 HOPS PRODUCTS
The use of hops is recommended for discomfort due to restlessness or anxiety and sleep disturbances. Hops has been used to improve appetite and digestion and has a mild sedative effect. Hops are high in the bitter principles humulone and lupulone. These are thought to be responsible for the appetite-stimulating properties of hops. Hops also contain about 1–3 percent volatile oils. Hops have been shown to have mild sedative properties. Many herbal preparations for insomnia combine hops with other sedative herbs, such as valerian, passion flower and scullcap. The official preparations are an infusion and a tincture. The infusion is employed as a vehicle, especially for bitters and tonics: the tincture is stomachic and is used to improve the appetite and digestion. Both preparations have been considered to be sedative, were formerly much given in nervousness and hysteria and at bedtime to induce sleep; in cases of nervousness, delirium and inflammation being considered to produce a most soothing effect, frequently procuring for the patient sleep after long periods of sleeplessness in overwrought conditions of the brain. The bitter principle in the Hop proves one of the most efficacious vegetable bitters obtainable. An infusion of 1/2 ounce Hops to 1 pint of water will be found the proper quantity for ordinary use. It has proved of great service also in heart disease, fits, neuralgia and nervous disorders, besides being a useful tonic in indigestion, jaundice, and stomach and liver affections generally. It gives prompt ease to an irritable bladder, and is said to be an excellent drink in cases of delirium tremens. Sherry in which some Hops have been steeped makes a capital stomachic cordial. A pillow of warm Hops will often relieve toothache and earache, allay nervous irritation and bring on delayed sleep.
A "hop" is a green cone around the female flower of the hop plant. Inside the hops are golden grains that form a sticky greenish yellow to organ-yellow powder. Hops have been used for centuries to flavor beer, at least as far back as 10,000 years ago in Asia, where it spread rapidly to Eastern Europe. The lore of hops and beer is intertwined. The Sumerians goddess Ninkasi was the goddess of brewing and beer, and head brewer to the gods. The Romans said that hops grew 'wild among the willows, like wolves among sheep', hence the name Lupulus. The first mention of hops in European literature was in 1079 by Abbess Hildegarde of St. Ruprechtsberg who said that 'if one intends to make beer from oats, it is prepared with hops'. There is also evidence that they have been used even longer to aid sleep and to reduce libido. This should not come as any surprise as hops are a distant relative of stinging nettles and cannabis. As most of the brewing of beer was done during the middle ages by monks, there are innumerable mentions to hops and hops gardens in monastic literature. In fifteenth-century Germany, monks prescribed teas of hops to young males to help them remain chaste.
Constituents: Up to 80 percent of grains of hops is a bitter resin. There are also tannins, flavonoid antioxidants, lupulone, and humulene.
Parts Used: The cone and grains of the hops flower, dried and cut.
Typical Preparations: Teas, infusions, tinctures, or encapsulations. Is also popularly used in dream and sleep pillows and many other cosmetic formulations.
Summary: Fresh hops provide bitters that stimulate digestion; these bitters are also found in the aged herb. In folk medicine, washes made with hops and waters are often used to treat sores and skin injuries. Hops teas are also used to relieve the pain of bladder infections. The hops used in beer are used "fresher," so drinking beer does not have the same effect as taking hops as an herb. The German food chemist Udo Pollmer notes that soaking red or white meats in beer, before grilling, reduces the formation of cancer-causing HCA's (heterocyclic amines), and actually prevents the formation of these compounds, although "lite" or alcohol-free beers do not have this effect. Another way to avoid the HCA's, of course, is to serve vegan entrees.
Precautions: The hops in beer are responsible for an unfortunate condition in men known in German herbal medicine as "beer drinker's droop," or erectile dysfunction. Avoiding excessive consumption of beer or hops helps men retain potency.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Hops, Certified Organic & Wildcrafted Bulk Herbs
Mountain Rose Herbs: Hops Flower Extract (Humulus lupulus), Certified Organic Herbal Extracts
Kalyx: Hops Flowers (Humulus lupulus), Whole, Certified Organic, Starwest Botanicals, 1 lb.
Kalyx: Hops Flowers (Humulus lupulus), Whole, Certified Organic, Frontier Bulk Herbs, 1 lb.
Kalyx: Hops Flowers (Humulus lupulus) Powder, Starwest Botanicals, 1 lb.
Kalyx: Hops Extract (Humulus lupulus), Health & Herbs, 2 fl. oz.
Kalyx: Hops Extract (Humulus lupulus), Health & Herbs, 8 fl. oz.
Kalyx: Hops Flowers, Natures Way, 310 mg, 100 Caps
HerbsPro: Hops Extract, Organic, Natures Answer, 1 fl. oz.
HerbsPro: Hops Extract, Herb Pharm, 4 fl. oz.
HerbsPro: Hops (Humulus lupulus), Fresh Freeze-Dried, Eclectic Institute, 200 mg, 90 Caps
House of Nutrition: Hops, Solaray, 440 mg, 100 Caps
TakeHerb: Hops Flowers Powder (Humulus lupulus), Starwest Botanicals, 1 lb.
TakeHerb: Hops Flowers, Organic, Starwest Botanicals, 1 lb.
TakeHerb: Hops Extract, To Promote Sleep & Soothe Nerves, Health Herbs, 2 fl. oz.
TakeHerb: Hops Flowers Organic Tea, Celebration Herbals, 24 Tea Bags
TakeHerb: Valerian Hops Extract, Alcohol Free, Oregon's Wild Harvest, 1 fl. oz.
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