Kudzu for Alcoholism: The Ultimate Dosage Guide

As drinking behavior was measured using a wrist actigraphy device, we were able to monitor alcohol consumption continuously, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The reductions in drinking during kudzu extract treatment were modest, but were equivalent to kudzu to stop drinking a 34–57% reduction over the treatment weeks; reductions in drinking during placebo treatment ranged from 5.8–36%. The reductions in drinking by kudzu extract were observed by the second week of treatment and persisted through the 4th week of treatment.

Kudzu’s Benefits for Health

Taking this plant would decrease the chance that a drink would turn into an endless parade of drinks. Of course, it’s up to the individual to ensure that he or she doesn’t use this as an excuse to https://ecosoberhouse.com/ fall off the wagon. In terms of what I felt when I took this plant, my experience supports the observations of others who note that it might act like a much gentler form of disulfiram or Antabuse.

• Nine of the ten participants had previously tried other programs to eliminate alcohol cravings and intake with little or no success.
• Scientific research has been analysing the properties of kudzu since 1993 and has concluded that after treatment with kudzu, the percentage of alcohol or tobacco intake reduced by 50% 3.
• It has traditionally been prescribed as a medicinal treatment for flu and colds.
• As an herbal plant extract, kudzu can be made available without a prescription.

Could a Chinese herb stop you drinking too much?

This is the first ever pilot results showing that the complex Declinol, significantly reduced Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores in moderate to heavy drinkers in a naturalistic setting (Figure 1 and ​and2;2; Table 3). While this is a small pilot study requiring additional large scale controlled studies, we are encouraged. 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 [47,48]. 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 [47,49]. Conversely, saikosaponins did not affect an increase in serum alanine aminotransferase and experimental cirrhosis in rats caused by carbon tetrachloride intoxication [49]. While the literature seems to support an effect of Kudzu and especially isoflavonoid constituents to suppress ethanol intake in animal models, in contrast, Shebek and Rindone [9,10] were unable to reproduce this effect in humans.

• Importantly, 40% of these patients relapsed more than five times indicating serious problems with alcohol abuse/dependence.
• Each subject had full time access to the study coordinator and had weekly contact with the coordinator during the full 8 week term.
• Anecdotal sources also note that kudzu root may lower blood sugar too much or slow down blood clotting.
• Data due to dropouts were handled as missing data and no values were entered.
• Kudzu is an invasive weed that has also been used to treat alcoholism for well over one thousand years.
• One study in mice found that taking 10 mg per day of kudzu root extract for 4 weeks caused liver toxicity (15).

The big experiment: could I lose fat just by changing my meal times?

You can eat the root as you would other root vegetables, like potatoes or rutabagas. Kudzu roots can be dried and ground into a powder, which some people use as breading for fried foods or as a thickener for soups and sauces. The kudzu plant resembles poison ivy, so it’s important to know how to identify it correctly. None of them had noticed any side effects from the kudzu, indeed none of them were aware when they had taken it. It’s a plant with a long history, as Prof Elizabeth Williamson of the University of Reading, explains. Now, many of us make the resolution to cut back on alcohol, but like all good resolutions there is the danger of slippage.

• However, these studies were conducted on lone individuals drinking within highly controlled laboratory conditions.
• Our test, and those carried out in the US, involved each person taking 500mg of the active ingredient.
• However, there are a lot of supplements that claim to contain it that are mostly cheap fillers.
• After the first session, some subjects received capsules of kudzu, others a placebo.
• Until the effects of kudzu can be quantified properly in a larger study, then, and a standardised product is available on the market with the THR mark, it’s not something we can recommend you take.

• Lukas and Lee hold a patent for kudzu extract to treat alcohol abuse and dependence.
• Fortunately, there are several medications that can aid in alleviating alcohol cravings.
• This information relates to an herbal, vitamin, mineral or other dietary supplement.
• 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®.

In China, the kudzu or gégēn is found growing in shaded areas along mountains, in the fields and along roadsides, in thickets and thin forests all over the country. If you struggle with metabolic syndrome (which incorporates a bunch of health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance), kudzu might be worth looking into. “Kudzu root extract contains isoflavones, which appear to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and insulin levels,” Beckerman says. Urine samples were qualitatively analyzed by HPLC for puerarin levels on a weekly basis starting on the second week of baseline and continuing through the two follow-up visits. Although blood samples were collected from all participants to examine the safety of kudzu, only the last 12 subjects had blood samples collected for quantitative analysis of puerarin levels. Some evidence suggests kudzu root may help with liver damage, while other preliminary evidence suggests it may cause liver injury in certain cases.

Kudzu Vine Extract for Alcohol Treatment: The Study

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Scott E. Lukas

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