Kudzu vine could help alcoholics

The Asian vine kudzu could help put the cap back on the bottle for many alcoholics.

Drinkers who took the vine in pill form imbibed about half as much as those who were given placebos, according to a new study by researchers at the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital in Boston.

• FROM DEC. 14, 2001: Treatment for alcoholics shows no effect: study

The study, published in this month's edition of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that people given kudzu had 1.8 beers during a 90-minute session compared with 3.5 beers for those who were not.

Researchers could not entirely explain the vine's effect, but suggested it speeds alcohol's impact; the subjects needed fewer beers to feel drunk.

"That rapid infusion of alcohol is satisfying them and taking away their desire for more drinks," lead researcher Scott Lukas said. "That's only a theory. It's the best we've got so far."

The Asian vine has become common in the southern U.S. where it was introduced several decades ago to control erosion, but some consider it a pest.

Anecdotal evidence from China had suggested a link between kudzu and drinking. Other scientists reported in 2003 that rats drank less due to kudzu, but this is the first study to show the difference in humans.

Lukas recruited 14 men and women in their 20s to sip beer and watch television from reclining chairs in a hospital room set up like an apartment.

"Individuals reported feeling a little more tipsy or lightheaded, but not enough to walk into walls or stumble and fall," Lukas said.

Although kudzu may not inspire temperance society renewals, Lukas said it might allow heavy drinkers to cut back.

"That way they're a lot closer to being able to cut down completely," he said.