September 9/Agriculture Business Week -- According to a U.S. study, "The present study tested the long-term effects of dietary kudzu root extract supplementation on the regulation of arterial pressure, plasma glucose, and circulating cholesterol in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SP-SHR). Female SP-SHR were maintained for two months on a polyphenol-free diet, with or without the addition of 0.2% kudzu root extract."
"Half of the rats in each diet group were ovariectomized, whereas the other halt remained intact. Following two months on the diets, the 0.2% kudzu root extract supplementation (compared to control diet) significantly lowered arterial pressure (11-15 mmHg), plasma cholesterol, fasting blood glucose (20-30%), and fasting plasma insulin in both the ovariectomized and intact SP-SHR," wrote N. Peng and colleagues, University of Alabama.