Hops (Humulus lupulus) information

A homeopathic ingredient that favorably influences conditions of the nervous system attendant with nausea, dizziness and headache. Dried strobili used medicinally as a bitter tonic, sedative, hypnotic. The decoction from the flower is said to remedy swellings and hardness of the uterus. A cataplasm of the leaf is said to remedy cold tumors. The dried fruit, used for poultices and formentations, is said to remedy painful tumors. The pomade, made from the lupulin, is said to remedy cancerous ulcerations (Hartwell, 1967–1971). Reported to be anaphrodisiac, anodyne, antiseptic, diuretic, hypnotic, nervine, sedative, soporific, stomachic, sudorific, tonic, and vermifuge, hops is a folk remedy for boils, bruises, calculus, cancer, cramps, cough, cystitis, debility, delirium, diarrhea, dyspepsia, fever, fits, hysteria, inflammation, insomnia, jaundice, nerves, neuralgia, rheumatism, and worms (Duke and Wain, 1981). Moerman (1982) gives interesting insight on Amerindian uses of a plant alien to them originally. Delaware Indians heated a small bag of leaves to apply to earache or toothache. More interesting was the Delaware use of hops as a sedative, drinking hop tea several times a day to alleviate nervousness. Cherokee, Mohegan, and Fox also used the plant as a sedative. George III is said to have slept on a pillow stuffed with hops to alleviate some symptoms of his porphyria. I would personally not hesitate to drink a chamomile-hop-valerian tea as a sedative or herbal sleeping potion, but I would never recommend it to anyone else. The antibiotic principle lupulone is tuberculostatic (Duke, 1972). There has been a significant number of clinical studies that conclude Hawthorne berry is effective in the treatment of congestive heart failure. Leuchtgens VH. Crataegus Special Extract WS 1442 in NYHA II heart failure. A placebo controlled randomized double-blind study. Fortschr Med. 1993;111:36–38. Tauchert M, Siegel G, Schulz V. Hawthorn extract as plant medication for the heart; a new evaluation of its therapeutic effectiveness [translated from German]. MMW Munch Med Wochenschr. 1994;136(suppl 1):S3–S5 (return to homepage).