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Biotech Beer Science

Can Science Make Alcohol Safer? (scientificamerican.com) 107

Posted by EditorDavid from the fitness-from-fermentation dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader Zorro was the first to spot this story. Scientific American reports: Could there be a "liver-friendly" vodka? One company claims its proprietary blend of additives reduces stress on the body... The researchers concluded that consuming the alcohol with the additives -- glycyrrhizin, derived from licorice; D-mannitol, a sugar alcohol; and potassium sorbate, a preservative -- may support improved liver health compared with drinking alcohol alone. Marsha Bates, a distinguished research professor and director of the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University, said the study design "seemed appropriate." But, she added, study itself was small, with only 12 healthy men and women, and "doesn't really provide any information of what the long-term effects of consuming alcohol with this additive would be. It's a positive preliminary study but certainly does not provide a firm basis for speculating about long-term impact."

Functional or not, Harsha Chigurupati needs approval from federal regulators before he can tout curative powers on a label... Specifically, Chigurupati is seeking approval to make the claim that his blend, known as NTX for "No Tox," provides "antioxidant and inflammatory support" and "reduces the risk of alcohol-induced liver diseases," among other claims... Chigurupati said his goal is not to enable people to drink more, but to drink with less physical harm.
The claim "leaves some experts deeply skeptical," adds the article, while 33-year-old Chigurupati admits that an earlier formula "tasted terrible and it actually burned my mouth." But his company later developed a formula which he says tasted good and is easier on the liver. "I don't believe in abstinence," Chigurupati told the Wall Street Journal. "What I do believe in is using technology to make life better. I'm not going to stop drinking, so why not make it safer?"
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Can Science Make Alcohol Safer? More

Can Science Make Alcohol Safer?

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  • Can't I not just put tonic in my gin?

    • Can't I not just put tonic in my gin?

      Try adding some Cryptocurrencies to your gin tonic . . . they seem to be very efficient at intoxicating folks beyond sanity.

      • Re:Licorice? (Score:5, Funny)

        by lucm ( 889690 ) on Saturday October 28, 2017 @07:43PM (#55451331)

        Can't I not just put tonic in my gin?

        Try adding some Cryptocurrencies to your gin tonic . . . they seem to be very efficient at intoxicating folks beyond sanity.

        If you had said "blockchain" instead of Cryptocurrencies your post would have been modded up 400%.

    • and D-mannitol and Potassium Sorbate (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      D-mannitol is an Osmotic diuretic. Tastes sweet but difficult to digest. Grain alcohol (ethanol) is prioritized over sugar when it comes to metabolizing (it is a poison that the body tries to rid itself of). Mixing normal sugars with ethanol can cause hyperglycemia which can cause the body start converting sugars into lipids (hyperlipidemia).

      Potassium sorbate is more than a preservative, it slows the uptake of alcohol. You could eat peanuts with your drink and get a similar effect.

      • Forget the peanuts solution
        Assuming you aren't a wine-wimp or the like, peanuts will have either no, or very small, difference in metabolization rate

    • As somebody from northern Europe... Fuck ya! Licorice is love, licorice is life! Black, strong, salty!

    • Well, no. Tonic, at least as sold in the US, is soda. Sugary, awful soda. You're just doubling your type-2 diabetes chance with gin and tonic.

      Do what I do, and play it safe: Drink martinis.

      (At least until weed is legal around here, then I'll likely happily switch to edibles.)

    • “A waste of good gin.”

      I kid, I kid...

    • an earlier formula "tasted terrible and it actually burned my mouth."

      Maybe your wish has already been fulfilled by the researchers accidentally synthesizing highly-diluted tzjin-anthony-ks?

  • Because drinking in general moderation is not considered unsafe?

    If you wanted to make it safe you'd be drinking alcohol free beverages. You're far more likely to die from impairment than liver damage.

    • Because drinking in general moderation is not considered unsafe?

      If you wanted to make it safe you'd be drinking alcohol free beverages. You're far more likely to die from impairment than liver damage.

      It does seem a little odd, like suggesting making binging and alcoholsm better.

      Drinking in moderation is actually quite good for a person, and won't damage a person's liver to any extent.

      I'm not certain what substances exist that are not toxic in huge amounts, be it water, oxygen or other stuff we need to live.

