Nettle Root and Hormonal Health

If I were to pick out one single herb for men and women as they move into middle age, Nettle Root would be a top contender. Nettle Root is the root, the rhizome, of the common stinging nettle plant, Urtica dioica. Nettle Root has the unique ability to optimize functions of the endocrine system related to reproductive health, maximizing and protecting simultaneously .

Nettle Root and Free Testosterone

As a standalone herb, Nettle Root work intelligently to optimize sex hormones. For men, Nettle Root works primarily to keep testosterone active in the body for longer. On average, only 2% of total serum testosterone is free, and only free testosterone is active. The other 98% is bound testosterone and is no longer active.

Nettle Root and DHT and hormonal hair loss

Unlike the common herb Saw Palmetto, which is usually prescribed both for prostate issues and for hormonal hair loss in men and women, Nettle Root is effective in treating both, without preventing the important conversion of testosterone to DHT. Many researchers view DHT as the active form of testosterone, and testosterone as only a prohormone to DHT.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and Prostate Cancer

Throughout Europe, which has shown a much greater understanding of male physiology and has a much greater track record of treating BHP and prostate cancer than the US, Nettle Root has been used widely to treat BPH. Clinical research in Europe has shown that Nettle Root may be effective at relieving symptoms of BHP, such as reduced urinary flow, incomplete emptying of the bladder, post urination dripping, and the constant urge to urinate.

Combining Nettle Root with Androgenic Herbs

Androgenic herbs, for this discussion, are a class of herbs which contain the androgen (male sex) hormones or which increase the body's own production of these hormones. Pine Pollen is an example of a herb which contains androgen hormones (including Androstenedione, Testosterone, Dehydroepiandrosterone, and Androsterone); herbs that increase the production of testosterone include Tribulus, Cistanche Tubulosa, and Tongkat Ali.