AKA: Humulus  lupulus, Hop Bine, Strobile

A member of the cannabis family, hops can be found growing wild in copses and hedges in the continents of Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.  The plant is cultivated throughout temperate north and it main commercial use is as an additive to that wonderful beverage: beer, except in England where it is thought to engender melancholy.  It is also used as an herbal medicine along the lines of valerian root.

It is a hardy, deciduous perennial climber that can climb up to the height of twenty three feet or so. Hops thrives in moist, fertile soil that is well drained an it does well in either full sun or partial shade in open positions. The male and femal flowers of the hops plant grow on different plants, with the scaly cone like fruits of the female plant (called strobiles) being the part that is utilized in beer making and herbal medicine.

Hops have been used for over two thousand years as herbal medicine to treat insomnia and anxiety and were even used as a popular food.  Elderly women harvesting the strobiles began to note that their menstrual cycles began to return along with other youthful characteristics. People began using hops in the beer making process around the ninth century using it as a preservative and flavor additive. It is a practice that continues to this day.

Benefits and Uses

• Calms the body
• Relieves insomnia
• Relieves anxiety
• Soothes digestive system
• Eases cramps and pains

Hops contains many different useful constituents including polyphenols, tannins,  and the flavonoids quercetin and rutin. It also contains the bitter principle lupulone, volatile oil, phytoestrogens , amino acids, beta-carotene, calcium, chromium, magnesium, potassium, selenium, silicon, zinc, vitamin B complex, Vitamin , and humulone, which is the most important ingredient in the beer brewing process.

When aged for two years, the chemical compounds humulone and lupulone create a substance that is chemically similar to chlordiazepoxide which is a substance that is found in the sedatives Librium and Valium. This makes Hops a great sedative and treatment for insomnia. Hops also has a calming effect on the entire body, making it a great nervine and tonic. It has been used to sooth the nervous system, treat restlessness, anxiety, stress, nervous diarrhea, hyperactivity, fits, and delirium tremens. Hops has also been used externally and internally to help ease pain. It is considered an anodyne and has been used to help ease stomach pains, earaches, neuralgia and toothaches. The herb also calms smooth muscles and helps ease muscle spasm supporting the plants historical use for cramps and menstrual pain.

The bitter principle lupulone that Hops contains, makes the herb a useful stomachic and tonic. It helps stimulate gastric juice secretions, promoting digestion, relieving and expelling flatulence, easing colic, nervous stomach, intestinal cramps, indigestion, IBS and has even been used to help increase the appetite. Hops also helps increases the flow of bile making it a viable liver tonic, helping with afflictions like jaundice.

The phytoestrogens that Hops contains supports the idea that Hops have estrogenic activity helping treat symptoms of menopause and other problems related to the lack of estrogen production in women.  The polyphenols that the plant contains have been found to have a particularly strong antioxidant effect which may help reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s.

Hops also posses strong antiseptic qualities that help fight off bacteria, making the herb a potent  killer of intestinal parasites, and an useful treatment for gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases. Hops can also be applied externally in poultices  for inflammation, boils, chronic ulcers, herpes, eczema, wounds, leg ulcers, and painful swellings. It is also a diuretic, useful in relieving water retention and excess uric acid.

Dosage

Take two capsules of Hops two or three times with water and food.

Warnings

People who suffer from depression  should not take hops since it is thought that the herb can act as a mild depressant on higher nerve centers, Women with estrogen sensitive disorders should also avoid the herb due to its estrogen like activity, Pregnant women, children who have not reached puberty, women taking oral contraceptive and people undergoing hormonal replacement therapy should also stay away from Hops. Consult a physician before taking Hops if you are on any anesthetics, anxiety drugs, anticonvulsives and medications for insomnia. Do not use Hops if you drink or take medications that contain alcohol.

coming soon....