Release Date: May 16, 2005
KUDZU EXTRACT
REDUCES ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION BY HEAVY DRINKERS
By Becky Ham, Science Writer
Health Behavior News Service
An extract of the kudzu vine may help heavy drinkers drink less, according
to a new study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental
Research.
In a unique laboratory
designed to look like a relaxing studio apartment, complete with
satellite television and a beer-stocked refrigerator,
14 men and women drank fewer beers after a week’s treatment with
kudzu than they drank after a week’s worth of placebo pills.
Of the 11 participants
who completed the entire study, “eight
drank fewer beers while receiving kudzu versus placebo treatment, two
drank the same number of beers and one drank one more beer,” according
to Dr. Scott Lukas of McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical Center and
colleagues.
On average, the participants drank 1 1/2 beers while on kudzu treatment
during the 1 1/2-hour sessions, compared with 2 1/2 beers during the
placebo treatment. They also took more but smaller sips of each beer
while taking the kudzu extract, the researchers found.
Kudzu, an invasive plant
introduced to the United States in 1876 and subsequently dubbed “the vine that ate the South,” was
used as early as A.D. 600 in China as an intoxication treatment. Recent
research suggests that chemical compounds called isoflavones in the
plant are the “active” ingredient in treating intoxication.
While the drinking pattern
changed in kudzu users, the drinkers reported no change in their
desire to drink when they began each session. Participants
who took the extract in earlier studies said they felt more “tired,” “floating” and “intoxicated” after
one drink, suggesting that kudzu “may be prolonging or enhancing
the acute effects of the first drink,” Lukas says.
“Apparently, this effect is sufficient to delay or eliminate
the desire to drink subsequent beers,” he adds.
Lukas and colleagues note
that kudzu’s effects, in this sense,
might be useful for reducing binge drinking or helping some people
stay sober by minimizing the chance that a “slip” of having
one drink will result in a full alcoholic relapse.
Studies of kudzu have been limited by the fact that “kudzu is
not a pure substance like naltrexone and acamprosate,” two of
the drugs currently approved to treat alcoholism, says Dr. David Overstreet,
an alcoholism researcher at the University of North Carolina.
“Investigators may not be willing to take the extra steps that
might be necessary to conduct such a study,” such as extracting
the critical isoflavones from kudzu and partnering with clinical researchers,
Overstreet says.
In response to these difficulties,
Lukas and colleagues developed a concentrated kudzu extract with
25 percent isoflavones and developed
the “natural laboratory” setting to test the extract’s
effects.
Participants in the study were allowed to watch television or movies
in the mock studio apartment while choosing drinks from a refrigerator
stocked with a favorite brand of beer and other nonalcoholic drinks.
“This scenario is analogous to a person coming home from work
or school and relaxing in his or her living room,” Lukas explains.
The 14 participants, allowed to open only one drink at a time, were
asked to drink from a mug that they set down on special tile topped
table after each sip. Unbeknownst to the drinkers, the table doubled
as a special calibrated scale that allowed the researchers to measure
the changing volume in the beer mug and calculate the amount of beer
in each sip.
The 14 participants were heavy drinkers who reported having an average
of 25 alcoholic beverages per week. None of the participants had a
family history of alcoholism. Each participant was treated with kudzu
and the placebo, and no side effects were found with either treatment.
The lack of side effects
could, with more research, make kudzu treatment an option for teens,
pregnant women “and other vulnerable populations
where a lack of medication toxicity is not only desirable but also
necessary,” Lukas and colleagues write.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Health Behavior News Service: (202) 387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Center for the Advancement of Health
Contact: Ira R. Allen
Vice President of Public Affairs
202.387.2829
press@cfah.org
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