I recall feeling a very slight prickly feeling in my skin after I’d had a few drinks, and a mild head rush. I did not feel more drunk than usual, but I definitely drank less. Thus, I’m going to make sure I cover all of these topics and more so you become very knowledgeable about how kudzu works for helping people get better from alcoholism. 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. The opinions expressed in WebMD User-generated content areas like communities, reviews, ratings, or blogs are solely those of the User, who may or may not have medical or scientific training.
- Kudzu is a natural medicine that is extracted from the root of the plant.
- Volumes were individually adjusted to deliver a dose of either 0.35 or 0.70 g/kg in 400 ml of total volume.
- Stability/sway was defined as an area measurement of the total points collected in a 30-second period.
The overall incidence of side effects (e.g., headaches, shakes, chills, nausea, etc.) in both groups ranged between 1.7 and 3%. None of the study participants reported any insomnia, sedation, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, or altered libido. Urine samples were qualitatively analyzed by HPLC for puerarin https://ecosoberhouse.com/ 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.
Kudzu’s Benefits for Health
Medication adherence was measured using ultraviolet (UV) light to detect riboflavin in centrifuged urine samples (Del Boca et al., 1996) that were collected twice a week. Endogenous levels of riboflavin are too low to fluoresce and participants were instructed to avoid multivitamin complexes while participating in the study. Because riboflavin is cleared from the body quickly, fluorescing urine indicated compliance in the past 18–24 hours. In addition, participants reported pill taking by checking time-of-day boxes on daily diaries and by entries on the wrist actigraphy watches. Drinking was recorded using a custom built end table that contained a digital scale beneath a ceramic tile insert in the tabletop (Ohaus model #B10P with I5S controller). Participants were instructed to always keep the beer glass on the table except when taking a sip.
Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using. Taking kudzu along with diabetes medications might cause your blood sugar to go too low. Taking kudzu along with medications that also slow clotting might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding.
Medications that can harm the liver (Hepatotoxic drugs) interacts with KUDZU
Heart rate and skin temperature effects were collected only for the first 10 minutes after drinking because that was the only period during which the participants were sitting calmly and not required to perform any tasks (and thus offered artifact-free data). During this time, alcohol increased heart rate consistent with previous reports (Kouri et al., 2004; Penetar et al., 2009). The rates of alcohol drinking during follow-up phase were also reduced compared to baseline in both the kudzu- and placebo-treated groups. We had not expected that any beneficial effects would remain after kudzu extract had cleared the body based on our pharmacokinetic results (Penetar et al., 2006). Extracts of the kudzu plant are best known for their ability to suppress alcohol intake or alter alcohol effects by laboratory animals (Heyman et al., 1996; Keung and Vallee, 1993b; Keung, 2003; Overstreet et al., 1996; Rezvani et al., 2003; Benlhabib et al., 2004). The degree of reduction is often as high as 50% and the effects appeared within one to two days of treatment.
- 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.
- The amount of alcohol consumed was calculated for each group (1 unit per drink of beer or spirits, 1.6 units per glass of wine).
- As expected, I didn’t really feel anything after taking kudzu until I began drinking.
- Vital signs, measures of blood chemistry, liver function tests and urinalysis assessments were all normal.
The body breaks down caffeine (contained in kudzu) to get rid of it. Decreasing the breakdown of caffeine can cause jitteriness, headache, fast heartbeat, and other side effects. Some people use kudzu for menopause symptoms, muscle pain, measles, dysentery, stomach pain (gastritis), fever, diarrhea, thirst, neck stiffness, and to promote sweating.
Side Effects
The isoflavone puerarin is the most abundant antioxidant compound in the kudzu vine (6). Today, the most popular ways to use kudzu root are as an herbal supplement or a root tea. Lukas and Lee hold a patent for kudzu extract to treat alcohol abuse and dependence. McLean Hospital has licensed the production of kudzu extract (NPI-031) to Natural Pharmacia International (NPI), Inc. that markets it as Alkontrol-Herbal™. Overconsumption of alcohol has significant negative effects on an individual’s health and contributes to an enormous economic impact on society as a whole. Pharmacotherapies to curb excessive drinking are important for treating alcohol use disorders.
Herbal Approaches to Alcohol Dependence: Evidence and Risks – Pharmacy Times
Herbal Approaches to Alcohol Dependence: Evidence and Risks.
Posted: Wed, 07 Dec 2016 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Genistein treatment increased acetylation at six selected genes (EZH2, BRCA1, ERα, ERβ, SRC3, and p300) in breast cancer cells [148]. Moreover, genistein-induced histone H3 and H4 hyperacetylation led to ERα reactivation in MDA-MB-231 ER-negative cells, which sensitized these cells to tamoxifen and HDAC inhibitor TSA treatment. Accordingly, dietary genistein (250 mg/kg diet) in combination with tamoxifen reduced tumor growth in a MDA-MB-231 xenograft model and https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/kudzu-extract-and-alcohol-addiction-can-it-help-you-drink-less/ in the C3(1) SV40 TAg transgenic mouse model for basal breast cancer [149]. Zhang et al. [139] also found decreased acetylation in colon tissues from Sprague Dawley rats on genistein diet, in which downregulation of histone H3 acetylation at the promoter region of Sfrp2, Sfrp5, and Wnt5a was detected. In addition, nuclear level of HDAC3 was enhanced and the hypermethylation of H3K9 and the hyperphosphorylation of H3S10 was suppressed by genistein diet [139].