Kudzu Root

I am going to do some more research. Kudzu sounds better than cold turkey? Has anyone heard of it and where can you find it?

Alcoholism cure?

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/scitech_story.cfm?instanceid=12561

A plant that grows like a weed throughout America could offer a cure for alcoholism.

Kudzu, a fast-growing bean vine, has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine to make a "drunkenness dispeller" tea, and the latest evidence suggests that its roots contain active ingredients that can reduce cravings for alcohol and lessen hangovers.

Preliminary trials at Harvard Medical School have isolated the kudzu root's two active ingredients -- daidzin and daidzein -- which have been shown to have an impressive effect on golden hamsters bred to have an innate fondness for alcohol.

When the hamsters were denied their daily dose of kudzu, they reverted to their more alcoholic habits.

As yet, there have been no large-scale trials on humans, only rats, monkeys and hamsters, so physicians can offer no guarantees about kudzu's efficiency.

However, a small study is very promising. Dr Wing-Ming Keung, who conducted the research at Harvard, traveled to Hong Kong to interview 300 chronic alcoholics who were treated with kudzu tea. After two to four weeks, 80 per cent said they no longer craved alcohol.

There are no known contraindications, although it is not recommended for pregnant women or children.

I found this testimonial:


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'I CURED MY ALCOHOLISM WITH A KUDZU COCKTAIL!


ATLANTA -- Kudzu, perhaps the most hated plant in the southern United States, appears to have at least one redeeming quality -- as a safe and effective cure for millions of Americans suffering from alcoholism!

Scientists at the Center for Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences and Medicine at Harvard University, the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill and other research institutes have found that a kudzu extract known as daidzin can dramatically reduce a drinker's cravings for alcohol.

"Kudzu saved my life," proclaims Larry Cambert, 55, of Atlanta. "I started drinking when I was 17 and became an alcoholic by the age of 25. I consumed more alcohol in one week than most people drink in one month. And it was killing me.

"Then my doctor placed me in a clinical trial for daidzin. Within two days, my craving for alcohol was half of what it had been. And within two weeks, I no longer needed alcohol to function. I haven't had a drink in three months, and I've never felt better.

"In addition to daidzin, I buy kudzu from a health-food store and brew a tea, which I drink every day. Kudzu is a blessing from God!"

How kudzu works to relieve alcoholism remains a mystery. Some researchers believe that it limits the absorption of alcohol in the small intestine. Others speculate that it reduces cravings by altering the activity of a brain chemical called serotonin.

Kudzu is loathed in the southern United States because it grows at an alarming rate and smothers all other plants and trees around it. But in China, kudzu has been revered as an herbal remedy for thousands of years, says botanist Dr. Chiang Wen-ho of the People's Institute for Herbal Research in Beijing.

"Kudzu is a plant with many uses," Dr. Chiang explains. "In China, it is commonly used to treat influenza, fever, dysentery and snake bites, as well as alcoholism. It is very effective, and offers quick relief with none of the harmful side effects that typically accompany synthetic drugs."

It's important that kudzu be consumed only as a pure, laboratory-produced extract, or purchased from a health-food store, Dr. Chiang adds. Wild kudzu is often contaminated with environmental poisons.

-- By WAYNE DIAZ



Published on: June 18, 2001

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/scitech_story.cfm?instanceid=12561

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