Nettle Leaves and Fertility
Nettle leaves, which come from the stinging nettle plant, are an important herb when preparing for conception, when trying to conceive, and during pregnancy. The herb boosts your blood and your hormones, making it easier for you to conceive and helping you have a healthy baby.
In the Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year author Susan Weed reports that nettle is one of the most nourishing herbs known to womankind. She says:
It is reputed to have more chlorophyll than any other herb. The list of vitamins and minerals in this herb includes nearly every one known to be necessary for human health and growth. Vitamins A, C, D, and K, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and sulfur are particularly abundant in Nettles. The infusion is a dark green color approaching black. The taste is deep and rich.
Weed recommends that you alternate a nettle infusion with a red raspberry infusion weekly to help tonify and build up your blood and your body. These two herbs are very nourishing to the body.
I recommend that you drink an infusion (strong tea) daily – one week make your infusion with red clover and nettle, the next week with red clover and red raspberry. These infusions are nourishing tonics that will increase your circulation, provide you nutrients, and enhance your reproductive system.
Preconception Cleansing and Support
Nettle leaves greatly benefits your kidneys, helping keep them clear and functioning well. Your kidneys help cleanse your blood which is vital as you're trying to conceive and during pregnancy.
In addition to its kidney cleansing effects, nettle works to cleanse your entire digestive system – gently and effectively. There are other herbs that work on the digestive system in harsh ways that can cause pain and are dangerous while you're trying to get pregnant or during pregnancy. Nettles are safe and cleansing (just be careful if you're harvesting and preparing your own nettles – they sting until you've prepared them!)
Another benefit of nettles leaves worth noting is the ability to cure headaches. Many headaches can indicate toxin levels building in the blood and digestive system. Nettles clean these out gently and gradually – removing your headaches and leaving you feeling great!
Nettle is an herb to keep around throughout the years of TTC, pregnancy, and caring for baby. It will help you get pregnant, help you stay pregnant and carry a healthy baby, and it also increases the richness of your breast milk once you've given birth. It's a gentle, safe herb that's easy to take in infusion form as a general tonic.
(NOTE: Want the Top Easy Steps to Boosting Your Fertility? Use these 5 simple, evidence-based steps to get pregnant and carry your healthy baby to term. Get them here.)
