Hops (Humulus lupulus): Traditional Uses & Safety

At a glance

Botanical name: Humulus lupulus
Family: Cannabaceae
Part used: Strobiles (Cone)
Taste: Bitter
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Dry

On temperature, Gerard (1633) and Salmon (1710) read it as warm. The app keeps cool, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Avoid

While breastfeeding

Sedative effect may transfer to milk; avoid large doses. Some traditional galactagogue use but conflicting evidence.

For children

Avoid under 12

Cautions

Avoid in depression; caution driving/machinery; avoid with sedatives

General contraindications

Avoid — insufficient safety data

Stewardship

Hops is cultivated globally for beer and medicine; vigorous perennial vine. Stewardship: Humulus has walked with human civilization since the abbey brews — a plant of fermentation, patience, and bitter tonification.

In the traditional record

Hops (Humulus lupulus) — described by Hildegard von Bingen in the 12th century as cooling and sedating to the spirit; Nicholas Culpeper recorded its use for nervous tension and "melancholy of the mind," and the strobiles became a foundation of European brewing for both flavor and preservation.

Which herbs suit your body?

The same herb can calm one person and wire another. Our free assessment reads your pattern across temperature, moisture and tone, then matches herbs to it.

Take the free assessment Open Hops in the Apothecary

Teaching children at home? Eden's Table builds a full herbalism curriculum around plants like this one.

Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.