Kudzu may reduce urge to binge drink

A group of people in their 20s seemed to lose the urge to binge drink when they took pills made from kudzu, that ubiquitous vine that blankets the South.

The finding might one day lead to a way to attack the binge-drinking problem, researchers said.

Researcher Scott Lukas, with Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, asked 14 men and women to hang out in an “apartment,” complete with television, recliner and refrigerator stocked with beer. This apartment-style laboratory was set up in the hospital, and the volunteers were told to spend a 90-minute session drinking beer and watching TV.

Those who took kudzu pills drank an average of 1.8 beers per session, compared with the 3.5 beers consumed by those who took a placebo.

Lukas was not certain why, but speculated that kudzu increases blood alcohol levels and speeds up alcohol’s effects. In other words, the drinkers needed fewer beers to feel drunk.

The study was published in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.