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Chinese Herb Kudzu May Help Drinkers Cut Down

Because of this effect, kudzu might also be helpful for people who have quit drinking and want to make sure that a potential slip doesn’t become a full blown relapse. Taking kudzu 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 fall off the wagon.

kudzu for alcohol cravings

Here are our best tips to find the perf kudzu root supplement. It’s marketed as a treatment for alcoholism, diabetes, and inflammation. We read the research to find out what science has to say about this plant. Declinol utilizes a proprietary and patent-pending encapsulation technology that enhances the absorption and bio-availability of its herbal compounds. The active ingredients are all encapsulated, or enveloped, using specific processing techniques, within phosphatidyl choline based spheres that act as transport vehicles. The process mimics natural actions that take place within the gut to enable proper absorption of nutrients, especially phyto-nutrients and fat soluble vitamins. The body’s own process in this regard creates micelles, single layer or unilamellar spheres in the size range of approximately 100 nanometers that typically can transport single nutrients.

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In one study, people who binge drink took either kudzu extract or a placebo before a 90-minute session of drinking beer. Another study found that people who took puerarin, an isoflavone extract from the kudzu plant, prior to drinking took longer to consume alcoholic beverages . 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 . Compared kudzu for alcohol cravings to weeks in which the participants took no pill or a placebo, individuals with kudzu in their system consumed almost half as much alcohol—and showed no side effects or awareness of the drug. 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 was not certain why but speculated that kudzu increases blood alcohol levels and speeds up its effects.

  • The active ingredients are all encapsulated, or enveloped, using specific processing techniques, within phosphatidyl choline based spheres that act as transport vehicles.
  • 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 .
  • It’s been used for health purposes in Traditional Chinese Medicine for a really long time.
  • None of the subjects had any side effects from mixing kudzu with beer.
  • Nine of the ten participants had previously tried other programs to eliminate alcohol cravings and intake with little or no success.

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. All subjects reviewed a full protocol of the study and signed informed consent forms prior to beginning. Subjects were given an 8 week supply of the compound with instructions and dosing logs.

Kudzu

Potential health perks of taking kudzu root include decreasing alcohol intake, easing menopause symptoms, and regulating blood sugar levels. For reducing alcohol intake, a single dose of 2 grams before drinking alcohol has been effective on participants without causing significant side effects. The kudzu vine, imported from Japan in 1876, has been written about in Chinese medical literature for centuries for its general health benefits. But recently, it has been tested for its ability to reduce alcohol cravings. 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.

  • The Lukas study used 500-mg capsules of kudzu extract (NPI-031, Natural Pharmacia Int., Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC) containing sugar beet-based filler and 19% puerarin, 4% daidzin, and 2.0% daidzein.
  • During the week of puerarin treatment, they drank slightly less than during the placebo week — three drinks a day compared to 3.4.
  • Let’s dig into the potential health benefits of this rad root.
  • The room contained a small sink with an under-the-counter refrigerator where the beverages were kept.
  • It’s important to note that this is a case study, so it can’t prove kudzu root caused this liver injury.

Natural therapies could help reduce cravings and ease withdrawal symptoms. Ashwagandha is sometimes used for alcohol withdrawal and cravings.

Chemical Composition of Soy

Bouchery EE, Harwood HJ, Sacks JJ, Simon CJ, Brewer RD. Economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in the U.S., 2006. Many people have reported success soaking infected nails in 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water. Such remedies won’t work for everyone and take several months to produce results.

  • Binge drinking is when someone has more than four or five drinks in two hours.
  • There’s some evidence that acupuncture, mindfulness, and meditation help during AUD treatment.
  • It has many profound pharmacological actions, including antidipsotropic activity.
  • You can find kudzu root supplements easily online and in a variety of natural food or supplement stores.
  • Overconsumption of alcohol has significant negative effects on an individual’s health and contributes to an enormous economic impact on society as a whole.
  • But recently, it has been tested for its ability to reduce alcohol cravings.

Dietary soy isoflavones occur bound to sugars that are not readily absorbed and may be modified extensively in the gastrointestinal tract, although the degree of metabolism and absorption varies considerably among individuals. In daidzin , the link between daidzein and glucose is a COC bond, whereas in puerarin , it is a CC bond. Isoflavones are structurally similar to 17β-estradiol and have been the subject of intense research regarding their effects on human health as agonists of the ERβ receptor. Whereas the B-ring in flavones is in the 2-position (e.g., apigenin, A), for isoflavones it is in the 3-position (e.g., genistein, B). Though there have been limited clinical trials of the single use of Gegen, it can be a potential candidate to suppress aging-related neuronal cell apoptosis and dysfunction of the memory system.