Hops cones and its effect on the body

River banks, wet deciduous forest - that's where you can find this curly thin plant with beautiful carved leaves and clusters that exude a pleasant, peculiar resinous flavor and have a bitter, astringent, spicy taste. This is hops. It has long been used to make baking, beer, and as a seasoning. Traditional medicine also did not leave it aside and found extensive use for hops. In this publication we will talk about cones of hops and its effect on the body.

Description.

Hop - a representative of the family hemp. This is a perennial climbing herbaceous plant with a branched fleshy root. The leaves of the plant are broad, three-five-sectioned. The upper leaves are rounded, the lower leaves are cordate, rough to the touch, with a serrated margin. Stem curly, can reach a length of 4-5 meters, ribbed, with small clinging spines along the ribs. Flowers are same-sex dioecious. Female flowers sit on a short pedicel, collected in pineal inflorescences, which are arranged by brushes or singly. Male flowers - on thin pedicels, collected in dangling panicles. The fruit of the hops is a rounded nut. The flowering time is July-August.

Hops are common in the European part of Russia, in Siberia, in the Caucasus. It grows in moist forests, along river banks, in alders, bushes, on moist, fertile soil. In culture, it is cultivated for medicinal, food and decorative purposes.

As a medicinal raw material, hop cones are harvested. The collection is made in good weather, before the full maturation begins, that is, when the cones have a greenish color with a yellowish tinge. Tear off the copulation with a short stem. The cones of hops have a pleasant specific resinous flavor, they have a spicy taste.

Composition of hop cones.

Female inflorescences - cones - contain many different active substances that have a curative effect on the body:

• phytoncides are natural bactericides;

• resin - has bactericidal properties, promotes healing;

• essential oil - gives hops its special specific smell, has a calming effect on the nervous system, has the property of improving digestion;

• Lupulin - a bitter substance, has a calming effect;

• vitamins of group B, ascorbic acid - are necessary for normalization of metabolic processes;

• tannins - provide bactericidal and astringent action;

• phytoestrogens - biologically active substances, the effect of which is similar to the action of estrogens - female sex hormones;

• flavonoids - the main flavonoid of hop cones - xanthohumol, which helps to strengthen bone tissue, and also has the ability to inhibit the development of some forms of cancer, such as prostate cancer;

• organic acids (humulenic, valerian, hmeled) - take an active part in metabolic processes.

Medical application and influence of hops on the human body.

The cones of this medicinal plant are used as soothing, spasmolytic (for removal of spasm of smooth muscles of internal organs), analgesic, they also possess anti-inflammatory and diuretic effect.

Drugs based on hop cones are used for various disorders and diseases:

• with increased neuropsychic load, insomnia, stress - as a sedative;

• with various diseases accompanied by neuralgic, joint or muscle pains (arthritis, intercostal neuralgia, sciatica, painful menstruation and others) - as a means for relieving pain;

• with diseases of the digestive system - as an antispasmodic, as well as for improving digestion;

• with vegetative-vascular dystonia (with a tendency to increase blood pressure) - as a means with a normalizing pressure and soothing effect;

• with inflammatory diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract - as an antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic;

• when the menstrual cycle is disturbed, cones are used along with other means in the course of complex treatment.

Traditional medicine knows and ways of external application of hops:

• as poultices and ointments with bruises, radiculitis, to relieve pain in the joints;

• as a rinse with diseases of the nasopharynx and oral cavity;

• and infusion treated the scalp with seborrhea, used in the treatment of ulcers and skin diseases.

Overdose.

It must be remembered that at a high dosage hops are toxic, so with preparations based on it you need to be careful. In case of an overdose, there may be a headache, general malaise, a feeling of general fatigue, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath and pain in the region of the heart.

Recipes for the preparation of medicines from hop cones.

Based on cones of hops, you can prepare infusions for oral and external use.

• Here's a recipe for oral ingestion:

take ½ tablespoon chopped raw, pour 1 cup boiling water, let it brew for 15 minutes, then drain and take 30 minutes before eating a third cup 3 times a day. It is a good soothing, spasmolytic and anesthetic.

• The recipe is for external use:

take 2 tablespoons of hops, pour a half cup of boiling water, let it brew for 15 minutes, strain and apply externally in the treatment of skin diseases.

• But, as they prepare a soothing tea with cones of hops and valerian:

put in a teapot for 1 teaspoon of dry cones of hops and crushed dry root of valerian, pour 1 cup of boiling water and leave to stand for 15 minutes. Strain and drink one cup at night.

Do not forget that in case of an overdose, plant-based medicines can be dangerous.