...but I'm not quite sure who--
New study suggests kudzu helps curb binge drinking
The Associated Press
A curb to binge drinking may be growing over fences, trees and barns near you.
Yes, kudzu.
Researchers at Harvard University-affiliated McLean Hospital say their experiments show subjects who took kudzu drank less beer.
The researchers set up a makeshift apartment with a television, reclining chair and a refrigerator stocked with beer.
Volunteers -- and there were plenty -- who received kudzu averaged one-point-eight beers per session. Those who got a placebo downed three-point-five beers.
Researchers aren't sure why, but believe it has something to do with kudzu speeding up the effects of the beer, allowing the subjects to feel intoxicated with less brew in them.
Lead researcher Scott Lukas says it's only a theory, but it's the best he has so far.
Kudzu is an Asian plant that was introduced across much of the Southeast, including Alabama, during the Great Depression by the Soil Conservation Service, which promoted it for erosion control.
It's been spreading ever since.
Now they come up with this just as I finally wiped out the last vestige of Kudzu from the acres. Actually, Kudzu is useful for something else. It crowds out the poison ivy.
Posted by: Larry Anderson at May 17, 2005 11:36 AMHow exactly does one "take" kudzu? Tea? Dried & powdered and up the nose like cocaine? Will just rubbing the leaves on your skin work?
Who thinks of this stuff anyway?
Posted by: Nate at May 17, 2005 11:48 AMThe Kudzu Advisory Board?
Posted by: Ed Flinn at May 17, 2005 11:58 AMI think it's kudzu pills. http://www.viable-herbal.com/singles/herbs/s859.htm And I don't know who thinks this stuff up, but I'd like to shake his hand. Anyone who can manage to make money off of something like this deserves a hearty slap on the back.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at May 17, 2005 11:59 AMLike the old snake-oil salesman. This gentleman in the Outlaw Josey Wales, for instance.
Posted by: skinnydan at May 17, 2005 12:23 PMI'm taking on a limited number of investors in my new kudzu-enhanced malt beverage endeavor, Leafybrau. Get on board now, before we go public. This stuff is gonna take off like, well, kudzu!
GIT DRUNK FASTER - WITH LEAFYBRAU!
Posted by: skillzy at May 17, 2005 01:31 PMSaaaaay, and maybe there could be a large possum named Otis as the spokescritter...
Being perpetually sloshed might be a good reason you see so many of them passed out on the side of the road!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at May 17, 2005 01:43 PM