A long time ago, every farm in England had a small brewery attached to house. In the brewery common herbs such as dandelion leaf, nettles, meadowsweet and yarrow, were mashed, boiled and fermented. The end product was called Ale. Each farmer had his own special recipe. One day, a farmer wondered what would happen if he added hops (Humulus lupus) to his ale. Several months later, to the farmer’s surprise, the ale with the hops had not turned sour. It was as good as the day it was bottled. On that day, bitters was born.
Hops continues to a common ingredient in many bitter beers. The more hops used during brewing, the more bitter the ale. I recall, while working in long term care, an elderly English man, enjoying his bitter ale each evening. “Doctor’s orders,” he’d say with a wink, “it’s very beneficial for digestion.”
He was right. The bitter flavour of hops relaxes the digestion system and eases digestive complaints associated with cramping or spasms of the gut. But there is more to hops that easing digestion.
Once hops became a staple of the brewing industry, the wayside weed became a cash crop and in late summer, temporary workers were hired to harvest hop flowers. That is when unusual things began to happen. Women who picked the flowers would get their periods early. If they stayed with job, their cycles became shorter and shorter. Everyone who worked with the flowers grew sleepy. It was then that hops medicinal properties were discovered.
Hops is one of herbal medicine most frequently used sleep aids. The fresh flowers of hops have small amounts of the chemicals which induce sleep. As the flowers dry, the sleep inducing chemicals increase. The flowers must be dried before the medicine will induce sleep. A traditional remedy is the sleep pillow.
Sachets containing hops, lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) are slipped inside pillow cases to make good dreams and refreshing sleep. Hops and lavender are both famous for their sedative qualities, while mugwort is known for inducing beautiful dreams.
Generally, I combine hops in a tincture with other sedative herbs, such as valerian (Valarianna off.), motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) and California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), for an effective sleep aid.
The effect on a woman’s cycle is another matter. The yellow pollen, appearing as dust on the flowers when they are ready to harvest, affects a woman’s hormonal balance. The pollen quickly looses its medicinal value once dried. If used to increase estrogen levels in women, the medicine of hops needs to made fresh.
I like to think I am hearing a collective sigh of relief among men at this point. Surely only the dried herb is used in brewing beer, negating its estrogenic effect. In herbal medicine, the difference between medicine and food, is often determined by the amount taken. So if a man is drinking large amounts of beer, it will have an estrogenic effect. This will lead to the development of what is commonly referred to as man boobies and lower sperm production. I’m sure this is not the effect the men featured with the six packs in the ad during hockey games have in mind.
The hops plant comes in male or female versions. The female plant of hops, the one which produces the flowers called stobiles, contains the medicine. The male plant does not have any medicine. I find it curious that female hops plant helps women with their hormonal balance, while it interferes with a man’s.
Let’s get back to the fact that hops is used to preserve beer. This means that it has an anti-bacterial effect. It is not the hard hitting herbal anti-biotic garlic (Allium sativa), but in a pinch, fresh hops flowers crunched up on cut or scrape will keep a wound free of infection until a better remedy can be applied. Be careful though, some people develop a rash similar to the one caused by a tangle with a nettle plant. Test it on a small patch of skin before applying it to the cut.
Hops loves to grow in Central Alberta. It will climb anything. On a summer walk in most communities, I spot a hops plant somewhere. Who knows, perhaps one day, local breweries will no longer be a thing of the past.
Abrah Arneson is a Clinical Herbal Therapist and has been a popular regular contributor to Real Woman Magazine since 2008. Abrah’s understanding of holistic medicine is complimented with her 20 year practice of meditation. For Real Woman, Abrah writes about herbal approaches to wellness for women and their families and is known and loved for her kind and peaceful nature and her fabulous laugh.
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