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When it’s raw, kudzu root looks like other root tubers (think yams or ginger). Kudzu root is an edible part of a climbing vine that’s native to many Asian countries. It’s been used for health purposes in Traditional Chinese Medicine for a really long time. Finally, the role of Disulfiram because of its inhibition of Dopamine –Beta –Hydroxylase thereby increasing brain dopamine has been also proposed for cocaine abuse or possibly other RS behaviors [63].
Many menopausal women have undergone hormone replacement therapy to combat their symptoms. Taking estrogen pills has been the traditional route, but research indicates that the kudzu plant may be able to offer a more natural means of estrogen replacement therapy. A chemist extracted several forms of plant estrogen from the roots stems and leaves of kudzu and used it to make tablets.
Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
In the reward pathway of the brain, this process causes feelings of euphoria and pleasure. There is evidence that drinking alcohol causes neurons to release dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters involved in the reward system. Other studies show that when alcohol-preferring rats are given a drug which increases the amount of serotonin available in their brain, they drink less alcohol. Lukas was not certain why but speculated that kudzu increases blood-alcohol levels and speeds up its effects. Kudzu root is available in lots of forms including capsules, liquid extracts, and powder. There’s not a recommended dosage for kudzu root, but there have been human studies that can help guide you.
- Alcohol use disorder has also been linked to a higher risk of several cancers, including colon, breast, oral, liver, and throat cancers.
- It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers.
- Kudzu root comes from a trailing vine that often grows over other plants.
None of the study participants had an alcohol abuse problem, Dr. Penetar noted. “We started looking at kudzu in our laboratory 15 years ago,” Dr. Penetar told Medscape Medical News. Study coauthor David Y.-W. Lee, PhD, from the Department of Bio-Organic kudzu to stop drinking and Natural Products Laboratory at McLean Hospital, in Belmont, Massachusetts, has a lot of experience with Chinese medicine. “He knew that extracts of the kudzu root have been used to treat alcohol-related problems for years,” he said.
Got a drinking problem? Try kudzu
Lukas was not certain why but speculated that kudzu increases blood alcohol levels and speeds up its effects. During his regular trips to China, David Lee, an organic chemist at Research Triangle Institute, noticed that many households he visited kept an herbal tea on hand-a mixture of seven different Chinese herbs, including the kudzu plant. Loosely translated, the Chinese name for this tea means “drunkenness dispeller.” It’s a common practice in Northern China to drink it to sober up after drinking alcohol and to relieve hangovers. In this recent study, the researchers gave twelve participants different schedules of placebo or kudzu pills, and then observed the effects of drinking a set amount of vodka. They tested steadiness of gait, body sway, how well participants could stand upright, and how drunk they said they felt, among other factors.
In one of the studies in the review, researchers compared a real acupuncture treatment to a fake one. In the real treatment, researchers placed needles into zones linked to alcohol-related behaviors. In the sham treatment, they placed needles into other areas of the body. Some people also use it to treat the anxiety and depression that go along with alcohol addiction and withdrawal. Relapse is when someone resumes drinking in unhealthy ways after a period of recovery. St. John’s wort can help to relieve depression and mood swings that come with alcohol withdrawal and early recovery.
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In 1992 the National Institutes of Health established the Office of Alternative Medicine, which awards small grants for the study of treatments such as herbal medicine, hypnosis, and acupuncture. Keung said he has extracted a compound from kudzu root that he hopes to turn into a drug for reducing alcoholics’ cravings. With animal studies showing that these extracts reduced alcohol consumption, the next step was to see whether this would work in humans, Dr. Penetar said.
- In spite of the compelling preclinical and clinical evidence of its efficacy, the precise mechanism of action of kudzu in reducing alcohol consumption is not currently known.
- Selenium deficiency is common in those who struggle with alcohol, especially if they have liver disease.
- Other preliminary studies suggest kudzu may improve symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats in perimenopausal women (5) (10) (21), and cognitive function in postmenopausal women (6).
- Daily drinking can have serious consequences for a person’s health, both in the short- and long-term.
- It suppressed rennin activity in rats with the intake of 100, 200 mg/kg/day for three weeks [115].
The people who received a dose of kudzu extract drank significantly less beer than they usually did. Keung, not directly involved in Lukas’ study, said he has extracted a compound from kudzu root that he hopes to turn into a drug for reducing alcoholics’ cravings. Kudzu is being investigated for treatment of alcohol use disorder and cervical spondylosis; the estrogenic activity and cardioprotective effects of kudzu and its constituent puerarin are also under investigation.
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Alcohol withdrawal can begin within hours of ending a drinking session. When taken in small doses, kudzu can treat alcoholism and inflammation. If you think you could benefit from taking kudzu root extract, talk to your doctor to see if this weed is right for you. Research on the correlation between kudzu and alcohol consumption is still ongoing. From what we do know, it appears that kudzu can treat binge drinking and alcoholism–and there aren’t many other herbal and pharmaceutical medicines that can say the same. Overstreet and Rezvani are working with the three different strains of rat to learn more about how serotonin levels and other factors influence alcohol intake.
Radix Pueraiae also increased the number of bromodeoxyuridine- and NADPH-d-positive cells that was decreased by alcohol administration (Jang et al., 2002). Pretreatment with puerarin reversed the changes in GABAA receptor expression and increased ADH activity in alcoholism models (Zhang, Li, et al., 2010). Moreover, the number of neurons decreased in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in puerarin-treated mice.