Nettle Tea Side Effects

They say that the stinging nettle can be poisonous, but the fact is that once it is boiled or dried, the nettle becomes a great herb which has a variety of health benefits. Particularly, the tea made from nettle leaves is known to help ease a lot of problems. Nettle tea is pretty easy to make where all you need to do is boil a few of these nettle leaves in water and drink up. You may even get a ready product in the market which will save you the effort of having to scour large areas in search of this plant. Common uses of this wonderful herbal tea include warding off insomnia, itchy skin, indigestion and constipation. But then again, before one consumes nettle tea it is always better to know whether the substance has any side effects.

Problems with Nettle

Like most substances, nettle tea does not come without the mandatory caveats. Nettle tea too may have side effects although they are not seen quite so frequently. Cases of people suffering from them are quite rare. The thing with nettle tea is that the problems are isolated and not all the people experience the side effects of nettle tea. Nettle tea allergies occur only in some people. It is also not advisable to consume nettle tea when you are on certain medications. Hence it is always better to take a recommendation from a doctor who knows your medical history before consuming nettle tea.

Allergies
While nettle tea allergies are pretty uncommon, they cannot be completely removed from the picture. It is widely assumed that people who have an allergic reaction to ragweed too may suffer from allergies on consuming nettle tea. Nettle tea allergies often occur as a form of rashes. The other case of nettle tea allergy is gastric irritation which may occur if you have a sensitive stomach or suffer from stomach ulcers.

Other Medications
If you are on certain medications, then nettle tea is best avoided. The most common case is that of blood thinners. Nettle tea being rich as it is in Vitamin K can affect the blood's ability to clot. Secondly, if you are on a medication for lowering blood pressure, consuming nettle tea can lower it further to dangerous levels. If you're consuming a medicine for diuretic purposes, then too nettle tea can lower the level of water in the body further as it is a diuretic by itself. Also if you are on some sort of anti-depressant medication, especially lithium, then it is best that you stay away from nettle tea as it may lead to lithium toxicity and dehydration. And lastly, having a cup of this tea can enhance the effect of your medicines for diabetes a bit too much and may cause the sugar levels to dip dangerously low.

While nettle tea is a good and effective herbal medicine for all the purposes described above, it is always good to be on the safer side and consult a doctor before consuming nettle tea. Only a qualified doctor who knows your medical history, the medicines you consume, and the health problems which you suffer from, will know whether or not you should consume nettle tea.