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Biotech Science

Kudzu Helps Curb Binge Drinking 98

Posted by timothy from the eat-up-everyone dept.
jeepliberty writes "CNN has a story that the invasive ground cover vegetation Kudzu is being tested to curb binge alcohol drinking. In the health story posted Monday, researchers at the Harvard-affiliated McClean Hospital in Boston stated that volunteers who were given kudzu drank about 50% less beer in a 90-minute period than the group that was given a plecebo. The kudzu group got just an intoxicated."
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Kudzu Helps Curb Binge Drinking More

Kudzu Helps Curb Binge Drinking

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  • Well duh... (Score:4, Funny)

    by kniLnamiJ-neB ( 754894 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @09:30AM (#12565790)
    If someone gave me a kudzu leaf, I'd probably think I'd had too much to drink already.
    • Looks to me from the story that what the kudzu really does is increase the body's ability to absorb alcohol from the stomach into the blood stream- like they said, both groups got equally intoxicated even though one group drank half as much.

      • Exactly (Score:2)

        by hawk ( 1151 )
        That was my reaction, too.

        Just what an alcoholic needs: more effective booze . . .

        However, it might be useful for alcoholics on a diet :)



        hawk

  • This just in... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @09:31AM (#12565793)

    Here's a quote from the Internet Health Library [internethe...ibrary.com]:

    ...both the roots and flowers of kudzu, Radix and Flos puerariae, respectively, have been used to treat alcohol abuse safely and effectively in China for more than a millennium.


    Next on CNN, researchers have determined that the sun rises in the east.

    • Scientists aren't naive, they just need proof. (Score:5, Informative)

      by xplenumx ( 703804 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:01AM (#12566065)
      From the academic paper:

      The use of herbal plants to treat alcohol-related diseases dates back to 600 AD. One such Chinese herbal medicine XJL (NPI-028), has long been used to reduce the inebriation that results from alcohol consumption. NPI-028 contains the extracts of several plants including Pueraria lobata (kudzu) and Citrus reticulata, which were recorded in an ancient Chinese materia medica entitled Ben Cho Gang Mu (li, 1590-1696 AD) and have long been used to lessen alcohol intoxication (antidrunkenness) (Sun, circa 600 AD). However, it is difficult to assess the real efficacy of kudzu based on these writings because they are primarily anecdotal in nature.

      The scientists were very well aware of the ancient literature. However, the article continues to site sources showing that Kadzu has been extensively tested and no antidrunkenness effect was found. What makes this study new is that they isolated and concentrated the active ingredient that causes the effect (isoflavones). The study used an isoflavones concentration of 25% - in contrast the highest concentration that you can buy on the market is 1-2%, with the ranges varying widely within samples from the same manufacturer.

      This study doesn't state that the sun rises in the east; it suggests that perhaps the earth revolves around the sun.

    • Re:This just in... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Lars T. ( 470328 ) <Lars,Traeger&googlemail,com> on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:20AM (#12566287) Journal
      Well, ground horn of rhinoceros and dried tiger penis has been used to treat impotence and other ailments "safely and effectively" in China for for more than a millennium. Guess that has to work too.

      • Well, ground horn of rhinoceros and dried tiger penis has been used to treat impotence and other ailments "safely and effectively" in China for for more than a millennium. Guess that has to work too.

        Please cite your references.

        • Please cite your references.

          What is this, a post for the sake of posting something? References? How about thousands of years of documented literature, lore, endangered species cries (you know, kill tiger, take penis, leave remains to rot. Ditto rhino and horn), black market crackdowns, illegal imports into North America, Europe et al?

          You demanded references, I ask that you wait until you have something constructive to contribute before wailing on the Reply link.

        • Re:This just in... (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          You can start with the 1976 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species [american.edu] rhino ban agreement. I know that happened probably a good 15 years before you were born, which is like, o-my-god, soooo long ago...
    • "Lukas was not certain why but speculated that kudzu increases blood alcohol levels and speeds up its effects. More simply put, the subjects needed fewer beers to feel drunk."

      I REPEAT :" THE SUBJECTS NEEDED FEWER BEERS TO FEEL DRUNK"

      Now that I brought the important point to your attention, please consider the difference.

