Alcohol Substitute

[Proteus]

Are there substances which mimick the burn, flavor or aroma of alcohol, yet aren't harmful?

[Leader Bee]

Don't they put de-icer into moonshine sometimes?

(not that it isn't harmful)

 

Question: i've heard that drinking high percentage alcohol is a cure for accidentally drinking de-icer. Is this true and if so, why?

[Proteus]

No idea about the de-icer, but I've done some research and found a few things:

 

Alcohol causes a "burn" sensation because it is an irritant. If so, are there any other, more or less harmless irritants that could be used to simulate the burn?

 

Small amounts of floating alcohol can simulate the taste and aroma of large amounts of dissolved alcohol (Encyclopedia Brittannica).

 

According to some people, pure ethanol is odorless. Is this true? The apparent odor of ethanol could actually be due to its aroma-enhancing effect. Ethanol increases the aroma of other volatiles through a "physicochemical effect" (Oxford Journals, A.A. Williams and P.R. Rosser: Aroma enhancing effects of ethanol).

 

Ethanol also increases sensitivity to odors (Richard L. Doty: Influences of ethanol ingestion on olfactory function in humans).

 

Is there any way to imitate these effects? It's unfortunate that a substance having such valuable sensory effects happens to be an addictive drug.

[Mr Skeptic]

Question: i've heard that drinking high percentage alcohol is a cure for accidentally drinking de-icer. Is this true and if so, why?

 

Yes, the cure for consuming methanol is to consume ethanol. Ethanol and methanol share the same metabolic pathway and enzymes; but ethanol is the one for which they were made and so gets most of the enzyme. Methanol itself is not particularly toxic. But whereas ethanol is metabolized into mostly harmless byproducts, methanol by the same pathway is turned into formaldehyde, a very nasty chemical. So, the solution is to consume ethanol to keep these enzymes busy and prevent methanol from being metabolized. The methanol can then be excreted instead of metabolized.

[Sisyphus]

How often does one accidentally consume methanol?

[Mr Skeptic]

Are there substances which mimick the burn, flavor or aroma of alcohol, yet aren't harmful?

 

It should be. Smell/taste are based on some rather strange properties of molecules, rather than the molecules themselves. Thus, absurdly different molecules can have the same smell/taste as others, as evidenced by the weird sugar substitues.

[JGK]

I think the de-icer, diethylene glycol was added to wine as a sweetening agent rather than to beef up the alcohol WikiLink 1

 

Treatments for poisoning are discussed here Wikilink 2

[Proteus]

Hm, of course mimicking the taste isn't hard. But the aroma seems more unique for a particular molecule. More unique still seem the aroma- and olfaction-enhancing effects, which I've never heard any other molecule to have. This latter thing is important, as it not only enhances the taste and smell of the beverage, but also of food, which is probably partly why alcohol is popular in gastronomy.

[tomgwyther]

There was a documentary on radio 4 a few years back where someone is developing such a substance. I found this about it

 

Alcohol substitute that avoids drunkenness and hangovers in development

An alcohol substitute that mimics its pleasant buzz without leading to drunkenness and hangovers is being developed by scientists.The new substance could have the added bonus of being "switched off" instantaneously with a pill, to allow drinkers to drive home or return to work.

The synthetic alcohol, being developed from chemicals related to Valium, works like alcohol on nerves in the brain that provide a feeling of wellbeing and relaxation.

 

But unlike alcohol its does not affect other parts of the brain that control mood swings and lead to addiction. It is also much easier to flush out of the body.

Finally because it is much more focused in its effects, it can also be switched off with an antidote, leaving the drinker immediately sober.

The new alcohol is being developed by a team at Imperial College London, led by Professor David Nutt, Britain's top drugs expert who was recently sacked as a government adviser for his comments about cannabis and ecstasy.

 

I seem to remember, they experimented on the radio presenter with it. He got steadily more drunk, and described the effect as almost identical to the effects of alcohol. his motor control and balance weren't affected as much as with alcohol.

Then they gave him the antidote, after a few second he felt his head clear and snapped back to normality, which he described as a very strange experience.

[Proteus]

That's very interesting. I googled it and read the article. Unfortunately, people are more likely to trust a 5000-year-old dangerous drug than a safer one that's just a few years old, because they're used to the idea, and everyone else has been using it before them.

 

Also, as long as the aroma- and olfaction-enhancing effect can't be replaced, alcohol will likely still be used in gastronomy, and from there its use spreads to other circles, where it is used as a drug.

[tomgwyther]

It would have to pass some pretty vigorous testing before it could be sold to the public.

Both the drug and the food admins would have to give it the OK.

I'd be willing to bet that if it were sold in bars, people would buy it. Especially the late night, night club, binge drinking establishments. the doorman could give each customer an antidote pill as they leave.

[Phi for All]

Alcohol substitute that avoids drunkenness and hangovers in development

An alcohol substitute that mimics its pleasant buzz without leading to drunkenness and hangovers is being developed by scientists.The new substance could have the added bonus of being "switched off" instantaneously with a pill, to allow drinkers to drive home or return to work.

The synthetic alcohol, being developed from chemicals related to Valium, works like alcohol on nerves in the brain that provide a feeling of wellbeing and relaxation.

 

But unlike alcohol its does not affect other parts of the brain that control mood swings and lead to addiction. It is also much easier to flush out of the body.

Finally because it is much more focused in its effects, it can also be switched off with an antidote, leaving the drinker immediately sober.

The new alcohol is being developed by a team at Imperial College London, led by Professor David Nutt, Britain's top drugs expert who was recently sacked as a government adviser for his comments about cannabis and ecstasy.

This sounds just like Star Trek TNG's synthehol. Shuts the buzz down when it's no longer wanted. Perfect for those who will soon need to pilot a vehicle.

[Mr Skeptic]

This sounds just like Star Trek TNG's synthehol. Shuts the buzz down when it's no longer wanted. Perfect for those who will soon need to pilot a vehicle.

 

Well, you wouldn't believe how much starship accident insurance goes up with just one DUI charge.

[Phi for All]

Well, you wouldn't believe how much starship accident insurance goes up with just one DUI charge.

Not to mention that stepping outside the vehicle for the roadside sobriety test is usually fatal.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

So is trying to pull over the Enterprise.

 

Seriously, though, that sounds really cool. Now, would there be ways of making, say, whiskey that tastes right but has no actual alcohol? It seems like alcohol is a key part of making it, after all...

[John Cuthber]

How often does one accidentally consume methanol?

 

Generally, just once.

However, it tastes sweet (like glycol) and it gets spilled so pets sometimes drink it.

Also it's a matter of definition. If I drink moonshine and some bastard has spiked it with methanol, does that count?

 

Spectroscopic grade alcohol still smells like alcohol to me.