Nettle tea has been used for centuries to assist with asthmatic and skin disorders, in addition to relieve joint aches and arthritis. Even when you are in great physical health, a mug of nettle tea can regulate your hormones, soothing your mind, as well as give a boost of necessary nutritional vitamins. What makes this simple tea even more amazing? You can simply create it in your home!
Obviously, step one in brewing your own pot of nettle tea is being in the position to identify a nettle plant. If you don’t what a nettle plant looks like, an easy search on the internet will offer you plenty of pictures. When dealing with Mother Nature, make sure you understand precisely what you happen to be handling. A number of plants look very close but one may be great for you while the other can be extremely toxic. When in doubt, ask an expert before consuming anything.
stinging nettle tea
When you know what you’re searching for, any woods, thickets or perhaps the side of the highway are ideal spots to find the nettle plant. It grows just like a weed, because, well, it really is one! The the first rule of nettle plant picking is to use gloves and a shirt with long sleeves and also to use scissors, reducing your exposure to the leaves whenever possible. Nettle leaves are coated with nearly undetectable hair-like stingers that leave an awful rash on the skin. Also, make sure you gather your nettle leaves from areas not sprayed with pesticides or are in contact with other chemicals (such as car exhaust right beside a busy road).
When choosing your nettle leaves pick younger plants (around spring time) and cut off the bright green tips to take home (the leaves get bitterer as they age). The nettle leaves should be washed to remove all dirt and insects after which they are able to either be dried out for future pots of tea or used straight away fresh. To dry the nettle leaves, layer them over a paper towel and let them air dry. They can then be kept in an airtight container for future use.
There are plenty of recipes out there on-line about learning to make the perfect pot of nettle tea; nevertheless, they are subjective as people may choose to use different quantities of nettle leaves depending on how bitter they prefer their tea. A standard recipe would be to take a tablespoon of dried nettles and to steep it in boiling water for at least ten minutes. This step must be taken for a full ten minutes so the water can deactivate the stingers. Or else, you won’t die, however, you can get a slight stomach ache or ‘tingling’ sensation when drinking the tea (which you might get anyway, in case you have a sensitive system but this should disappear as your body forms a tolerance to the tea). The leaves may then be drained and the tea safely taken.
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If you’re searching for more of a power punch from the nettle leaves, you can brew a nettle infusion, that’s essentially a nettle tea which has brewed for a longer period. A recommended recipe is to take one ounce of nettle leaves then one quart of boiling water and just allow them to soak for, at minimum, a few hours, or overnight in the fridge. Be sure to continue to refrigerate the infusion in order that it won’t go bad (if it does, it makes an excellent fertilizer for use on your garden). The infusion may be warmed up to savor as an extra strong tea or poured over ice or combined with juice for a cold, yummy drink.
If you love the health benefits of a pot of nettle tea, but don’t enjoy the flavour, adding lemon, honey or just sugar will make your cup of tea very much more pleasant for you. Additionally, other herbs and plant leaves may be blended together with the nettle leaves to make your custom super tea! A popular addition for people being affected by indigestion is rosemary, which aids in the discharge of bile to help process fats. Red raspberry leaves combined with nettle leaves can create an amazing tonic for an pregnant woman, as both help to alleviate excessive bleeding after childbirth. Test out some marvelous combos of your own!
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