Kakkonto is an herbal drink with its origin in traditional Chinese medicine. It is made from a mixture of ginger, cinnamon, Chinese peony, licorice, jujube

Jujube

Ziziphus zizyphus , commonly called jujube , red date, Chinese date, Korean date, or Indian date is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily as a fruiting shade tree.-Distribution:Its precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation,...

, ephedra

Ephedra

Ephedra refers to the plant Ephedra sinica. E. sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang , has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for 5,000 years for the treatment of asthma and hay fever, as well as for the common cold...

, and powder ground from the root of the kudzu

Kudzu

Kudzu is a plant in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China. Its name comes from the Japanese name for the plant, . It is a weed that climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so...

 plant, one of the 50 fundamental herbs. As the name, which translates literally to "kudzu infusion", implies, kudzu, or pueraria lobata, serves as the main ingredient. Together these plants are used to create a drink rich in puerarin

Puerarin

Puerarin is one of several known isoflavones. Puerarin is found in a number of plants and herbs like the root of Pueraria notably of the kudzu plant.Puerarin is the 8-C-glucoside of daidzein....

, daidzein

Daidzein

Daidzein belongs to the group of isoflavones. Daidzein and other isoflavone compounds, such as genistein, are present in a number of plants and herbs like the Thai Kwao Krua or Pueraria mirifica, Kudzu or Pueraria lobata, and in food sources such as soybeans and soy products like tofu and textured...

, paenoflorin, cinnamic acid

Cinnamic acid

Cinnamic acid is a white crystalline organic acid, which is slightly soluble in water.It is obtained from oil of cinnamon, or from balsams such as storax. It is also found in shea butter and is the best indication of its environmental history and post-extraction conditions...

, glycyrrhizin

Glycyrrhizin

Glycyrrhizin is the main sweet-tasting compound from liquorice root. It is 30–50 times as sweet as sucrose . Pure glycyrrhizin is odorless....

, ephedrine

Ephedrine

Ephedrine is a sympathomimetic amine commonly used as a stimulant, appetite suppressant, concentration aid, decongestant, and to treat hypotension associated with anaesthesia....

 and gingerol

Gingerol

Gingerol, or sometimes [6]-gingerol, is the active constituent of fresh ginger. Chemically, gingerol is a relative of capsaicin and piperine, the compounds which give chilli peppers and black pepper their respective spicyness...

. The main active components are indexed as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine

Pseudoephedrine

Pseudoephedrine is a sympathomimetic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes. It is used as a nasal/sinus decongestant and stimulant, or as a wakefulness-promoting agent....

. The resulting tea is used as a home remedy for fevers, headaches and hangovers.

Ingredients

• Kudzu
  Kudzu
  Kudzu is a plant in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China. Its name comes from the Japanese name for the plant, . It is a weed that climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so...
  
  
• Ephedra (genus)
  Ephedra (genus)
  Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs, the only genus in its family, Ephedraceae, and order, Ephedrales. Ephedra grows in dry climates over wide areas of the northern hemisphere, including southwestern North America, Europe, north Africa, and southwest and central Asia, and, in the southern...
  
  
• Cinnamon
  Cinnamon
  Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
  
  
• Paeonia lactiflora
  Paeonia lactiflora
  Paeonia lactiflora, also Chinese Peony , and common garden peony is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Paeoniaceae, native to central and eastern Asia from eastern Tibet across northern China to eastern Siberia...
  
  
• Ginger
  Ginger
  Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
  
  
• Jujube
  Jujube
  Ziziphus zizyphus , commonly called jujube , red date, Chinese date, Korean date, or Indian date is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily as a fruiting shade tree.-Distribution:Its precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation,...
  
  
• Glycyrrhiza
  Glycyrrhiza
  Glycyrrhiza is a genus of about 18 accepted species in the legume family , with a subcosmopolitan distribution in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas....
  
  

Medical Studies

One study concluded, "Pueraria lobata appears to be an inappropriate herb for use in herbal hangover remedies as it is an inhibitor of ALDH2.” 15–30 minutes after taking kakkonto, the drinker shows increased sympathetic nerve function

Sympathetic nervous system

The sympathetic nervous system is one of the three parts of the autonomic nervous system, along with the enteric and parasympathetic systems. Its general action is to mobilize the body's nervous system fight-or-flight response...

, and it may be this period that fulfills the important role in the treatment of cold syndromes. Another study showed that kakkonto may have a positive effect on some respiratory infections. Another study found that it relieved food allergy-related gastrointestinal symptoms in mice.