Witnessed by: TCM · Western
Hops (Humulus lupulus), of the Cannabaceae family. Vigorous twining perennial climber; native range: Europe, western Asia and North America, in hedgerows and damp thickets. Globally recognized as pi jiu hua (啤酒花) in Chinese, and common hop, hop strobiles in English. The part used is strobiles (female flowering cones). Papery green cones dusted with golden lupulin, intensely bitter and resinous, with a heady aromatic scent.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
HOPS
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- hops
- Scientific name
- Humulus lupulus L.
- Family
- Cannabaceae
Form
- Part used
- strobiles (female flowering cones)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter
- Western
- bitter · aromatic
Temperature
TCM: cool
Western: cool
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses read it as cooling — a bitter relaxant that settles heat and unrest
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Stomach · Liver
- Western
- nervous system · digestion · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- aids digestion and disperses food stagnation (jian wei xiao shi), calms the spirit (an shen), clears heat
- Western
- sedative, hypnotic, nervine, bitter stomachic, antispasmodic, anaphrodisiac, oestrogenic
Cautions
Contraindications: marked depression, which the sedative bitter may deepen; oestrogen-sensitive conditions
Toxicity: low; drowsiness in sensitive people
Interactions
- Western
- sedatives / CNS depressants: additive sedation and drowsiness · hormonal therapy: phyto-oestrogens may add to or interfere with oestrogen therapy
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