Humulus Lupulus:Hops Applications more than Herb Beers.
Article Content:
- .Brief Description and Basic Data.
- .Botanical Description of Hops.
- .Name Identification and Archeology of Hops.
- .Medicinal Action and Uses of Hops.
- .Identification of a potent phytoestrogen in hops (Humulus lupulus L.) and beer.
- .Hops and Recipes for Herb Beers.
- .Actions,Indications,Pharmacology of Hops.
- .Combination,Caution,and Comments of Hops.
- .Phytochemical Constituents of Hops.
- .Hops and Its finding tips.
- .How Search engine think about Hops.
- .Research Update:Hops and its findings.
Medicinal Action and Uses of Hops.
Parts Used Medicinally of Hops:(a).The strobiles, collected and dried as described. (b).The Lupulin, separated from the strobiles by sifting.
Medicinal Action and Uses of Hops:
Hops have tonic, nervine, diuretic and anodyne properties:Their volatile oil produces sedative and soporific effects, and the Lupamaric acid or bitter principle is stomachic and tonic. For this reason Hops improve the appetite and promote sleep.
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 oz. 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 and allay nervous irritation.
Sluggish livers:An infusion of the leaves, strobiles and stalks, as Hop Tea, taken by the wineglassful two or three times daily in the early spring, is good for sluggish livers. Hop Tea in the leaf, as frequently sold by grocers, consists of Kentish Hop leaves, dried, crushed under rollers and then mixed with ordinary Ceylon or Indian Tea. The infusion combines the refreshment of the one herb with the sleepinducing virtues of the other.
Hop juice cleanses the blood:and for calculus trouble nothing better can be found than the bitter principle of the Hop. A decoction of the root has been esteemed as of equal benefit with Sarsaparilla.
As an external remedy, an infusion of Hops is much in demand in combination with chamomile flowers or poppy heads as a fomentation for swelling of a painful nature, inflammation, neuralgic and rheumatic pains, bruises, boils and gatherings. It removes pain and allays inflammation in a very short time. The Hops may also be applied as a poultice.
The drug Lupulin is an aromatic bitter and is reputed to be midly sedative, inducing sleep without causing headache.
It is occasionally administered as a hypnotic, either in pills with alcohol, or enclosed in a cachet.
Preparations of Lupulin are not much used in this country, although official, but in the United States they are considered preferable for internal use.
Medicinal virtues:
It will open obstructions of the liver and spleen, cleansethe blood, loosen the belly, cleanse the reins from gravel and provoke the urine. The decoction of the tops cures the itch and breakings out of the body, tetters, ringworms, spreading sores, rnorphew and all discolourings of the skin.The decoction of the flowers and tops helps to expel poison. Half a dram (89o mg) of the seed in powder, taken in drink, kills worms in the body, brings down women's courses and expels urine. A syrup made of the juice and sugar cures yellow jaundice and eases the headache that comes of heat.
Hops in General use:
Hops is best known as the preservative and flavor used to make beer. However, Hops has also been used by herbalists for centuries to reduce nervous tension. Hops acts as a natural sedative to calm the nerves and reduce stress and anxiety. Hops also promotes a good night's rest by counter-acting the effects of sleeplessness and insomnia.
Hops have been cultivated to be used in the brewing of beer since at least A.D. 1000, but they also have a mixed history of use in healing. Ancient Hebrews used hops to help ward off plague. In North America, several Native American tribes independently discovered the healing properties of hops and used them as a sedative and sleep aid, to relieve toothache, and to improve digestion. By the end of the 1800s, hops were being routinely used in mainstream medicine in the United States as a sedative and digestive tonic. Although hops were sometimes used as a sleep aid in Europe, until relatively recently their major use in Europe was in the brewing of beer, to which they add a bitter flavor and act as a preservative.
Today European herbalists are much more enthusiastic about the healing properties of hops. They are used in three ways: as a sedative, to aid digestion, and as an antibiotic.
Hops' best known medicinal function is as a mild sedative and sleep aid. For centuries pillows filled with hops have been prescribed for people who have difficulty falling asleep. Hops extracts taken orally are also said to promote sleep. Hops are chemically complex and contain many different compounds. Scientists have separated out several components that are sedative in nature, although it is not clear whether hops contain enough of these compounds to actually make a person sleepy. Studies are ongoing, but the German Federal Health Agency's Commission E, established in 1978 to independently review and evaluate scientific literature and case studies pertaining to herb and plant medications, has approved hops for sleep problems, restlessness, and anxiety. Hops belongs to the same family of herbs as marijuana, and some people claim it produces a mild, relaxed, euphoric feeling when smoked. There is no scientific evidence for this claim.
