This
alcohol substitute could get you drunk without the hangover
Thanks to science, you may soon be able to get drunk
without feeling the effects the next morning.
A British scientist and longtime
drug researcher has developed an alcohol substitute that still gives imbibers that sought-after buzz without the unsavory side effects of a hangover the
next day. More importantly, at least from a public-health perspective, the
substitute could also reduce instances of alcoholism and
eliminate the damage that alcohol toxins have on bodily organs.
Oh, and it doesn’t have calories.
Cheers!
Alcarelle is the brainchild of
David Nutt, a neuropsychopharmacology professor at
Imperial College London and former adviser on
substance abuse to the British government. It’s the brand name for a pair of
alcohol substitutes that contain chemical compounds, which Nutt calls
“alcosynths,” that mimic the fun of alcohol without the consequences.
Alcarelle has not undergone a regulatory or
scientific peer review, Nutt said.
Nutt has pursued patents for roughly 90
chemical compounds that have the effect of knocking a couple back,
and two of those lab creations have already been tested in humans. They
could come to a bar near you if his newly formed company, also called Alcarelle, can raise the money needed to bring
it to market, he said. The substitute would be sold as a liquid and added to
your favorite cocktail or nonalcoholic beverage in lieu of vodka, rum, gin
or other libations.
“I’ve gone from this stage of being just me, the mad
scientist, to having business partners,” Nutt said in a phone interview.
“They’re the people who are hopefully going to get me the investors.”
The various compounds that Nutt has developed work in one
of two ways. Some replicate the direct effects of alcohol, specifically
affecting the area of the brain that makes you feel loose but not the
area that makes you fall-down drunk. Others mimic the indirect effects of
alcohol, altering your serotonin or dopamine levels so that you might feel
happier or more energetic.
Researchers can also engineer the chemical
compounds so that their effect on the brain maxes out after so many
drinks, reducing the desire to drink excessively and the risk of alcohol poisoning or blacking out,
he said.
“My ambition would be for my grandchildren to never be
exposed to alcohol,” Nutt said.
Tackling the harmful effects of alcohol has been
Nutt’s focus since his days as a doctoral student in the 1970s. It was also
part of his work during a stint in the 1980s as clinical science chief
in the National Institutes of Health’s alcohol abuse and
alcoholism division. The challenge, he said, is that alcohol is
fundamentally toxic to the human body. Indeed, health professionals have long
warned that excessive and prolonged alcohol consumption can be detrimentalto the brain, heart and liver, among other organs.
So 10 years ago, Nutt authored a paper for the
British government calling for greater research into alcohol alternatives.
“Over the last couple of years, this research has come to
some fruition. We now have found substances that can do what alcohol does in
terms of giving people a relaxing experience and social experience, but without
having the downsides of anger and aggression and addiction,” Nutt said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2016/09/28/this-alcohol-substitute-could-get-you-drunk-without-the-hangover/?wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
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