Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Nettle (Urtica dioica) is a common wild plant with toothed leaves and stinging hairs. The leaf, the root and the seed are all used. Cooked or dried leaf is also eaten as a food.
In American folk and Eclectic practice, the leaf was used as a spring tonic and a mild diuretic (water pill). The root came into wide use later, for older men with urinary trouble.
Here is the short verdict. Nettle root may slightly ease the urinary symptoms of an enlarged prostate, but the trials are small and mixed. Most other uses rest on tradition, and tradition is not proof that something works or that it is safe.
No one has shown clearly how nettle works in the body. The claims below come mostly from lab and animal work.
In cell and animal studies, nettle root extracts appear to act on enzymes and proteins that handle testosterone. Whether that happens in men who swallow a capsule is not settled.
In test tubes, nettle leaf compounds appear to damp down signals that drive swelling and pain. This has not been confirmed in people.
The leaf's old name as a water pill suggests it makes you pass more urine. Human proof for that is weak.
The sting itself is better understood. Fresh hairs inject histamine and other irritants, which is why the skin burns and welts.
Nettle is sold in many forms. The plant part matters more than the form you pick.
Dried leaf tea, loose or in bags.
Leaf capsules and tablets.
Freeze-dried leaf capsules, sold for hay fever.
Root capsules, tablets and tinctures, usually sold for prostate symptoms.
Liquid extracts and tinctures in alcohol.
Creams and oils for rubbing on sore joints.
Young shoots, cooked as a green like spinach.
Labels often blur leaf and root. Check which part is in the bottle. A product aimed at prostate symptoms should say root.
Nettle has a long record in European folk use. American Eclectic doctors of the 1800s carried that use over.
They gave the leaf as a spring tonic and for what they called thin or poor blood. Eclectic texts also list it for bleeding, gout and skin complaints.
Some old practitioners beat stiff joints with fresh stems on purpose. The practice had a name, urtication. It was painful and is not something to copy at home.
Nettle was also a food and a fibre plant. People ate it in lean years and spun it into cloth.
Call emergency services if your lips, tongue or throat swell, if you break out in hives, or if you struggle to breathe. These are signs of a severe allergic reaction.
Stop nettle and see a doctor soon if you cannot pass urine, see blood in your urine, or have fever with back or groin pain.
Also book a review if you feel faint or dizzy, if your blood sugar keeps dropping low, or if swelling in your legs gets worse.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist that you are taking nettle. It matters most if you are on warfarin, lithium, water pills or diabetes drugs.
In the United States, nettle is sold as a dietary supplement and as a food. In the UK and the EU it is sold as a food, and some leaf products are registered as traditional herbal remedies.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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