Sober living

We employed two different biochemical methods (urinary riboflavin and plasma puerarin levels), to monitor medication adherence. The lack of side effects after four weeks of treatment with both placebo and kudzu extract is likely one of the major reasons for the high rate of medication adherence. Vital signs, measures of blood chemistry, liver function tests and urinalysis assessments were all normal.

Research Studies

Finding useful information and resources about addiction or alcoholism can be a minefield. To increase the chance of a successful recovery and life of sobriety it is important to receive guidance from a reliable source. Whether you take it in the morning or the evening typically doesn’t kudzu and alcohol make much difference.

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If this were the primary effect of kudzu increasing blood flow, then subjects should feel more intoxicated with fewer drinks after taking it. My problem at the time was a denial of the severity of my drinking problem. Kudzu did what it was supposed to do – it curbed my drinking noticeably. But as soon as the capsules ran out, I concluded that it marijuana addiction hadn’t totally “cured” my problem and that I would eventually find something better. I will discuss how it works, my experience with using powdered kudzu root for alcoholism, and recommendations.

• Kudzu root, also called Japanese arrowroot, is native to China, Japan, and Korea.
• Persons of Asian descent were excluded because of their known increased flushing reaction to alcohol.
• Your brain may signal alcohol cravings as a way to seek the rewarding effects it can have.
• As a safe, over-the-counter preparation, kudzu may be used alone in initial attempts to curb alcohol consumption, but it may also become a useful adjunct to the currently available prescription medications.
• Unfortunately, there is not much information about the half-life of kudzu in the body.

David Y-W Lee

• These could be attributed to the vasodilatory and antioxidant effects of kudzu.
• Still, it’s worthwhile to delve more deeply into how it works to help reduce alcohol consumption.
• Remember that every individual’s journey to recovery is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Since consuming alcohol while taking kudzu extract is not aversive, another explanation is necessary to account for the extremely fast onset of action observed in the present study. The correlational analysis of absolute amount of alcohol consumed and breath alcohol levels in this study indicates that the physiological effects and the rate of elimination of ingested alcohol are not altered by kudzu administration. This was demonstrated in our previous study (Penetar et al., 2011) where pharmacokinetic parameters such as peak concentration and elimination time were not affected by kudzu.

Kudzu for Alcohol Cravings & Reducing Alcohol Consumption—Final Thoughts

Kudzu is a natural remedy that has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. It has been suggested that kudzu may be effective in reducing alcohol consumption, alcohol cravings, and withdrawal symptoms in individuals with alcohol use disorders. Kudzu is an invasive vine that natively grows in East Asia—especially China and Japan. While it’s primarily known as being an invasive plant, there are also parts of it, especially the root, that have been used for various purposes in traditional Chinese medicine.

• There is some evidence that kudzu root dietary supplements may cause liver injury.
• Nor will it drastically enhance your quality of life after the first dose.
• It is important to note that kudzu should not be used as a substitute for professional medical treatment for alcoholism.
• They were required to come to the lab twice a week to provide urine, breath and blood samples to monitor drug use, alcohol drinking and liver function, respectively.
• Herbal extracts also tend to be cheaper than unextracted powders in many cases.

3 Medication Adherence

In that study, however, we did find evidence of an initial more rapid rise in blood alcohol levels in kudzu-treated individuals, suggesting that isoflavones may alter bioavailability of alcohol to the brain during the ascending alcohol absorption phase. This interpretation of kudzu’s possible mechanism of action was also suggested by Wong et al. (2011) who postulated that kudzu alters peripheral and cerebral blood flow. Puerarin, one of the most abundant isoflavones in kudzu root extracts, is a known vasodilator and is approved for such use in China following coronary infarction and stroke (Wu et al., 2014). 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. Prior studies of its antidipsotropic effect have focused on taste-aversion, alterations in alcohol metabolism or effects on neurotransmitters. Overstreet et al.’s (1998) study provides cursory evidence that a taste aversion mechanism is not likely.