It was originally introduced to the United States in 1876 during the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, then it began being promoted as a great ornamental plant in the 1930’s through the 1950’s. The problem with kudzu is that it is an invasive species with vines that crawl and cover all other local plants, blocking them from reaching sunlight and massively affecting the entire ecosystem. Kudzu’s superficially beautiful blooms and sweet smell hide the fact that its roots and vines are overtaking all other plants in the area and stifling their ability to grow. They are also interested in the possibility of developing a dosage of kudzu that individuals could take once, before a night of drinking, rather than a set of pills which must be taken regularly. “You want to make sure that your medication is not as bad or worse than the drug you’re trying to treat,” Lukas said. Call us today to find the mental health care that’s right for yourself or your loved one. For centuries, ginseng has been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Small studies in people have observed noteworthy improvements in these menopausal symptoms, among others, like vaginal dryness .

This may have important anti-alcohol relapse benefits based on dopaminergic genetics and its relationship to executive function and good decision making necessary for appropriate relapse prevention . This treatment increased the activity of the antioxidant enzymes Cu/Zn SOD and catalase, and attenuated the hepatic oxidative damage in rats exposed to ethanol. In one study, kudzu treatment resulted in a significant reduction in the number of beers consumed, which was paralleled by an increase in the number of sips and the time to consume each beer and a decrease in the volume of each sip. Lukas SE, Penetar D, Berko J, Vicens L, Palmer C, Mallya G, Macklin EA, Lee DY-W. An extract of the Chinese herbal root kudzu reduces alcohol drinking by heavy drinkers in a naturalistic setting. The ability of puerarin and related isoflavones to facilitate alcohol’s entry into the brain has not been systematically studied. For this mechanism to be plausible, the more rapid penetration of alcohol into the brain would have to trigger a satiety mechanism rather quickly such that the desire for the next drink is delayed—thus interrupting a binge episode. This is precisely what was observed in the present study as kudzu’s effects were evident after a single dose within a few hours of administration. Of course, it is entirely possible that any of the above mechanisms may also develop with repeated administration and complement the immediate altered absorption effect that likely explains kudzu’s rapid onset of action. Ashwagondha is an important herb in traditional Ayurvedic medicine.

Health & Performance

A May 2005 study by Harvard Medical School and New England Research Institutes found that properties of the kudzu plant may cause alcohol to reach the brain more quickly. Drinkers feel the effects sooner and will likely drink less and more slowly. During the seven-day study, 14 subjects were observed in a simulated living room and small kitchen, which was stocked with their favorite beer. Each of the subjects was a heavy drinker, averaging 25 alcoholic Sober Home beverages per week. None had a family history of alcoholism or were alcohol dependent. Ibogaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid extracted from the root of an African shrub . Preparations of the herb have been used as a stimulant in traditional African culture for centuries. Animal studies suggest that ibogaine and its primary metabolite, noribogaine, significantly reduce alcohol consumption in rats genetically engineered to prefer alcohol.

Shen XL, Witt MR, Nielsen M, Sterner O. Inhibition of flunitrazepam binding to rat brain membranes in vitro by puerearin and daidzein. The room contained a small sink with an under-the-counter refrigerator where the beverages were kept.

Researchers Say Binge Drinkers Taking Kudzu Root Extract Drink Less

Ten Patients were enrolled in a 60 day study to determine the effectiveness of a natural compound Declinol to curb cravings for alcohol. Most of the subjects came from church programs for alcohol dependence and were recruited via general assembly announcement and written flyer. Nine of the ten participants had previously tried other programs to eliminate alcohol cravings and intake with little or no success. The study was done in an at-home basis to allow for better compliance and prove if this program could be successful without daily intervention in a natural setting . Each subject had full time access to the study coordinator and had weekly contact with the coordinator during the full 8 week term. Subjects were all Caucasian, lower to middle income, residing in a small Midwestern town. Each subject was interviewed in person and determined to be actively drinking on a regular basis, all exceeding what would be considered normal consumption ranging from 1-2 times per week to drinking on a daily basis. Several of the subjects had been drinking for many years and often drank to or past the point of inebriation. Final inclusion of subjects was based on completing the AUDIT questionnaire that demonstrated either hazardous levels of drinking or alcohol dependence.

