Kudzu Recovery Mechanism for Alcoholism: How It Works

The way it appears to work is that the isoflavones speed up the effect of alcohol on the brain, alerting us to slow down. However, it does not make people feel more drunk, or affect their physical abilities or mental agility. It is, therefore, thought not to make alcohol more dangerous – merely slow down our rate of drinking. The results showed pre-treatment with kudzu extract had little to no effect on the participant’s behavioral, physical or cognitive performance.

• Early research focused on rats with good results, which were later replicated with human subjects.
• Overstreet et al.’s (1998) study provides cursory evidence that a taste aversion mechanism is not likely.
• The finding that alcohol intake was reduced without affecting desire to use alcohol at first seemed counter-intuitive.
• The amounts of metabolites in serum such as d-glucurono-6,3-lactone, glycerol-3-phosphate, pyruvic acid, lithocholic acid, 2-pyrocatechuic acid, and prostaglandin El increased after alcohol administration, but the levels were recovered in treatment groups [80].

Kudzu Recovery For Alcoholics: How It Works

• Capsule sets were individually packaged in small envelopes and marked on the outside with date and time of day to be consumed.
• In summary, P. lobata has been used traditionally in China for treating various diseases including heart, stroke, high blood pressure, etc.
• Again, we calculated the total units consumed for each group, and then compared the total units consumed after placebo vs those consumed after kudzu.
• We have previously reported on the sleep/wake patterns of the participants in this study (Bracken et al., 2011).
• Additional details and photos of the device can be found in Lukas et al. (2005).

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. The number https://ecosoberhouse.com/ of participants who drank each available beer during the 1.5 hour drinking session following administration of placebo or kudzu. The BDI and BAI scores remained unchanged during the course of treatment with both kudzu extract and placebo. The BDI for the kudzu extract-treated participants was 1.78 ± 2.11 and 2.63 ± 2.50 at baseline and during treatment, respectively.

Associated data

Kudzu extract was administered in gelatin capsules containing 500 mg of extract (Alkontrol-Herbal™; NPI-031) prepared by Natural Pharmacia International, Inc., Burlington, MA. The extract contained 26% (130 mg) active isoflavones (20% puerarin, 4% daidzin, 2% daidzein; an improved HPLC analysis revealed that the total puerarin content includes both puerarin and 3-methoxypuerarin.). Participants were randomized on a blind basis to receive either 4 capsules of the extract (for a total of 520 mg isoflavones) or placebo (sugar beet filler) 2.5 hours before the start of an afternoon drinking session.

Kudzu root shopping tips

Some evidence suggests kudzu root may help with liver damage, while other preliminary evidence suggests it may cause liver injury in certain cases. Scientists need to do more research on the effects of kudzu root in humans to investigate these effects in the liver. McLean Hospital has licensed the production of kudzu extract (NPI-031) to Natural Pharmacie International (NPI), Inc. and they are marketing it as Alkontrol-Herbal®. As a result, the researchers gave compounds from Kudzu root to the special lab rats. The investigators found that the compounds reduced the rats’ alcohol intake. Next, Dr. Lee contacted researchers at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies.

• This latter scenario might very well permit the use of lower doses of prescription medications and thus reduce the incidence of side effects.
• The patterns of drinking during baseline and after kudzu treatment are shown for one representative subject in Fig 6.
• Seventeen men (21–33 years) who reported drinking 27.6 ± 6.5 drinks/week with a diagnosis of alcohol abuse/dependence took either kudzu extract (250 mg isoflavones, t.i.d.) or matched placebo on a daily basis.
• Although I’m sure it would have helped me detoxify, I did not use it after I quit drinking.
• The ginger essential oil and citral exhibited hepatoprotective activity against AFLD in mice.
• The 14 participants, allowed to open only one drink at a time, were asked to drink from a mug that they set down on special tile topped table after each sip.

The extract of Kudzu is a safe and effective product for alcohol use disorder. It is the only natural medication regarded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to treat alcohol use disorder [44]. In a clinical population study, kudzu treatment resulted in significant reduction in alcohol intake in a naturalistic setting. The number of beers kudzu to stop drinking consumed and the volume of each sip was decreased while the number of sips and the time to consume each beer was increased. In another study, 20 men participated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind design experiment, where kudzu extract (2 g) with an active isoflavone content of 520 mg, quickly reduced alcohol intake in a binge drinking paradigm [46].

Kudzu Extract Reduces Alcohol Consumption by Heavy Drinkers

The effect on alcohol intake of the combined treatment remained stable during the 12 days of chronic treatment. The food intake was slightly reduced, while no change on body weight, was observed compared with the control. HPE (50 and 100 mg/kg) produced positive inhibitory effects on tremor and audiogenic seizures during the withdrawal period in alcohol-preferring rats. These results suggest that HPE could have some beneficial effects on alcohol withdrawal syndrome in people [102]. Hypericum perforatum exhibits remarkable antioxidant potential due to high content of phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids, hyperforin and hypericin [103].

Study Says Kudzu Extract Might Reduce Alcohol Craving

Does Kudzu Root Really Work? Here’s What We Know

• Because animal and human studies suggest some estrogenic effects, individuals with hormone-sensitive cancers and those taking tamoxifen should avoid kudzu.
• FPEt might exert cytoprotective effects by enhancing cellular redox status [53].
• Kim et al. [82] analyzed the constituents of the young shoots and the leaves of asparagus, the result showed that the amino acid and inorganic mineral contents were higher in leave than in shoots.
• We recently demonstrated that kudzu extract does not potentiate the intoxicating effects of alcohol (Penetar et al., 2010) and it does not interfere with sleep wake activity (Bracken et al., 2011).