      On one side a process to cure drunkeness
      On the other side the same process to get me high faster on less money...

      as MY beer sure ain't free, this mean that grazing a few kudzu leaves as
  • "The kudzu group got just an intoxicated."
  • Goats love kudzu, but after they eat it they are sort of wobbly... now we know why.
  • Kudzu grows as fast as one foot per day [ua.edu].

    If only beer grew this fast in the wild!

  • So... (Score:5, Funny)

    by GypC ( 7592 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @09:37AM (#12565840) Homepage Journal
    Kudzu's incredible rate of growth and expansion of territory is just God's way of telling us we drink too damn much.

    "Here eat some already! It's all over the place now. And lay off the sauce."

  • Not so sure (Score:4, Funny)

    by jtshaw ( 398319 ) * on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @09:41AM (#12565878) Homepage
    So it makes you feel drunker quicker eh? So instead of having 2 beers in 2 hours and driving safely home I could have 2 beers in 2 hours and get a DUI?

    • Re:Not so sure (Score:3, Interesting)

      by swillden ( 191260 ) *

      So instead of having 2 beers in 2 hours and driving safely home I could have 2 beers in 2 hours and get a DUI?

      Since it enhances the effects, you could have one beer in two hours and feel and act the same as if you'd had two. So a breathalyzer or blood test would show a lower level of alcohol relative to the amount of impairment. If kudzu use becomes widespread we may have to adjust the legal BAC limits, or test for the kudzu-derived compound.

      On the other hand, since you've consumed less alcohol, an

      • Re:Not so sure (Score:3, Insightful)

        by beorach ( 682576 )
        Based on the article it looks like BAC level is still elevated similarly as the control. This is an important point of the article... It would follow that the kudzu is making the alcohol travel through the stomach lining and into the bloodstream faster. But, on the flip-side, your liver metabolizes alcohol at a basically fixed rate. Try this experiment with real alocoholics (or hardened binge drinkers) that don't naturally moderate their own consumption based on thier perceived level of enebriation, an

        • Based on the article it looks like BAC level is still elevated similarly as the control.

          Ahh, I missed that. It makes sense, though.

          Try this experiment with real alocoholics (or hardened binge drinkers) that don't naturally moderate their own consumption based on thier perceived level of enebriation, and they could possibly drink themselves into a coma.

          Yeah, I thought the same thing. I guess that's one way to reduce alcoholism...

      • Luckily, alcohol is much less addictive than cocaine.

        Not really. Alcohol withdrawal can kill you, cocaine withdrawal can't. (In fact, some say there are no physical withdrawal symptoms and that cocaine should not be considered addictive, at least not in the same sense as opiates or alcohol.)

        It's difficult to judge which is more likely to addict a user, since alcohol is available in a variety of strengths in our culture while cocaine is available only in purified extract form; but I'll note that nat

      • > Luckily, alcohol is much less addictive than cocaine.

        However, crack is staggeringly more addictive than cocaine (thus the amazingly higher penalties).

        Just to play with your analogy, might kudzulcohol be far more addictive than alcohol?

        hawk
  • After the 90 minutes, did the test group do an Awakenings and just start drinking like fish?

  • Increased BAC levels (Score:2, Informative)

    by quintiusc ( 878597 )
    The article states that the BAC levels in the kudzu group were still raised. This is the most dangerous part of binge drinking which leaves me wondering if using it is really safer. It may help break the habit but doesn't seem like it's safe method of trying to be able to drive home sooner.
  • Hey, if I had to eat a salad first, before I could start drinking, I'd probably drink a lot less too.

    "Mmmm... please pass more viney leafy things."

  • The cure may be worse than the disease. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hey! ( 33014 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:14AM (#12566222) Homepage Journal
    I recently read a book about nutrition by Dr. Willet of the Harvard School of Public Health in which he discusses the effects of alcohol consumption on overall mortality rate.

    Alcohol has a prophylactic effect against heart disease (and stroke? I'm not sure if I remember this correctly). If you plot mortality rates against drinks per day, people who have one to two drinks a day have a lower mortality rate than people who drink either less or more.

