Using Chinese Medicine for Detoxification Therapy

Chinese medicine has used the kudzu plant ( ge gen ) for centuries to treat stiff neck, sprains, thirst and diarrhea, and to reduce drinking alcohol. It has also been used as a hangover cure. Today, researchers are exploring this Chinese herb's use in Detoxification therapy and to reduce alcohol consumption abuse.

A May 2005 study by Harvard Medical School and New England Research Institutes found that properties of the kudzu plant may cause alcohol to reach the brain more quickly. Drinkers feel the effects sooner and will likely drink less and more slowly. During the seven-day study, 14 subjects were observed in a simulated living room and small kitchen, which was stocked with their favorite beer. Each of the subjects was a heavy drinker, averaging 25 alcoholic beverages per week. None had a family history of alcoholism or were alcohol dependent.

Between drinks, the subjects rested their beer on a scale so researchers could monitor exactly how much they were drinking. They then either took 500 mg kudzu plant capsules three times a day or a placebo for a week and then returned to the lab. After observation, there was a "washout" period and treatments were then reversed - those who had been taking kudzu plant were given a placebo and vice versa. Behavior-observing researchers did not know who had been given what. The subjects who had been taking kudzu plant showed almost a 50 percent average decrease in beer intake and took smaller sips, while placebo takers drank the same quantity as before. No side effects were reported or observed from kudzu plant intake.

It may seem counterintuitive that kudzu plant can work both as a hangover cure and to curb the desire to drink, but the same elements that help ease the physical consequences may push the body to feel alcohol's effects sooner. Current data suggests components of the kudzu plant may work within the central nervous system. Therefore, suppression of alcohol reinforcement produced by the kudzu plant compounds is mediated centrally in the brain reward pathway.

According to the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency, there are more than 100,000 American deaths per year as a result of alcohol abuse. Counseling, Alcoholics Anonymous and detoxification are helpful and often necessary treatments, but current alcohol medication resembles unpleasant aversion therapy. The kudzu plant, unlike alcohol medication, produces no effects of its own, and is a safe alternative in combating alcohol dependency.

To learn more about using the Kadzu plant for Detoxification therapy please contact Pacific College at (800) 729-0941, or at www.pacificcollege.edu

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