A Single Dose of Kudzu Extract Reduces Alcohol Consumption in a Binge Drinking Paradigm PMC

Unfortunately the authors did not report the concentrations of the active isoflavones in their kudzu extract. More recently a study has tested the efficacy of a kudzu extract in a group of “heavy” alcohol drinkers, treated with either placebo or a kudzu extract (500 mg three times daily for 7 days) (Lukas et al. 2005). After the 7-day period, subjects had the opportunity to drink their preferred brand of beer in a naturalistic laboratory setting. Kudzu treatment resulted in significant reduction in the number of beers consumed, an increase in the number of sips and the time to consume each beer and a decrease in the volume of each sip. These changes occurred in the absence of a significant effect on the urge to drink alcohol.

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The BDI for the kudzu extract-treated participants was 1.78 ± 2.11 and 2.63 ± 2.50 at baseline and during treatment, respectively. The BDI measures of the placebo-treated participants were 2.0 ± 2.58 and 1.67 ± 1.37 at baseline and during treatment, respectively. The BAI scores were equally stable and ranged from 0.33 to 1.71 during treatment. Sporadic missing data from the actiwatches were filled in from the back up daily diary data. Data due to dropouts were handled as missing data and no values were entered. Missing data points within the treatment weeks in non dropout participants were Missing Completely at Random and so were imputed using multiple regression.

A standardized kudzu extract (NPI- reduces alcohol consumption in nontreatment-seeking male heavy drinkers

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 https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to curb excessive drinking are important for treating alcohol use disorders. When alcohol is consumed, kudzu may reduce the time it takes for it to travel to the brain. A slightly increased concentration of alcohol in the brain results in a quicker reward, which in turn reduces a person’s desire to drink more alcohol.

Kudzu: the supplement said to curb drinking by reducing cravings for alcohol

• Morning and evening sets of capsules also contained a 25 mg tablet of riboflavin (vitamin B2) and the afternoon sets contained an additional placebo capsule, in addition to the two kudzu extract capsules, in order to maintain a uniform number (3) of capsules.
• It is known to be extremely safe, with very few reported adverse side effects.
• In fact, we reported that kudzu extract did just that and interrupted binge drinking (Lukas et al., 2005).

The responses to comments on fitrecovery.com are designed to support, not replace, medical or psychiatric treatment. Please seek professional care if you believe you may have a condition. My standards for categorizing an herb or drug as a “miracle” supplement are quite high. Something has to create a massive increase in sense of well-being to fit into this category. While it does not quite make the cut, it is definitely worth trying if you’re looking to cut down on or quit drinking. However, there are a lot of supplements that claim to contain it that are mostly cheap fillers.

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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. A total of 227 breath samples were possible from all subject visits during the trial and compliance was equally distributed between the two groups; the kudzu extract group provided 131 of a possible 136 samples and the placebo group provided 84 of a possible 91 samples. Only one breath sample was positive for alcohol during all three phases of the study. The root of the Kudzu plant has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to treat a variety of ailments, including alcoholism. The root contains isoflavones, a compound that has been shown to reduce alcohol consumption in rats.

When they visited the bar, beer, spirits and white wine were freely available. 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). The last study above was designed kudzu for alcohol cravings to test the hypothesis that kudzu accelerates the subjective experience of alcohol intoxication. If this were the primary effect of kudzu increasing blood flow, then subjects should feel more intoxicated with fewer drinks after taking it.

Possibly Effective for

This is the first demonstration that a single dose of kudzu extract quickly reduces alcohol consumption in a binge drinking paradigm. These data add to the mounting clinical evidence that kudzu extract may be a safe and effective adjunctive pharmacotherapy for alcohol abuse and dependence. The study consisted of a 2-week baseline period, 4 weeks of medication (subjects were randomized to either kudzu extract or placebo treatments) and a 2-week follow up period. Medication adherence was excellent and there were no adverse events and changes in vital signs, blood chemistry, and renal or liver function.

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• Because my drinking levels were so stupendously high in the first place, kudzu did not turn me into a moderate drinker by any stretch of the imagination.
• However, more research is needed to fully understand the effects of kudzu on the body.
• 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.
• Our laboratory has been involved in assessing an extract of the kudzu root (Pueraria lobata) for its ability to reduce alcohol consumption in humans.

In the second, participants who were treated for 4 weeks with kudzu extract significantly reduced their alcohol consumption during weeks 2 through 4 of the study (Lukas et al., 2013). We have subsequently shown that puerarin is the major active isoflavone because 7 days treatment with this compound alone (1,200 mg/day) produced a similar reduction of binge drinking as the extract (Penetar et al., 2012). Given that a week of preplanning is unlikely before a binge drinking episode or opportunity, we built on our previous findings to explore in the present experiment if a single dose of kudzu extract taken shortly before a drinking session would reduce alcohol consumption. It is important to place the magnitude of the effects of kudzu extract on alcohol drinking in context. Alcohol drinking was not completely eliminated by kudzu extract in the present study, but was reduced from baseline drinking by an average of 45% over the four weeks of treatment.

Will kudzu supplement pills make me drink less alcohol?

“Unhealthy alcohol use is the fourth leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S.,” said Dr. Alex Krist, a family physician with VCU. When recovering from alcohol addiction, fixing these nutrient deficiencies for your overall health is important. 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. There are no studies showing that Kudzu can serve as a morning-after potion for reducing hangovers.