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Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

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Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#51

I've switched to alcohol free beers. They're a bit sweeter but for me it's fine.

Likewise! I'm trying not to drink much anymore. But I always want something cold and fizzy. So it's a switch between refrigerated carafes of water, seltzer, and zero-alcohol beers. Although I feel incentivized not to have even the zero-alcohol beers since it's still 60 calories. While the seltzers I find are 0. Any beer recommendations? I haven't tried much outside of the locally-supplied zero-alcohol Heineken and Co…

> Any beer recommendations?

Where? In eastern US, Athletic Brewing makes really good hoppy ales. The ones from Brooklyn Brewery are good too, but a bit heavy for my taste.

In continental Europe, Germany has a large selection of lagers, good but not great. Clausthaler is an example. Also, I like the Czech beer Staropramen.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#52
post #22

Acetaldehyde (from consuming alcoholic beverages)(1) is a Group 1 carcinogen, along with things like Asbestos. Does it fix that? [1] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/understanding-...

Yes and...

This is not ambiguous: There is no safe amount that does not affect health.[1]

"We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is,"

It is possible that a totally sober and mentally healthy person can determine that the benefits of alcohol counterbalance the health risks. I've heard a dozen meandering explanations here and they all boil down to "I like it and it seems to be helping my life more than hurting it." That seems reasonable.

However not everyone has the same risk profile, or even the same moral grounding, so demonstrating to others that there are few relative risks to alcohol consumption or not (based on your personal threat model) biases the threat models of others.

It helps nothing to continue to reject some of the strongest correlations we have and risks imbuing incorrect epistemic biases to others via demonstration. Accept the fact that you are taking a risk instead of trying to brush off the scientific consensus and be vocal about the risks given the fact that this literature is not accessible to most people.

[1]https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-...

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#53
Oh great, I'm sure this will end as well as the pain pills from Purdue..

There is a sizable minority of people who don't have a "governor" when it comes to drinking, we call them alcoholics.

Then there is a big group of people who have some moderation, but part of that "moderation" are the hangovers and by the late 20's they start to hurt much more than consecutive nights of boozing can offer.

Let's hope this is yet another pseudo-science piece to fluff some careers and little more, otherwise I'm guessing it could in the early 80's again when coke "was fun and gave you energy to do more even at work".. ( not the company line, but the general feeling in the streets )

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#54
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other substances are gaining popularity specifically because people are learning enough about them to have a conversation beyond grade school scare campaigns. People are objectively noticing that they can get a social lubricant without a hangover, without liver damage, without esophageal damage, without lung damage (not an alcohol thing, just a reference to smokers of anything), and that alcohol is more toxic than mo…

Could you share what some of these substances are?

THC (weed)

Psilocybin (mushrooms)

examples of substances that fit the criteria above and where many people would like more research to exist on longer term recreational use.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#55
post #18

Looks like a rebranding of GHB

I think you're right. I've always wondered why they don't water down GHB to be the equivalent of a low ABV drink. The only scary thing about GHB is its relative potency to volume. It's honestly a wonderful drug.

It is a pretty nice alternative to alcohol, and since their name is GABA Labs, and GHB can be synthesized from GABA, I assume they will be selling some analog or even rebranding and packaging GHB properly for consumption.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#57
post #36

Alcohol is the most boring psychoactive substance ever, even Benadryl is more fun. I really do not understand those who enjoy the experience.

You shouldn't assume the effects you get match those of other people. People experience different effects because of differences in brain/body chemistry and genetics. People that get "asian flush" for instance process alcohol in a way that results in more toxic metabolites thus making alcohol literally more poisonous and less enjoyable for them. Holds true for other substances as well. My brother absolutely loves wee…

Precisely. Most people "enjoy" alcohol because it is socially accepted drug, but for many people so many other substances would be a lot more enjoyable, without collateral damage of alcohol for society. Alcohol is a poor choice for recreational drug for many, for the exceptions those who likes depressants.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#59
post #22

Acetaldehyde (from consuming alcoholic beverages)(1) is a Group 1 carcinogen, along with things like Asbestos. Does it fix that? [1] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/understanding-...

Yes and... This is not ambiguous: There is no safe amount that does not affect health.[1] "We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer…

In an absolute sense, it also isn't safe to take a sip of water.

Re: Alcohol without the hangover – scientists are finding ways

#60

I love my IPAs but I have to admit that the UK does social beer right. 3% or even 2.5% ales are the way to go if you want to socially drink. We have a concept of a "session" beer in the US, which is lower ABV but the selection of really good, really low gravity beers is the best in the UK as far as I can tell.

I have been on the hunt for the past year in the mid-atlantic area of the US looking for Moosehead for example makes a Moosehead Light for the states at 4%, but they also offer Cracked Canoe which is only 3.2% but not sold in the states (available in the Canada, UK and Costa Rica of all places where I tried it).

Founders All Day IPA is like 4% if you can find it
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