The efficacy and function of nettle

Xunma grass, also known as Huoma grass, is a perennial herb. It is a kind of wild grass that can often be seen on the roadside. It has a particularly strong vitality. In southern Shaanxi, it is also called stinging grass. When a person's skin is pricked by Xunma grass, he will experience particularly painful symptoms. It is also a relatively common Chinese medicine with the effect of treating diseases. It has a good conditioning and treatment effect on high blood pressure, indigestion, and constipation.

The efficacy and function of nettle

Nettle is an economically valuable wild plant and crop that can provide fiber, food, medicine and high-quality feed. The bark fiber of nettle has good toughness, strong tensile strength, good gloss, and is easy to dye. It can be used as textile raw material, or to make hemp rope, weave carpets, etc. The stems and leaves of nettles can be cooked into a variety of dishes, including cold dishes, soups, roasted dishes, nettle juice, beverages and seasonings.

Every summer and autumn, the nettles are harvested, dried, chopped, boiled in boiling water, mixed with some concentrated feed such as bran, and then fed to pigs. Within ten days or half a month, the pigs' bodies became shiny and oily and they began to gain noticeable weight. In midsummer, when the nettles are lush and green, livestock on the grassland are reluctant to visit them. However, after the autumn frost, especially in the winter and spring when the seeds are abundant, the bitter taste in the stems and leaves of nettles has mostly disappeared, but cattle, horses, camels and sheep will compete to eat it.

The whole nettle plant can be used as medicine. It tastes bitter and spicy, is warm in nature and is slightly toxic. It has the effects of dispelling wind and calming the nerves, digesting food and relieving constipation. It is mainly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, postpartum convulsions, infantile convulsions, sequelae of polio, hypertension, indigestion, and constipation; it can be used externally to treat initial urticaria, snake bites, etc.

How to eat nettle

First of all, choose fresh and tender nettle leaves. Be careful when picking them, pick them along the direction of the leaves, and do not touch the leaves with the back of your hands or arms to avoid being stung. You can also wear gloves. Rinse the picked nettles with clean water first, then blanch them in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, and then put them in clean water to cool and soak. After an hour, remove the nettle leaves, squeeze out the water, and then put them into a plate in strips. Add salt, sesame oil and chicken essence, mix well and it is ready to eat. You can also add minced ginger, minced garlic and other seasonings according to your personal taste. After being blanched in boiling water, the nettles become soft and green, no longer looking as majestic as usual. Pick up a piece with chopsticks and put it in your mouth. A fresh scent fills the taste buds in your mouth, which is very refreshing. There are many ways to eat nettles. In addition to eating it cold, you can also blanch it in boiling water and then stir-fry it, make soup, or use it as stuffing. It tastes very delicious. Nettle seeds can also be used to extract oil, which also has the effect of strengthening the body.