      • Well, moderation is not in the wheelhouse of most substance abusers... so there's always a market for ideas like this one. My own project is weed infused Oreo cookies. The beauty of my idea is the marketing is baked right in, so to speak.
        Bummed out?
        Have a cookie!
        Got the munchies?
        Have a cookie!
        Walls breathing too loudly?
        Have a cookie!
        I tell you, it's flawless!**

        ** Not intended for diabetics, people who's lifestyle calls for motor skills, sustained effort, or cogent thought. Should not be used by people tha

        • Well, moderation is not in the wheelhouse of most substance abusers... so there's always a market for ideas like this one. My own project is weed infused Oreo cookies.

          Is it in the cookie, or the icing inside?

          • Given the texture and dryness of the cookie part, icing is the path of least complication. High temperature is not the friend of the active ingredients you want to preserve. Plus, the old saw is that you eat the creamy center first, then wander off after losing the crispy cookie part in the couch...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by lucm ( 889690 )

      You're far more likely to die from impairment than liver damage.

      You're also more likely to die from stolen kidneys than liver damage, especially if you do your drinking in Tijuana or Tegucigalpa.

    • Even drinking in moderation increases your risk for cancer [wikipedia.org]. So yes, it can be considered unsafe.

      • Define "moderation". From your own wikipedia page the first paragraph points to the IARC which lists everything which can cause cancer regardless of the dosage. This include things like sunlight (something without which you would eventually become sick due to vitamin d deficiency).

        The link is clear, but the risk... from the two studies linked the one in Australia basically is talking about 4 cans of beer a day, the European study talks about greater than 1 pint of English ale.

        Both of those exceed the defini

  • All things in moderation. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The only thing I see wrong with alcohol as it is today is misuse and over use. Perhaps what we need is a little more self discipline and self control. Have a glass of wine with dinner or a beer at the ball game but donâ(TM)t go nuts.

    • Re:All things in moderation. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Kjella ( 173770 ) on Saturday October 28, 2017 @07:15PM (#55451253) Homepage

      The only thing I see wrong with alcohol as it is today is misuse and over use. Perhaps what we need is a little more self discipline and self control. Have a glass of wine with dinner or a beer at the ball game but don't go nuts.

      Except most people intentionally use alcohol to loosen up and it's a socially accepted explanation for your behavior if you happen to do something stupid or embarrassing. If people managed to let go of their inhibitions and worries on their own and they weren't judged by different standards they wouldn't need alcohol. For better and for worse I've done things under the influence of alcohol I'd never imagine doing sober.

  • Not that I can recall (Score:5, Funny)

    by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Saturday October 28, 2017 @06:33PM (#55451171)
    I have been out drinking all night some times, never had a problem. At least, not that I can recall. I'm sure its perfectly safe.

  • Chigurupati said his goal is not to enable people to drink more, but to drink with less physical harm

    Alfred Nobel would like a word with you. No matter your intentions, people, both good and bad, will find uses and applications for your invention that you cannot possibly imagine. Worse, they will find uses and applications that you have imagined. That is human nature.

  • The only additives I need in my vodka are a tiny splash of vermouth and maybe an olive.

    Olives are an important food group, and contain omega-something. I forget which one, but I know it's one of the omegas.

  • Decades ago an entrepreneur came up with a plan to add vitamin C to beer as a means to make it healthier. Apparently the product tasted good but I don't recall if any tests were done regarding health benefit. In any case, it seems that there is a formula for beer that is acceptable to the Food and Drug Administration. Adding any ingredient not on that list makes it not be beer. Thus it would have to go through an expensive approval process.

    Millions of brain cells have been destroyed due to this negligent at

    • Any more vitamin C that your body can absorb will be urinated out. Take large amounts of it, and it makes your stomach hurt and gives you diarrhea. I see no benefit to adding it to alcohol, other than taste.

