Kudzu
Kudzu is a climbing plant of the pea family native to East Asia. Its root is used in traditional Chinese medicine and contains isoflavones such as puerarin.
Also listed as Gegen, Pueraria Lobata, Indian Kudzu, Kudzu Glycerite Liquid Extract
A small alcohol study worth following up
Seventeen young men who drank heavily but were not seeking treatment received placebo or a standardized extract for four weeks. The extract group drank less and had fewer heavy-drinking days, but craving did not improve. The trial used 250 mg of isoflavones three times daily; this was a research regimen, not an established treatment. 1
Why is liver protection being studied?
Puerarin, an isoflavone from kudzu, reduced alcohol-related liver injury in rats. Researchers also observed changes in intestinal barrier damage and inflammatory signaling. This experiment supports a biological hypothesis, not evidence that kudzu protects a person’s liver while drinking. 2
The cited liver-protection result comes from rats given puerarin, not a human trial of a retail supplement. 2
Effects by health goal
Open an effect to see the studies behind its rating. Bars show the size of the effect; the letter grades the evidence.
Longevity1 effect
No study is linked to this rating.
Stress & Mood2 effects
No study is linked to this rating.
Organ Function1 effect
No study is linked to this rating.
Cardiovascular1 effect
No study is linked to this rating.
Other effects1 effect
No study is linked to this rating.
Sources
- Puerarin ameliorates experimental alcoholic liver injury by inhibition of endotoxin gut leakage, Kupffer cell activation, and endotoxin receptors expression Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2013