No more nausea, throbbing headaches and a weak stomach. It sounds too good to be true but a controversial British scientist says he’s created a hangover-free alcohol.
The miracle booze, called ‘alcosynth,’ gets drinkers tipsy without the awful hangover when the buzz subsides. Its maker said he believes alcosynth could completely replace normal alcohol by 2050.
“It will be there alongside the scotch and the gin, they’ll dispense the alcosynth into your cocktail and then you’ll have the pleasure without damaging your liver and your heart,” Dr. David Nutt, an Imperial College Professor, told The Independent in the U.K.
READ MORE: Alcohol without the hangover? This scientist is testing booze without the nasty side effects
Nutt has an infamous past – he was Britain’s former chief drugs advisor but was fired from his posting in 2009 after suggesting that ecstasy and LSD were less harmful than alcohol, according to local reports.
Over the past few years, he’s focused his efforts on studying the merits of illicit drugs, along with creating a pill that erases the nasty side effects of a hangover.
In this case, Nutt said he’s patented 90 different compounds that can mimic drinking alcohol but without the hangover.
Two of the designer drink compounds are now being “rigorously tested.”
READ MORE: 5 ways to cure that nasty hangover
“They go very nicely into mojitos. They even go into something as clear as a Tom Collins. One is pretty tasteless and the other has a bitter taste,” he explained to the UK newspaper.
The effects of alcosynth last for about a couple of hours, just like normal booze. The effects would also cap out at about four to five drinks, so you might drink more but the buzz won’t worsen.
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Nutt said he designed alcosynth based on zeroing in on the brain science of alcohol: Alcohol plays with our neurotransmitter systems, relaxing users and helping them let their guards down. Scientists have worked tirelessly to understand the positive aspects of alcohol, and have learned to mimic them without drawing in the negative effects, he explained.
It’s still in its early days so it could take decades to work through clinical trials, he conceded.
“We haven’t tested it to destruction yet, but it’s safer than drinking too much alcohol. With clever pharmacology, you can limit and put a ceiling on the effects, so you can’t ever get as ill or kill yourself, unlike with drinking a lot of vodka,” he said.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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