Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
White deadnettle is a common European wild plant with soft white flowers. Its leaves look like stinging nettle leaves, but it does not sting. Folk healers dried the flowers and made them into tea.
It is part of the mint family, not the nettle family. The French names lamier blanc and ortie blanche both point to that nettle look. Young shoots have long been eaten as a pot herb in rural Europe.
People used it for period problems, vaginal discharge, a stuffy nose and chest, and sore skin. Here is the honest verdict on the evidence: there are almost no human trials. Long folk use is well recorded, but tradition is not proof of effect, and it is not proof of safety.
No one has shown how white deadnettle acts in the human body. What we have is lab work, and lab work is a hint, not an answer.
In test tubes, extracts mop up free radicals (unstable molecules that damage cells). Test tube studies also show weak action against some bacteria and fungi. Whether that does anything in a person is not known.
The flowers hold mucilage, a slimy plant fibre. In theory it coats a sore throat and dulls the scratch. That idea is plausible but untested in people.
The herb also holds tannins. Tannins pull tissue tight and taste dry, which is why the old books called it an astringent. This may explain the folk use on grazes, though healing has not been measured in trials.
Dried flowers are the usual form, sold loose or in tea bags. Some brands sell the whole flowering top instead.
You may also see:
Loose dried flowers for a hot infusion.
Tea bags, often blended with other herbs.
Liquid extracts and tinctures in alcohol.
Capsules of powdered herb, which are less common.
Creams, washes and compresses for use on skin.
Fresh young shoots, eaten as a cooked green in some regions.
White deadnettle has a long place in European folk practice. Village herbals from the Middle Ages onward listed it as a mild, gentle plant.
It was given as a tea for heavy or painful periods and for white vaginal discharge. Old texts also used it for a stuffy nose and chest, and for loose bowels.
On the skin, healers used washes and compresses on grazes, burns and swollen legs. In Germany, the flower was later listed in an official herbal monograph for mild catarrh and minor stomach upset.
These are records of what people did in the past. They are not a reason to treat yourself today.
Stop using it and see a doctor if any of these happen.
You get a rash, swelling of the lips or face, or trouble breathing. Call emergency services for breathing trouble or face swelling.
Your periods are heavy, long or falling outside their usual pattern.
Vaginal discharge changes colour or smell, or comes with pain or fever.
A sore throat comes with high fever, or you cannot swallow.
Diarrhoea lasts more than two days, or you see blood.
A wound turns red, hot or swollen, or leaks pus.
Nothing has improved after a week or two of use.
In the UK and the EU, white deadnettle is sold as a herbal tea or food supplement, not as a licensed medicine. In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement, and the FDA does not review such products for effect before sale. The young plant is also eaten as an ordinary food green in parts of Europe.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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