Functional Alternatives to Alcohol
The consumption of alcohol is associated with well-known health harms and many governments worldwide are actively engaged in devising approaches to reduce them. To this end, a common proposed strategy aims at reducing alcohol consumption. This approach has led to the development of non-alcoholic dri...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/18/3761 |
| _version_ | 1797483981691682816 |
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| author | David J. Nutt Robin J. Tyacke Meg Spriggs Vanessa Jacoby Alan D. Borthwick Delia Belelli |
| author_facet | David J. Nutt Robin J. Tyacke Meg Spriggs Vanessa Jacoby Alan D. Borthwick Delia Belelli |
| author_sort | David J. Nutt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The consumption of alcohol is associated with well-known health harms and many governments worldwide are actively engaged in devising approaches to reduce them. To this end, a common proposed strategy aims at reducing alcohol consumption. This approach has led to the development of non-alcoholic drinks, which have been especially welcome by younger, wealthier, health-conscious consumers, who have been turning away from alcohol to look toward alternatives. However, a drawback of non-alcoholic drinks is that they do not facilitate social interaction in the way alcohol does, which is the main reason behind social drinking. Therefore, an alternative approach is to develop functional drinks that do not use alcohol yet mimic the positive, pro-social effects of alcohol without the associated harms. This article will discuss (1) current knowledge of how alcohol mediates its effects in the brain, both the desirable, e.g., antistress to facilitate social interactions, and the harmful ones, with a specific focus on the pivotal role played by the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter system and (2) how this knowledge can be exploited to develop functional safe alternatives to alcohol using either molecules already existing in nature or synthetic ones. This discussion will be complemented by an analysis of the regulatory challenges associated with the novel endeavour of bringing safe, functional alternatives to alcohol from the bench to bars. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:55:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-29bf56563d5540eab844afad611918b0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:55:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-29bf56563d5540eab844afad611918b02023-11-23T18:11:24ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432022-09-011418376110.3390/nu14183761Functional Alternatives to AlcoholDavid J. Nutt0Robin J. Tyacke1Meg Spriggs2Vanessa Jacoby3Alan D. Borthwick4Delia Belelli5GABA Labs (Research) Ltd., Old Town Court, 70 Queensway, Suite 2, Hemel Hempstead HP2 5HD, UKGABA Labs (Research) Ltd., Old Town Court, 70 Queensway, Suite 2, Hemel Hempstead HP2 5HD, UKGABA Labs (Research) Ltd., Old Town Court, 70 Queensway, Suite 2, Hemel Hempstead HP2 5HD, UKGABA Labs (Research) Ltd., Old Town Court, 70 Queensway, Suite 2, Hemel Hempstead HP2 5HD, UKGABA Labs (Research) Ltd., Old Town Court, 70 Queensway, Suite 2, Hemel Hempstead HP2 5HD, UKGABA Labs (Research) Ltd., Old Town Court, 70 Queensway, Suite 2, Hemel Hempstead HP2 5HD, UKThe consumption of alcohol is associated with well-known health harms and many governments worldwide are actively engaged in devising approaches to reduce them. To this end, a common proposed strategy aims at reducing alcohol consumption. This approach has led to the development of non-alcoholic drinks, which have been especially welcome by younger, wealthier, health-conscious consumers, who have been turning away from alcohol to look toward alternatives. However, a drawback of non-alcoholic drinks is that they do not facilitate social interaction in the way alcohol does, which is the main reason behind social drinking. Therefore, an alternative approach is to develop functional drinks that do not use alcohol yet mimic the positive, pro-social effects of alcohol without the associated harms. This article will discuss (1) current knowledge of how alcohol mediates its effects in the brain, both the desirable, e.g., antistress to facilitate social interactions, and the harmful ones, with a specific focus on the pivotal role played by the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter system and (2) how this knowledge can be exploited to develop functional safe alternatives to alcohol using either molecules already existing in nature or synthetic ones. This discussion will be complemented by an analysis of the regulatory challenges associated with the novel endeavour of bringing safe, functional alternatives to alcohol from the bench to bars.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/18/3761ethanolbotanicalsgamma-aminobutyric acidGABAGABA<sub>A</sub>Rsociability |
| spellingShingle | David J. Nutt Robin J. Tyacke Meg Spriggs Vanessa Jacoby Alan D. Borthwick Delia Belelli Functional Alternatives to Alcohol Nutrients ethanol botanicals gamma-aminobutyric acid GABA GABA<sub>A</sub>R sociability |
| title | Functional Alternatives to Alcohol |
| title_full | Functional Alternatives to Alcohol |
| title_fullStr | Functional Alternatives to Alcohol |
| title_full_unstemmed | Functional Alternatives to Alcohol |
| title_short | Functional Alternatives to Alcohol |
| title_sort | functional alternatives to alcohol |
| topic | ethanol botanicals gamma-aminobutyric acid GABA GABA<sub>A</sub>R sociability |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/18/3761 |
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