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| supplementation (at least 50 mg each of vitamin B-6 and niacinamide) and a trace mineral supplement daily, plus I gram (1000 mg) of the amino acid glutamine taken 3 times daily on an empty stomach, will significantly reduce alcohol cravings and correct the nutritional deficiencies most common to alcoholics. |
| The herbs kudzu and milk thistle seed are important to heavy drinkers and those who have stopped drinking; the former helps reduce the craving for alcohol and the latter repairs liver damage. |
| Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) |
| In the early 1990s, the most disliked weed in the American South made headlines. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences tested the vine's starchy root on golden hamsters, a species notorious for its capacity and craving for alcohol. An extract of kudzu dramatically reduced alcohol consumption in alcoholic hamsters. Kudzu tea has been used for centuries in China and Japan to treat alcoholism, a use that prompted this study because of its alleged effectiveness. Note that kudzu tea, made from the whole root, is different from kudzu starch sold in health food stores. The starch, used by Japanese cooks as a thickening agent much like cornstarch, is made by grinding kudzu roots in water, letting the starch settle out, pouring away the residue and repeating this process until a pure fine white powder results. In this processing, kudzu's water-soluble constituents are washed away. |
| In China, clinical studies conducted in the 1970s verified the effectiveness of crude kudzu root preparations in the treatment of high blood pressure, migraine headaches and aching shoulders and muscles. Kudzu's flavonoids, which are believed to be the plant's active medicinal ingredients, increase blood flow and relieve intestinal cramping by re- |
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