    It gets really interesting when you disaggregate the data by type of mortality. As people drink more, their chance of dying from things like heart disease continue to drop. The marginal effect is still pretty dramatic at three or even four drinks. However, above one drink per day deaths from accidents starts to rise extremely rapidly.

    So -- we may have a medicine here that is worse than the disease.

    You get just as impaired after one to two drinks as you do after three or four, so you have the same chance of doing something boneheaded and killing yourself. However, you don't get the cardiovascular benefits.

    • "So -- we may have a medicine here that is worse than the disease."

      Is there any real evidence that drinking does have "cardiovascular benefits"?

      From the sound of it, the only evidence there is in your post is this: "As people drink more, their chance of dying from things like heart disease continue to drop."

      But... all that tells us is people who drink more tend to die from other causes before they'd die from (or develop) heart disease. As you stated: "However, above one drink per day deaths from accid

      • But... all that tells us is people who drink more tend to die from other causes before they'd die from (or develop) heart disease. As you stated: "However, above one drink per day deaths from accidents starts to rise extremely rapidly.

        I think you might have more of a point if the effect started at four or five drinks, but most of the benefit comes from the first drink. Also, if your theory was correct, then as mortality from accident rises dramatically at three to four drinks, the mortality from heart at
        • To do a controlled study, you'd, er, have to assign people to the five or six drink a day group. There might be some ethical considerations...

          lol, I don't know, I can see many volunteers for such a study. I mean... they conducted a study of fellatio (and sperm) on the effect of speech. There were fliers all over campus looking for vulunteers to get blow jobs. Somehow, giving someone a few drinks, I think, is not any less ethical. :P

          - shazow
      • Have there been any controlled studies?
        Apparently so. Here is a post [slashdot.org] I made yesterday which just scratches the surface. That post was based on my memory and some quick Googling. Here [cfah.org] is another place to start.

  • Over-the-Counter Kadzu didn't work. (Score:3, Informative)

    by xplenumx ( 703804 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:18AM (#12566264)
    Before you all run out and start munching on Kudzu, you should note that the study had the participants take 1000mg of concentrated Kudzu extract containing 25% isoflavones twice per day over a period of one week. In contrast, the article reports that when they tested over-the-counter preparations of kudzu, "none of the preparations contained more than 2% isoflavones, and most contained less that 1%". In order achieve the same dose used by the researchers, one would have to consume a minimum of 12.5 grams of over-the-counter preparations twice per day. Researchers tried using over-the-counter Kadzu in the past but didn't see any effect until the isoflavones were concentrated.

  • Why is this newsworthy? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MarkusQ ( 450076 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:24AM (#12566322) Journal

    I mean, come on! Anyone who's ever dealt with it knows that kudzu stops everything.

    Why not say "kudzu stops house panting" or "kudzu stops lawn mowing" or "kudzu stops grocery shopping" or "kudzu stops carjackings" or...well, the point is, unless you fight back with a nuke-it-from-orbit mentality, kudzu stops everything.

    What? They ate it? Eeew.

    --MarkusQ

  • New market - the 20oz!! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Drunken_Jackass ( 325938 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:29AM (#12566382) Homepage
    How long before 40oz manufactures start adding kudzu to their malt liquor, bottling it in 20oz bottles and charging twice as much?

    Or hell, add it to a regular 40oz, and call it an (80)oz.

    BTW - i call dibbs on these ideas! You all are my witnesses.
    • Does anyone know where we can order this 25% Kudzu isoflavone extract? I have an idea for my next party:

      Kudzu Kicker:
      1 gram 25% Kudzu isoflavone extract
      2 shots green Creme de Menthe
      2 shots 151 proof rum
      4 ounces ice
      Place in blender on liquify.
      Garnish with a sprig mint.

