McLean News McLean Hospital Study Finds Herbal Extract May Curb Binge Drinking

Someone who is told by their doctor to cut down on drinking for health reasons might, he says. Penetar holds the investigational new-drug application for puerarin. kudzu root alcohol cravings McLean Hospital has a licensing agreement with NPI for the extract. The first session was to make the participants familiar with the surroundings.

Most patients who continued to take controlled-release melatonin at night remained off benzodiazepines six months after the end of the study. But before Penetar and Lukas­—a Professor of Psychiatry at HMS—could endorse kudzu, they needed to be sure that it did not simply make individuals experience the same level of intoxication with half as much alcohol. If that were the case, taking the drug would help people get drunk faster rather than helping them drink less. Cozzo said in Asian cultures, kudzu is highly regarded, with claims that it can reduce high blood pressure and the risk of cancer, and that it can even help with nerve regeneration. The study showed that subjects taking puerarin drank significantly fewer beers—dropping from 3.5 beers on average to 2.4. As of the last update, we found no reported interactions between this supplement and medicines. If you take medication, always discuss the potential risks and benefits of adding a new supplement with your doctor or pharmacist. Is used in modern Chinese medicine as a treatment for angina.

Got a drinking problem? Try kudzu

In its native China, kudzu has long been used to help people control their desire for alcohol. Drive through the countryside anywhere in the southern United States and you’re likely to see vines of kudzu smothering trees, shrubs, telephone poles, old cars, and anything else in their path. Americans consider it an invasive weed, but in Asia, where it originated, parts of the plant have been used for centuries to treat alcohol dependence. Kudzu root is available in lots of forms including capsules, liquid extracts, and powder. You can ingest it directly, or mix it with other foods or drinks. There’s not a recommended dosage for kudzu root, but there have been human studies that can help guide you. One study in mice found that kudzu vine extract had a positive effect in the treatment of liver damage by boosting the natural antioxidant system. Kudzu root can also be a natural option to treat inflammation. In a small case study, researchers found that isoorientin, a compound isolated from kudzu root, is capable of boosting antioxidant levels and reducing inflammation in mice with swollen paws. According to a 2019 animal study, kudzu root may also help regulate blood sugar levels by inhibiting PTP1B, a diabetes-related protein.

Standardized root tablets are sometimes used for angina pectoris. Kudzu is a coarse, high-climbing, twining, trailing, perennial vine. The huge root, which can grow to the size of a human, is the source of medicinal preparations used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern herbal products. Kudzu grows in most shaded areas in mountains, fields, along roadsides, thickets, and thin forests throughout most of China and the southeastern United States. The root of another Asian species of kudzu, Pueraria thomsonii, is also used for herbal products. Declinol is blended formula developed by one of us consisting of a number of key ingredients such as Kudzu, Bitter Herbs and Bupleurum and other herbals . The primary indication of this complex and the pilot study described in this article involve Declinol’s effect in alcoholism. Because this the first report on Declinol, we are compelled to briefly review these three important ingredients role in alcoholism including both central and peripheral actions. Mindfulness therapies have been used to keep people from relapsing.

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Penetar DM, MacLean RR, McNeil JF, Lukas SE. Kudzu extract treatment does not increase the intoxicating effects of acute alcohol in human volunteers. Overstreet DH, Lee DY-W, Chen YT, Rezvani AH. The Chinese herbal medicine NPI-028 suppresses alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats and monkeys without inducing taste aversion. Melatonin may facilitate discontinuation of benzodiazepines when there is dependence following chronic use. In a 12-week single-blind placebo-controlled study patients receiving controlled release melatonin 2mg/night were more likely to discontinue benzodiazepines compared to patients taking a placebo . Patients taking melatonin reported significantly greater improvements in subjective sleep quality compared to the placebo group.

There isn’t much scientific evidence available on the dosing for kudzu root as a supplement. For this reason, it’s difficult to make recommendations for various uses. While kudzu root may offer a few specific benefits, there are also some potential downsides to consider. Kudzu root offered heart-protective benefits to mice with burn-induced heart injuries. People have also used it in traditional Chinese medicine for heart disease, but scientists need to do more research on this . People often eat different parts of the plant raw, sautéed, deep-fried, baked, or jellied.

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Now kudzu’s popularity is also picking up in the Western world as a wellness supplement. You can find kudzu root supplements easily online and in a variety of natural food or supplement stores. It’s important to note that this is a case study, so it can’t prove kudzu root caused this liver injury. Scientists need to do more research to investigate the potential of kudzu root to cause liver injury in humans. For over 2,000 years, people have used kudzu root in traditional Chinese medicine for purposes like treating fevers, diarrhea, and even diabetes and heart disease . This article examines the benefits, uses, and potential side effects of kudzu root. In 2003, David Overstreet and other scientists found the herb to be effective in reducing alcohol intake on rats. Findings show that subjects who took kudzu drank an average of 1.8 beers per session, compared with the 3.5 beers consumed by those who took a placebo. A number of clinical trials in both genders in various disease states have hinted that the ability to produce the human metabolite S-(-)equol from its isoflavone precursor daidzein may hold unique health benefits. Franke et al. cite studies showing that about 60% of vegetarians and Asians produce equol, whereas only about 30% to 35% of omnivores do so.

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. This interpretation of kudzu’s possible mechanism of action was also suggested by Wong et al. 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 Sober Home al., 2014). Regardless of the mechanism of action, the present finding that a modest, single dose of kudzu extract reduces binge drinking has profound implications as it offers a unique opportunity for early intervention for problem drinkers. As an herbal plant extract, kudzu can be made available without a prescription. While it does not completely eliminate drinking, it is clearly effective in significantly reducing intake, which offers individuals an opportunity to engage in more responsible drinking patterns.

Kudzu root has been known for centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine as ge-gen. The first written mention of the plant as a medicine is in the ancient herbal text of Shen Nong (circa A.D. 100). The historical application for drunkenness has become a major focal point of modern research on kudzu. It is also used in modern Chinese medicine as a treatment for angina pectoris. The resultant call for adopting a zero tolerance policy for alcohol-impaired driving3 has necessitated seeking effective treatment strategies for patients with alcoholism. One component of such a strategy would be the development of a drug to decrease ethanol craving.

• Any natural means to balance blood sugar can therefore be of great cessation benefit to alcohol programs.
• The information presented by TraceGains is for informational purposes only.
• Some herbal remedies, including kudzu, ashwagandha, and milk thistle, could support your recovery, too.
• It was introduced into the United States as an ornamental in 1876, as a forage plant in Florida in the 1920s, and was promoted as an erosion control by the U.S.