Nettle

What is Nettle?

Nettle (Urtica dioica), also known as stinging nettle, is a flowering plant that has been used in traditional herbal medicine across Europe and Asia for centuries. Despite its reputation for the temporary sting caused by the hairs on its leaves and stems, nettle is a nutritionally dense wild plant, rich in minerals including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and silicon, as well as vitamins A, C and K and a range of flavonoids and phenolic compounds.

The name "Urtica" derives from the Latin "urere", meaning "to burn", referring to the plant's characteristic sting. When processed and dried, the stinging compounds are neutralised and the plant can be milled into a usable ingredient. Nutri-Leaf uses nettle leaf extract as one of four plant extracts in the Skin Hair & Nails formula.

Nettle as an ingredient

Nettle's mineral richness — including its silicon content — is part of its nutritional profile as a plant. Silicon has no Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) under current EU regulations, and no nutrient-function claim is authorised for it. Nettle appears on our label as an ingredient fact: we state what it is, and we attach no benefit claims to the plant itself. The hair, skin and nail benefits in the formula come exclusively from the authorised vitamins and minerals.

Traditional use

Nettle has a long tradition of use in European herbal medicine as a mineral-rich herb. As with all botanicals in our formulas, that tradition does not translate into label claims: the EU rules that govern what a supplement may say apply to nettle exactly as they apply to every other ingredient.

Why we use Nettle in Nutri-Leaf formulas

Nutri-Leaf Skin Hair & Nails includes nettle leaf extract as one of four complementary plant extracts, combined with bamboo shoots extract, millet seed extract, horsetail herb powder, biotin, zinc, copper, vitamin C and vitamin B12. The formula's benefits are carried by the authorised nutrients: biotin contributes to the maintenance of normal hair and normal skin, zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal hair, skin and nails, copper contributes to normal skin and hair pigmentation, and vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin.

Products containing Nettle

The Nutri-Leaf product featuring nettle leaf extract is Skin Hair & Nails, manufactured at our FSSC 22000 certified facility in Germany with a plant-based HPMC capsule shell.

For the nutrient side of hair, skin and nail nutrition, read the Beauty from Within guide, and visit the Ingredient Philosophy page for our botanical sourcing principles.

Food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.