Can Science Make Alcohol Safer? (scientificamerican.com)

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?"

Comments

and D-mannitol and Potassium Sorbate

[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.

Re:"approval from federal regulators"

[Dragonslicer]

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.

Re:Reminds me of...

[serviscope_minor]

LOL I don't remember a cannon in Star Trek

What about the one where Kirk fashions some sort of rudimentary lathe^W cannon.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/...