The stinging nettle has between 30 and 45 species: 4 of which are found in Central Europe. You have probably gone for a walk in the woods at some point and pricked yourself on this green little plant with pointed leaves. It stings tremendously and then itches incessantly. Despite this inconvenience, the plant is enormously nutritious and healthy when you drink or eat it. It is highly recommended that you eat it once, drink it or mix it into your meal. We explain why.
Health benefits
Stinging nettle contains an enormous amount of vitamins and minerals. For example, one hundred grams of blanched nettle leaf contains more than 7 times the daily recommended amount of vitamin K and as much as 50% of the daily recommended amount of calcium. The plant also provides you with a nice dose of magnesium and manganese!
What many people do not know is that green leafy vegetables are very high in protein. The protein content is often around 25 percent in green leafy vegetables. The stinging nettle takes the crown: the percentage of protein can be as high as 40 percent! With that, this wild plant contains more protein than the soybean plant, for example.
Enough reason to add nettles to your diet. You can do this in many different ways, for example by adding the leaves to tea, soup, pesto, omelet and many more recipes. A fun and tasty way to take full advantage of the goodness of nettles.
We at Sapje also like to use it in our juices.
