尽管传统医学近年来取得了进步，但人们仍然担心其潜在的不良反应。几个世纪以来建立的民族药理学知识以及各种代谢物的存在，使得荨麻等药用植物成为治疗多种健康状况的宝贵资源，因为它对人类健康的不利影响最小。本综述的目的是强调可食用荨麻 (UD) 植物的治疗功效和生物活性，重点是其对各种类型癌症的选择性化学预防特性，由此我们破译了 UD 对各种癌症的作用机制。除了评估其抗糖尿病、微生物和炎症特性外，还评估了前列腺癌、乳腺癌、白血病和结肠癌等癌症。我们进一步强调了 UD 对肝脏、生殖、排泄、心血管、神经和消化系统的全身保护作用。我们对体外和体内研究以及临床试验获得的结果进行了严格的评估，以突出未来前瞻性研究需要进一步探索的差距。

While conventional medicine has advanced in recent years, there are still concerns about its potential adverse reactions. The ethnopharmacological knowledge established over many centuries and the existence of a variety of metabolites have made medicinal plants, such as the stinging nettle plant, an invaluable resource for treating a wide range of health conditions, considering its minimal adverse effects on human health. The aim of this review is to highlight the therapeutic benefits and biological activities of the edible Urtica dioica (UD) plant with an emphasis on its selective chemo-preventive properties against various types of cancer, whereby we decipher the mechanism of action of UD on various cancers including prostate, breast, leukemia, and colon in addition to evaluating its antidiabetic, microbial, and inflammatory properties. We further highlight the systemic protective effects of UD on the liver, reproductive, excretory, cardiovascular, nervous, and digestive systems. We present a critical assessment of the results obtained from in vitro and in vivo studies as well as clinical trials to highlight the gaps that require further exploration for future prospective studies.