The Kudzu Plant

(Chinese Herb)

Pueraria lobata

The Kudzu plant is also known as Pueraria, Pueraria root, and Ge-gen.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND INFORMATION:

The Kudzu plant is a creeping vine that is native to Japan, throughout most of China and the southeastern United States. It is a coarse, high-climbing, trailing vine which has a huge root that can grow to the size of a human.

This remarkable perennial plant can grow one foot per day and up to one hundred feet in a single growing season. The Kudzu root is the source of medicinal preparations used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern herbal products.

In Japan, Kudzu herb is used both as a food and a medicine. It is used to thicken soup and lake noodles and the stems yield a fiber called kokemp that is useful in making paper and cloth.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS:

* helps to control and suppress the appetite for alcohol.

* increases circulation, an action that tends to reduce muscle pain and stiffness.

* relieves tension in the muscles in the face and neck.

* acts directly on viral infections that produce muscle pain.

* has chemicals that works with friendly bacteria in the digestive tract change into an estrogen-like compound called daidzein which binds cells that ordinarily would be activated by estrogen, locking out estrogen from activator sites on breast cancer cells without stimulating the cancer cells to reproduce.

* eases discomfort of fibrocystic breast disease.

* helps to improve microcirculation and blood flow through the coronary arteries.

* helps to relax the muscles lining the left coronary vessel and lower the heart rate.

* reduces swelling within the eye in people with glaucoma.

TARGET AILMENTS:

Take internally for:

* suppressing alcohol cravings

* lowering blood pressure

* allergies

* migraine headaches

* diarrhea

* angina pectoris

* colds

* headache

* influenza

* Bell’s palsy

* Lyme disease

* cancer

* fibrocystic breast

* congestive heart failure

* glaucoma

* lowering blood pressure

PREPARATIONS:

Kudzu herb is available in tablets, capsules, extract, and tea.

Recommended dose is 30-120 mg. of the extract two to three times a day.

The tea called xing-jiu-ling has shown in studies to be effective in reducing alcohol cravings.

Parts used: Leaves, roots, shoots

Collection: Roots are harvested during autumn or spring in preparation for storage and processing.

Constituents: Daidzein (isoflavone), daidzin and puerarin (isoflavone glycosides)

SAFETY AND SIDE EFFECTS:

* There have been no reports of Kudzu toxicity in human that take it in the recommended amounts.

* It is considered a non-toxic herb, but always follow directions given.

SPECIAL INFORMATION:

* Using antibiotics with this herb will nullify the effects of the herb.

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