The second major use of hops is as an aid to digestion. It has been used for centuries in both traditional Chinese medicine and Native American healing to stimulate the appetite, ease digestion, and aid in relieving colic. It is believed that hops stimulates the secretions of the stomach.
The German E Commission has also concluded that hops may act as a digestive aid. Scientists have isolated another extract from the plant that in the laboratory inhibits spasms in the digestive tract and other smooth muscle. Follow-up studies in people have not yet been done.
Chinese healers use hops to treat tuberculosis and as an antibiotic. Test-tube studies show that the bitter acids in hops inhibit the growth of certain bacteria and fungi, including the common bacteria Staphylococcis aureus (responsible for staph infections) and Bacillus subtilis; but do not inhibit Escherichia coli, a bacterium that causes digestive upsets. This antibacterial action may account for the preservative effect of hops in brewed beer. A 1999 study also showed that some compounds isolated from hops were effective in test-tube studies in reducing the proliferation of certain types of human breast and ovarian cancer cells. As of 2002, hops extract is being studied as a possible cancer chemopreventive.
There has been much debate in the healing community about whether hops contain a compound related to or easily converted into estrogen, the main female hormone. Some herbalists believe that the presence of an estrogenic compound accounts for the dampening of male sexual arousal and the control of sexual nervous tension
ascribed to fresh hops. Other herbalists disagree, maintaining that those effects are related only to the relaxing or sedative properties of hops. In 2002, however, a team of British researchers reported on the activity of a phytoestrogen that was recently discovered in the female flowers of hops plants. The compound, known as 8-prenylnaringenin, appears to be stronger than previously identified phytoestrogens.
In addition to their uses in healing, hops are used as an ingredient in perfume and occasionally as a tobacco or food flavoring. Their main food use and commercial value is in beer.
From folk medicine uses to laboratory studies:
In folk medicine, hops is best known for its calming effects. Supposedly, during the Dark Ages or earlier, individuals who worked as hops growers, collectors, or handlers were noticed to be more relaxed,even to the point of fatigue. Hops began to be used as a sedative and sleep aid. Subsequently, hops gained a reputation for being effective in treating anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, and related conditions. It is still used for sedation, often in combination with other sleep-promoting herbals such as valerian; even though little scientific evidence supports this use.
In a few small laboratory studies, chemicals in hops have demonstrated some additional activity. Humulone and lupulone, weak acid components that give hops a bitter taste, also killed bacteria or kept them from spreading. These same chemicals may help to prevent the formation of new blood vessels, potentially giving them anticancer effects. Hops may also have other protective effects against some cancers. In several small studies of laboratory cultures or animals, hops prevented different cancer types from starting, growing, or spreading. Perhaps more significantly, a chemical derived from hops has caused laboratory cultures of leukemia cells to disintegrate. Whether any of these anti-infective and anticancer effects may apply to humans has yet to be determined.
Historical uses:Hops feature only occasionally in early herbals, and the health benefits ascribed to them are similar to our understanding today.
Sedative:The herb is used mostly for its sedative effect. A sachet placed inside a bed pillow releases an aroma that calms the mind. Hops help to reduce irritability and restlessness and promote a good night's sleep.
Tension:Blended with other herbs, hops are good for stress, anxiety, tension, and headaches, though they should not be used if depression is a factor. The antispasmodic action also makes them useful for certain types of asthma and for menstrual pain.
Aid to digestion:Hops are beneficial for the digestion, increasing stomach secretions and relaxing spasms and colic.
Other medical uses:Temporomandibular joint syndrome or disorder / TMJ (TMD).
Culinary uses:Serve young hop shoots as you would asparagus. The shoots, which are best when they are 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) long, should be boiled for 2 to 3 minutes. Then change the water and steam the spears until tender. Serve with melted butter or cheese sauce. In hop-producing areas of Europe, blanched hop spears are sometimes served as a delicacy.
Hops are an essential ingredient of beer, whether brewed at home or in commercial breweries, as it is the resin in the cones' lupulin glands that gives beer its bitterness.
Hop extracts and oil are used commercially to flavor yeast, candy, ice cream, puddings, gelatins, baked goods, chewing gum, confectionery, and condiments.
Craft uses:Include the dried cones in wreaths and garlands.
Reference:
1.Humulus Lupulus:Hops Applications more than Herb Beers.
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