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| Photo: Weatherbird2003, Flickr |
Kudzu, the hardy weed that blankets more than 8 million acres of the South, may have some redeeming qualities after all.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham last week published a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showing kudzu reduces hypertension and regulates glucose metabolism in rats. If their findings hold true for people, the vine long considered one of the South's most aggravating curses could help combat the region's latest scourge: obesity-related health problems.
You Southerners out there know about kudzu, but many of the rest of us have never heard of the stuff. It's an ornamental vine imported from Asia generations ago, in the 1930's to be precise, which has taken over many areas of the South. It has actually earned the nickname "the vine that ate the South." It overwhelms wherever it grows and covers up trees, homes, cars, telephone poles, and more. 
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