A small 2009 case report involving 16 people with regular cluster headaches provides some anecdotal evidence. Almost 3 in 4 participants had less intense headaches, more than half had fewer headaches, and 1 in 3 had shorter headaches when taking kudzu root. One study on 82 postmenopausal women notes that using a Pueraria mirifica (a particular species of kudzu) gel may improve symptoms of vaginal dryness. Another study shows that kudzu flower might be helpful to lessen hot flashes in menopausal women. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, kudzu root can be used for lots of health purposes.
6 Alcohol Consumption—Follow-up Phase
McLean Hospital has licensed the production of kudzu extract (NPI-031) to Natural Pharmacie International (NPI), Inc. and they are marketing it as Alkontrol-Herbal®. All other authors declare that they have no actual or potential conflict of interest that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, this work. The finding that alcohol intake was reduced without affecting desire to use alcohol at first seemed counter-intuitive.
Associated data
The data provide strong evidence that heavy drinking triggered by chronic stress and any type of induced anxiety are risk factors for developing alcohol dependence. Stopping or reducing alcohol consumption in turn aggravates stress or anxiety. The repeated psychological changes make it difficult to stop alcohol consumption.
It may ease menopause symptoms
It’s best to speak with your healthcare provider to determine whether kudzu root could interact with any medications you’re taking. For instance, it may reduce the effectiveness of birth control due to its estrogenic effects (8, 17). While scientists need to do more research on the health effects of kudzu, some studies suggest that kudzu root may have other health benefits worth considering.
J. Med. Food
The sample size was relatively small; however, a repeated measures, crossover design was used with participants as their own control receiving multiple pretreatments, each with placebo and alcohol challenges. The present study did not include a treatment condition to specifically analyze the effects of kudzu alone in the absence of any challenge drink. Previous work in this laboratory on the stance stability test has indicated that kudzu alone does not alter this behavior (unpublished results). In the current study, the effects of kudzu pretreatment alone were analyzed through a comparison of results on the 1st challenge day (‘day 8’). This experimental day was always a placebo drink but after either a week of treatment with placebo or kudzu extract. Results from these experimental days again showed no effect of the kudzu extract alone on our measures.
A Single Dose of Kudzu Extract Reduces Alcohol Consumption in a Binge Drinking Paradigm
- In our most recent study (Penetar et al., 2011) we provided evidence that kudzu extract may alter blood ethanol levels after an acute drinking episode.
- The Chinese noticed that people who consumed the plant started to drink less.
- The change in numbers and subunit compositions of GABAARs on cell surfaces has been demonstrated to be important in mediating inhibitory synaptic transmission58,59.
- Furthermore, because kudzu extract exerts its beneficial effects within hours of the first dose, it could be administered along with a prescription medication and provide “coverage” until the other medication begins to work.
- 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.
- Additionally, kudzu pretreatment enhanced the effects of the 0.7 g/kg dose of alcohol on heart rate and skin temperature.
In another small study, a single dose of kudzu extract reduced alcohol consumption (25). We developed a standardized kudzu extract that preserved the ratio of the major isoflavones found in the raw root, except that the concentration of isoflavones was increased to 25%. All of the above mentioned mechanisms, with the exception of a disulfiram-like one, require repeated administration and time to develop. 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.
Scientists need to do more research on the effects of kudzu root in humans to investigate these effects in the liver. Various studies have used single, one-time doses kudzu root alcohol or daily doses for a week without reported adverse effects. Anecdotal sources also note that kudzu root may lower blood sugar too much or slow down blood clotting.
- DHM anti-alcohol effects were blocked by the BZ antagonist flumazenil, and DHM competitively inhibited BZ-site [3H]flunitrazepam binding, suggesting that DHM interaction with EtOH involves the BZ sites on GABAARs.
- Its popularity grew through planting contests and even a kudzu queen contest.
Side Effects and Safety
