Kudos to Kudzu

At first we thought, "This isn't good," but then we thought about it some more and figured, "Hey, if it helps problem drinkers continue to drink without killing themselves or others, it's a good thing." Excerpts:

Heavy drinkers who tried the herbal extract kudzu for one week downed fewer drinks than people who received an inactive placebo treatment, according to new study findings released Monday.

[I]t is the first to conclude what the Chinese have maintained for centuries: that compounds in the ancient vine, known as ge-gen, can help problem drinkers - human ones - imbibe less.

Researchers aren't sure how it works, but Lukas suspects that active ingredients called isoflavones in the kudzu root increase blood flow, which helps alcohol get to the brain faster. This means drinkers "are getting cues that say, `I'm feeling good, I'm OK, no need to suck down this entire beer,'" he said.

Link.