      -

  • I drank lots of alcohol but (Score:3, Funny)

    by PaddyM ( 45763 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:34AM (#12566438) Homepage
    when I tried kudzu, it said that my brain appeared to have been removed. Would I want to:
    Remove Configuration, Keep Configuration, or Do Nothing

  • New hardware? (Score:3, Funny)

    by youknowmewell ( 754551 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @10:39AM (#12566485)
    I was wondering what Kudzu [redhat.com] had to do with decreasing drinking? I'd think that if Kudzu didn't find your new hardware it would actually have the opposite effect.
  • I suppose there is an important placebo effect as well...Gingko Biloba and such things...all quack medicine... In something as psychological as hangover with a depletion of neurotransmitters in the brain, a placebo effect is huge. I think the best population to benefit from this is a student at university...lol

    • I suppose there is an important placebo effect as well...

      RTFA. They gave a placebo for a control group.

      Gingko Biloba and such things...all quack medicine...

      "Quack medicine" better decribes what managed care dishes out than it describes the clinical use of traditional medicinal herbs.

      If you're interested in the scientific and reductionist research into herbal preparations rather than spouting FUD, I suggest you search PubMed [nih.gov].

    • OK, 2 things. 1) Mr. Slippery is correct, they compared the kudzu extract to both a) no treatment and b) a placebo treatment indistinguishable from the kudzu.

      Furthermore, each volunteer hard drinker served as their own control -- one week they took the kudzu, next week they took nothing and drank anyway, week after that they took placebo, week after that they took nothing again and drank. Order of placebo first or kudzu first was randomized.

      If you read the article, it's a rather elegant experimental de

  • Am I the only geek reading this who thought that?

    It seems everyone else already knew about the vine that ate the south, yet here I am thinking this has something to do with hardware autodetection.
  • These results should be taken with a grain of salt. 14 people is not enough to reach a solid conclusion. This experiment is little more than an half an episode of Mythbusters and until further study is done we cannot assume that Kudzu is really as effective as we have been led to believe by CNN.
  • I found that if I drink as many pints of beer as I can before I go out drinking I tend to drink less when I'm out. This might not work for everyone but it works for me. It has the advantage that it doesn't require you to find some obscure leaf and the kind of intoxication it causes is remarkably similar to that caused by drinking lots of beer while you're out.
    • Kudzu is an "obscure leaf?"

      Well, yeah, in the same way that a single oak tree in an oak forest is an obscure tree. I suppose if you were in Georgia and trying to locate a single particular kudzu leaf you'd have a hard time finding it among the literally kazillions of other kudzu leaves clogging up the drains.

      But otherwise, it's a painfully obvious leaf. If it could be made into oil, the southeast of the US would be a surplus energy producer.

      This isn't to say I disapprove of your proposed method, of co

  • How long before they ban kudzu? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Freshly Exhumed ( 105597 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @04:10PM (#12570396) Homepage
    With major beer producers now adulterating their products with such odd additives as guarana and caffeine [about.com], they would have to be worried that if a couple of herbal pills meant that Joe Nineteenyrold would only need a beer or two before he's blitzed, their profits would be hurt. How long before the big brewers and distillers lobby for a ban?
  • In other news, kudzu gets you drunk! Quick, somebody ban this ubiquitous, intractably ineradicable weed! For the children!
  • There are so many things that makes your drinking unpleasurable: wild mushrooms (of the wrong kind), dithiuram (rubber chemical additive now used to treat alcoholics) but the problem is that all these agents do nothing about alcohol craving. People who are supposed to use them learn soon to avoid them so that they can continue drinking without feeling miserable from it.

    Also, giving a mega dose of flavone plant extract to alcoholics seems like trench warfare waged on patient's liver.

    Real news would be if a
    • At Communion several years ago in college, I did a double-take at a cup that appeared to be full of grape juice rather than wine.

      The priest explained afterwards.

      It was indeed "wine," but unfermented. His treatment program alternated their favorite poison with warm salt water.

      They *did* get conditioned to avoid their former favorite, and even to have a very unpleasant association with it.

      Unfermented wine has been approved for use by priests with alcohol problems. He commented that the Church didn't want
  • The kudzu group got just an intoxicated.

    Awesome. This means we can get just as drunk for half the price, or twice as drunk for the same amount it costs us now!
  • I found that f**king Kudzu utility on my Red Hat box made me want to drink more heavily! I hate that piece of crap. ...wait...oh, nevermind.

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