      • You are more correct than you expect with your comment on flavor. I have two friends who are seriously into wine (or getting wine into them). One owns a liquor store that's mostly stocked with wines. I fooled and then amazed them when I gave them a few glasses to taste of fairly average wine without telling them I'd added just a touch of pure vitamin C to them. Add just a tiny pinch to a glass and it really "opens up" the taste. Try it, you'll be glad you did.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by atisss ( 1661313 )

        How about combining with L-Cysteine for anti-hangover effect?

        https://www.ceri.com/alcohol.h... [ceri.com]

        I have been remembering this article for long time, but it's a bit problematic to get L-Cysteine and try it out

    • Re:"approval from federal regulators" (Score:4, Informative)

      by Dragonslicer ( 991472 ) on Sunday October 29, 2017 @08:12AM (#55452577)
      No, that isn't how the FDA works. You can add vitamin C to beer and sell it as "beer with extra vitamin C", and the FDA won't care (unless the addition of vitamin C somehow makes the beer more toxic). What the FDA cares about is when you start marketing it as having health benefits, especially if you start claiming that it cures or prevents some specific disease. Once you start talking about health benefits, you've moved away from selling beer and moved towards selling medicine, and there are strict requirements about proving safety and efficacy of medicines.

  • Glycyrrhizin - really? It is harmful (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Glycyrrhizin might not be the wisest choice of additive.

    Research on glycyrrhizin at University of Helsinki published in American Journal of Epidemiology (2017):

    1. It has harmful effects on a foetus.
    2. New research has discovered that it impairs children's IQ's by at least 7 points.
    3. Scientists are unsure whether there is even a safe limit of this natural sweetener
    4. In separate research, it was proven to be a carcinogen even in normal doses.
    5. It is responsible for the liquorice taste which is unpleasant t

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It can also increase blood pressure in some people.

  • before I RTFA and comment about it.

  • Star Trek already did it.

  • It's the danger and skirting death that makes it fun.

  • I strongly suspect this will, at best, make it *slightly* healthier. I mean, Coke Zero is probably technically healthier than Coke Classic, but neither are remotely as healthy for you as water.

    Prof. David Nutt's work on a "synthetic alcohol" he calls alcosynth is likely to be vastly more healthy, because a) you are consuming the active ingredient in mg doses instead of gram doses, b) it doesn't release acetaldehyde, which is itself a deadly poison, and c) it "tops out", ie if it's designed to top out a 6

  • Which needs the additives ...

  • If this synthetic alcohol becomes popular, maybe it’ll drive the price of good whiskey down a bit. And maybe I’ll finally be able to find a bottle of Ol’ Pappy.

  • Childishness. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Sunday October 29, 2017 @01:48AM (#55451943)

    If something is bad for you and you refuse to stop doing it despite the negative consequences then it's called an addiction. If you drink so much that you destroy your own liver then you have earned your liver failure because that is no simple feat as it require years of heavy drinking. The only thing doing this would accomplish is enabling addicts in their addictions in a way that will be a further drain on society. This is the wrong approach to solving the problem at hand.

    • So, by this logic, we shouldn't support needle exchanges? Heroin addicts *earn* blood borne diseases like hepatitis, right? Shame on them! They must deal with the consequences of permanent disease if they can't stop their sinful ways soon enough. Giving them extra time and a chance to have a healthy life in recovery... well, that's not what Jesus would do. He'd never promote forgiveness and compassion or anything like that. Oh, and naltrexone... overdoses should always be fatal. Don't support making that av

      • So, by this logic, we shouldn't support needle exchanges? Heroin addicts *earn* blood borne diseases like hepatitis, right?

        Incorrect. Blood-borne disease only requires a single instance of cross-contamination to be transmitted.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mal-2 ( 675116 )

      You can also get your liver #rekt by taking acetaminophen for your hangovers. Doing so multiplies the damage. Reminding people to take aspirin instead would do much the same thing -- except for the people who can't take normal NSAIDs (like my mother).

  • Reduce the % of ethanol in a drunk (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The only reason ethanol is legal(again in the US) is tradition and ease of production.
    A kg of sugar, water, and a box of yeast makes several liters of shitty hooch in recycled soft drink bottles.
    But as an alternative convince an alcoholic person who needs that gabbanergic tune-down to cut the ethanol partially or completely with something else which produces less toxin during metabolism in the liver. It will also plug the dangerous cold turkey detox hole.
    I don't believe drug dependence can be solved until

  • Yet weed has none of these effects, no hangover, and won't crash your car. Yet it is illegal.
  • Anyone remember "safer guns and safer bullets?" Sounds just as "smart."

  • Where do people sign up for the long term studies necessary for general approval?

  • In the immortal words of Freewheelin' Franklin, "Better living through chemistry!"...

  • Sure can. Tip it out the window.

  • Isn't alcohol fundamentally a toxin?

    How does one make a toxin itself less toxic, yet not change it?

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