Kudzu

      Kudzu:  Common name: Ge-gen.  Botanical name: Pueraria lobata.  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.

Kudzu has been used in connection with alcohol withdrawal support and angina.
 
Historical or traditional use (may or may not be supported by scientific studies): 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). In Traditional Chinese Medicine, kudzu root is used in prescriptions for the treatment of wei, or “superficial,” syndrome (a disease that manifests just under the surface—mild, but with fever), thirst, headache, and stiff neck with pain due to high blood pressure.  It is also recommended for allergies, migraine headaches, and diarrhea. 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.

Active constituents: Kudzu root is high in isoflavones, such as daidzein, as well as isoflavone glycosides, such as daidzin and puerarin. Depending on its growing conditions, the total isoflavone content varies from 1.77–12.0%, with puerarin in the highest concentration, followed by daidzin and daidzein.

A widely publicized 1993 animal study showed that both daidzin and daidzein inhibit the desire for alcohol.  The authors concluded the root extract may in fact be useful for reducing the urge for alcohol and as treatment for alcoholism. However, a small controlled clinical trial with alcoholic adults taking 1.2 grams of kudzu two times per day failed to show any effect on decreasing alcohol consumption or cravings.

The 1985 Chinese Pharmacopoeia suggests 9–15 grams of kudzu root per day.5 In China, standardized root extracts (10 mg tablet is equivalent to 1.5 grams of the crude root) are used to treat angina pectoris. Some sources recommend 30–120 mg of the extract two to three times per day.

At the amounts recommended above, there have been no reports of kudzu toxicity in humans.  At the time of writing, there were no well-known drug interactions with kudzu.