeze at, and nettle leaf tea does all three with ease. In fact, studies show that nettle leaf extract can even help with serious diseases like rheumatoid arthritis by reducing inflammation. If you experience the occasional flare ups of joint pain, try a cup of nettle leaf tea instead of turning to pain medication. If you already take prescription drugs for your joint pain, add in a cup of nettle leaf tea daily for an added (and all-natural) boost of pain relief and reduced inflammation.

2. Allergy Relief

Who doesn’t dread allergies every time the seasons change? There’s nothing worse than trying to get through your day with itchy eyes, sneezing, and congestion. You’re probably no stranger to popping allergy medication like it’s going out of style, but nettle leaf tea can actually help you here too. As soon as you start feeling symptoms, have a cup of nettle leaf tea; you could see an immediate reduction in symptoms, allowing you to go about your day as planned (minus a few less annoying allergy symptoms). If you know you tend to start feeling sneezy during your morning commute, take a travel mug of nettle leaf tea with you to counteract the symptoms as they appear. Hey, just because it’s early doesn’t mean you can’t be strategic!

3. Bladder Infections

Bladder infections are no joke. If you’ve ever had one, you know exactly how hard it can be to focus on anything but the pain. Having an at-home solution ready and waiting in your cupboards would be a godsend, which is all the more reason to take another look at nettle leaf tea. Nettle leaf has been shown to reduce symptoms like an increased urge to urinate, painful urination, and lowered urinary flow, which is good news for us. Keep the tea at the ready, because you never know when a bladder infection (and it’s evil, evil symptoms) will strike.

4. Eczema

Eczema is a painful rash that can flare up with stress, diet, dry skin, and many more unknown reasons. It’s unpredictable, uncomfortable, and downright uncompromising—it doesn’t care that it might not be the best week for you to get an eczema flare up, because it’s happening anyway. Nettle leaf tea is often used in home remedies for eczema, and for good reason: because nettle leaf has both anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine properties, your skin is able to calm down a little for some serious pain (and itching) relief. Combine it with your most soothing eczema cream, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for success (15-love, eczema).

So, next time you’re going to forgo HIITing it outside because of allergies, or are trying to get your body back to fighting form after (or during) an illness, or want to soothe an eczema flare up, brew yourself a steeped infusion of nettle leaf tea. Relief is only a few sips away.