A plant traditionally used in East Asian medicine could offer a promising new approach to tackling excessive alcohol consumption. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have discovered that an extract from kudzu may help people reduce episodes of binge drinking without requiring daily medication. The findings suggest that taking the supplement before situations involving alcohol could make a meaningful difference.

The study found that adults with alcohol use disorder who took kudzu extract before anticipated drinking occasions experienced significantly fewer binge-drinking days than those given a placebo. Remarkably, the benefits persisted for three months after treatment ended, raising hopes that the approach could support longer-lasting changes in drinking behaviour.

Binge drinking remains a serious public health concern in the United States, contributing to more than half of the approximately 80,000 annual deaths associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Despite the scale of the problem, fewer than 10% of people with alcohol use disorder have ever received medication to address their drinking.

“Binge drinking is incredibly common, but we don’t have many tools to offer people who want to cut back,” said Glenn-Milo Santos, PhD, MPH, the study’s lead author and a UCSF professor of community health systems. He explained that the approach could provide greater flexibility, allowing individuals to take the supplement when they anticipate heavy drinking rather than relying on daily treatment.

Published on 4 November in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the study involved 120 adults with alcohol use disorder who reported binge drinking at least once weekly. Researchers defined binge drinking as consuming five or more drinks on one occasion for men and four or more for women. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a standardised kudzu extract or a placebo.

Over 12 weeks, participants took their assigned treatment approximately two and a half hours before expecting to drink heavily. Both groups also attended brief weekly counselling sessions. By the end of the trial, average binge-drinking days had dropped from 2.15 to 1.42 per week among kudzu recipients, compared with a marginal decline from 2.15 to 2.06 in the placebo group.

The proportion of weeks involving any binge drinking also fell substantially among those taking kudzu, declining from 88% to 58%, while the placebo group recorded a smaller reduction from 88% to 81%. Three months after treatment concluded, the kudzu group continued to report significantly fewer binge-drinking days. Researchers suggested that successfully reducing alcohol consumption may have strengthened participants’ confidence and encouraged healthier drinking habits.

The treatment was generally well tolerated, with no increase in side effects compared with placebo and no serious adverse effects attributed to kudzu. However, researchers stressed that commercially available supplements may differ considerably from the standardised extract used in the trial. Larger studies involving more diverse populations are needed before kudzu can be considered an established treatment for binge drinking.

More information: Glenn-Milo Santos et al, Targeted Use of Kudzu for Binge Drinking Among Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Phase 2b Randomized Trial, American Journal of Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20251354

Journal information: American Journal of Psychiatry Provided by University of California – San Francisco