This is the first demonstration that a single dose of kudzu extract quickly reduces alcohol consumption in a binge drinking paradigm. These data add to the mounting clinical evidence that kudzu extract may be a safe and effective adjunctive pharmacotherapy for alcohol abuse and dependence. However, Lukas et al. from McLean Hospital designed a study to test the efficacy of a kudzu extract in a clinical population. Specifically, male and female “heavy” alcohol drinkers were treated with either placebo or a kudzu extract for 7 days and then given an opportunity to drink their preferred brand of beer while in a naturalistic environment. They found that Kudzu treatment resulted in significant reduction in the number of beers consumed.

What the evidence suggests.

In a 12-week single-blind placebo-controlled study patients receiving controlled release melatonin 2mg/night were more likely to discontinue benzodiazepines compared to patients taking a placebo . Patients taking melatonin reported significantly greater improvements in subjective sleep quality compared to the placebo group. Most patients who continued to take controlled-release melatonin at night remained off benzodiazepines six months after the end of the study. Removing kudzu requires more than just cutting away the vines, it requires that we completely eradicate its extensive root system. In this manner, addiction is more than just not drinking or using drugs– we go through a process of entirely detoxifying our bodies of all traces of drugs and alcohol and begin to work on identifying and addressing all root causes that contributed to our problem.

The Chinese noticed that people who consumed the plant started to drink less. According to traditional Chinese medicine, kudzu has cooling properties that balance the heat and false energy created by alcohol. The people who received a dose of kudzu extract drank significantly less beer than they usually did. Falcatum, administered orally to rats at a daily dose of 500 mg/kg for 3 days, normalized liver functions as determined by serum alkaline phosphatase levels in rats treated with carbon tetrachloride . Treatment of rats with saikosaponins 2 hours before treatment with D-galactosamine inhibited the increase in serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels produced by damage of liver tissues . Conversely, saikosaponins did not affect an increase in serum alanine aminotransferase and experimental cirrhosis in rats caused by carbon tetrachloride intoxication . Purified puerarin another ingredient in Kudzu root was also shown to suppress alcohol intake in the short term as well reducing withdrawal reactions in high ethanol preferring rats. However this effect does not seem to be due a central brain mechanism . Keung et al. reported that Daidzin is a potent, selective, and reversible inhibitor of human mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase and this natural compound suppresses free-choice ethanol intake by Syrian golden hamsters. Other ALDH inhibitors, such as disulfiram and calcium citrate carbimide , have also been shown to suppress ethanol intake of laboratory animals and are thought to act by inhibiting the metabolism of acetaldehyde produced from ingested ethanol.

Natural Treatments of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Withdrawal

I will discuss how kudzu works, my experience with using powdered kudzu root for alcoholism, and recommendations for taking kudzu. In this article, I’m going to discuss how to use kudzu recovery for alcoholism. Kudzu is an invasive weed that has also been used to treat alcoholism for well over one thousand years. One is that it raises your blood alcohol levels faster, which means you may feel intoxicated sooner. Kudzu extract has shown some promise in helping people avoid binge drinking. Binge drinking is when someone has more than four or five drinks in two hours. A major limitation to this pilot is the small number of subjects evaluated and as such we caution any definitive interpretation of these interesting results. However, this pilot serves as the basis to further these studies and confirmation in a much larger cohort may have important treatment ramifications for not only alcoholism but possibly RDS behaviors as well. This lack of bitter flavor ingestion compromises not only overall health, but may allow for a greater risk of alcohol intake.

• Penetar holds the investigational new-drug application for puerarin.
• The primary indication of this complex and the pilot study described in this article involve Declinol’s effect in alcoholism.
• Due to the lack of data on the pre-intervention, it cannot be said statistically whether the results were affected by the intervention.
• Some research suggests that injecting puerarin, a chemical in kudzu, intravenously does not improve vision in people with diabetic retinopathy.

Researchers selected people who said they regularly consumed three to four drinks per day. Kudzu, an ever-expanding plant considered a pest in much of the South, appears to contain a compound that can be effective in reducing alcohol intake among humans. A number of clinical trials in both genders in various kudzu alcohol addiction disease states have hinted that the ability to produce the human metabolite S-(-)equol from its isoflavone precursor daidzein may hold unique health benefits. Franke et al. cite studies showing that about 60% of vegetarians and Asians produce equol, whereas only about 30% to 35% of omnivores do so.