Opting to stop drinking is tough enough.
But, once you’re in the throes of withdrawal from the only comfort you’ve known, it’s far harder to stick with that decision. Everything sounds good in theory. Everything seems doable when you’re still under the anesthetizing spell. But once your physiological security quilt begins to slip from your brain like a blanket off a bed in the dead of winter, you’re soon wishing that sky pie was a pint or pinot instead. Why? Because the cravings are about as full bodied as your favorite wine. They’re vexing, voracious, and when they come on – they grow quickly within you and know no bounds.
But, according to some studies, one helpful approach might just be to fight fire with fire.
And, no, my loves – I don’t mean firewater. (Sorry ’bout it.)
Rather, I mean this extract from a plant as rapid growing and annoying as your own cravings.
Kudzu:
(Such a perfect “burning desire” metaphor for suffocating cravings no?.)
What is it exactly?
Well, as you can see from the pic, it’s this invasive vine that grows like crazy but can also mitigate a crazy array symptoms that people get. In fact, it’s been used as a powder and extract for ages safely in China – dating all the way back to 600 A.D.. And not only does it stave off alcohol cravings, but it also can abate hangover symptoms, help with heart problems, and make your blood flow better. But, when it comes to getting you “turnt” down, it’s effectiveness has proven itself in the lab. What some researchers did was test subjects straight outta their nine to five gigs. (Smart, because that was always when my hankerings for something brain-subduing were their worst, too.) And then they fed the folk either a kudzu supplement or a placebo pill – both’ve which were paired with a beer buffet. As many cold ones as they craved. But that craving, interestingly enough, was far less in the kudzu takers than the duped group. In fact, they drank about half as much as their placebo counterparts.
And, the thing about kudzu, is that while it won’t quit the drinking for you (there’s no magic tablet – au naturale or not yet that’ll safely do that), it will help you take your spirit swilling down a skoche or four (or twelve, if you’re anything like I was as a drinker) to where you’re functional. And that’s what’s interesting about it. Let’s say you’re not exactly wishing to quit altogether. Instead, you simply wanna moderate. If that’s your case, then kudzu could potentially offer that.
That’s the nice thing – it could go either way. On the one hand, that newfound awareness may make you realize how much you need to halt your malt habit or relinquish your tequila love affair for good. (And then take the right action to make that happen.) Some’ve us are Miley style alcoholics who “can’t stop; won’t stop”. (So we know better than to bother starting again.)
(The idea’s that the extract can impart just enough clear thinking after a bit of breathing space from your toxin o’ choice to aid in making that call.)
That said, not everyone identifies as an addict just ’cause they catch a little clarity and can identify they’ve got a problem. That’s the thing about addiction. It’s a self-diagnosed disease. I’ve met drinkers who were in a long term relache or a honeymoon down a southbound spiral with le sauce. But, after summoning some sort’ve psychological sensei to help ’em figure out why they were going full throttle on the bottle, they could fix that sub-surface mental distress, return to living their lives, and then also return to the occasional holiday champagne glass – because they just realized how much better balanced living can be. But, more importantly, they realize alcohol’s something they can handle sans swilling a handle solo by midday in the middle of the week. And, for those folk, the hope’s that kudzu could help you avoid exactly that – kinda like the gastric bypass of equivalent of over-imbibing.
Which is exactly what I encountered in the WebMD testimonial section.
Like this dude who could magically moderate after popping some’ve the stuff:
“From the third day of taking this, the results were amazing. It immediately lessened cravings to the point that I can ‘take it or leave it’ with drinking.”
Or this one – who used it as sobriety training wheels:
“Me and my buddy both heavy drinkers decided we wnated to stop and get more done with our lives… Easier said than done. We couldn’t stop! I researched tips for quitting and I hit a thread on Kudzu, so I went to Ebay and bought a couple of bottles. We both quit within a week, no needing the alcohol, just hard to break the habit of stopping at my normal drinking holes! Would definitely recommend this to anyone that wants to stop drinking but cannot.”
And, then there was this guy whose story was most interesting to me:
“I have been trying to give up drinking. Every day for a year I have been saying to myself tomorrow. I’ve had a day or two off in that time. But can’t go without more than a day. My grandmother sent these Kudzu capsules to help me with smoking. I’ve been on them for four days now. My smoking has reduced slightly. My friends say I chain smoke, but now have been having breaks between my cigarettes. HOWEVER AMAZINGLY, on the second day, for the first time, I was trying to down my drink quicker than usual to get tipsy, as for some reason I wasn’t really enjoying the drink. And after my first can I didn’t really feel like anymore. The next can sat in my hand for a while before I realised and drank it. The feeling that I got just wasn’t as satisfying as usual. Yesterday I woke up and went about my day. Usually the first thing that enters my mind is What time am I going to have a drink today. But for some reason it didn’t. I drove past my first bottle shop and thought, don’t feel like one yet. That happened all day until 7pm came. I was relaxed and thought, I don’t really feel like it tonight. Today no drink again and I’m not fazed. It’s late at night, I’m relaxed and my mind seems occupied and I really don’t want or have any urge what so ever. I suppose you have to want to stop. However I was trying it for smoking, and it’s stopped me drinking almost immediately. There’s no way ( I hope), that I will have a drink now. I haven’t had it this easy.”
See, that one’s fascinating because – not only did it hamper the drank hankerings, but it also diminished his cigarette desires. As someone who’s addicting to anything mind-altering, that leads me to wonder about the implications of kudzu’s effectiveness for other chemical dependencies. I mean, while all the research I’ve unearthed on the stuff seems to center on alcohol reduction, could it also kill other cravings too? If it worked inadvertently in a battle against tobacco, might it additionally nix pharmaceutical addictions? Or dependencies on other less legal drugs prescribed by drug dealers who don’t have white coats, stethoscopes, and letters after their names?
Considering it’s natural, proven, and safe – it wouldn’t hurt to find out, right?
Compared to some of the stuff most of us have “experimented” with?
*That said, as ever, def see a doc first to make sure none’ve these contraindications apply to you.