Author: Gary Jackson
Natural Products for the Prevention and Treatment of Hangover and Alcohol Use Disorder PMC
While kudzu root has a long history in traditional Chinese medicine, people most often use it to help treat alcohol dependence. 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. It’s important to note that these studies used kudzu extract, which may have contained other parts of the kudzu plant besides the root. Thus, scientists need to do more research in this area on the effects of kudzu root specifically.
This invasive weed is native to East Asia, particularly China, Japan, and Korea, where it has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. And so after that week of treatment, when they came to the lab, we measured their drinking using a very specialized table that we had developed that actually has a scale built into it. And the table actually weighs the mug of beer, and each time they took a sip, we could actually see how much they were consuming each time. In China, it has been used to treat alcoholism since 600AD, and Western medicine is starting to take notice of this herbal remedy. The kudzu root may interact with certain medications or pose other health risks for certain people.
Study Says Kudzu Extract Might Reduce Alcohol Craving
The present study explored possible mechanisms to explain how kudzu extract reduces alcohol consumption in humans. The results imply that a reduction in consumption exhibited in previous studies is not likely due to an increase in the subjective intoxicating effects of alcohol or to an increase in alcohol’s effect on psychomotor performance or cognitive processing. However, it is interesting to note that two measures of physiological responses – heart rate and skin temperature – were accentuated by kudzu pretreatment. As these effects were seen only after the high alcohol dose, it would appear that this is evidence for a dose-response type of relationship. In addition, and perhaps of greater significance, is the possibility that ethanol levels rose more quickly at the higher dose of alcohol (0.7 g/kg) following kudzu pretreatment compared to placebo pretreatment.
Today, kudzu grows in other parts of the world as well, including in the southern United States. Tell your healthcare providers about any dietary supplements you’re taking, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, and natural or home remedies. Can a plant most often used as a cooking ingredient really make you want to drink less? Research is limited and the results are mixed, but strongly suggest that it’s possible.
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Daidzin has been shown to inhibit hamster and rat mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2) in vitro and is a mixed inhibitor of the human enzyme (Keung et al., 1997). If isoflavones such as daidzin significantly increase acetaldehyde levels in humans in vivo, then this could be a possible mechanism of action. However, in a pilot toxicity study we found no change in acetaldehyde levels in kudzu-treated humans after drinking alcohol (unpublished data). The transient effects of subjective ratings of dizziness alone are insufficient to suggest the presence of a disulfiram-like effect as a result of kudzu administration.
