Hangover Medication : Alcohol hangover will not be there for long now. The entire intoxication will go away in one go. A gel is being made which will immediately remove the intoxication of alcohol and will also keep you safe. This gel made from the combination of iron atom and milk protein beta-lactoglobulin will turn ethanol into acetate on colliding with alcohol in the digestion system. This will make the intoxication disappear. Food scientist Jiaqi Su of ETH Zurich and his team have recently published this study in Nature Nano-technology.
How will the gel work?
Our body breaks down alcohol itself. After which the by-product acetaldehyde starts being produced, which causes intoxication i.e. hangover. Acetaldehyde is also dangerous for the liver. Biochemist Duo Xu of Stanford University says that the new gel will work to convert alcohol directly into acetate, which means toxic things will not be formed in the beam itself. It works similarly to hydrogel-based nano-lever.
Why is there a need to make gel?
According to WHO, every year about 3 million people are dying due to alcohol. In fact, most of the alcohol reaches the blood circulation through the mucus membrane layer of the stomach and intestines. Even a small amount of alcohol spoils the focus, which increases many types of risks. This is the reason why drinking alcohol daily is considered harmful. It can cause liver diseases, inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and cancer.
Researchers at ETH Zurich have found a way to get rid of this through this protein gel. ETH’s study showed that in rats the gel quickly and harmlessly converted alcohol into acetic acid before it could enter the bloodstream. This causes intoxication and harm to the body.
Benefits of hangover relief gel
“The gel diverts the breakdown of alcohol from the liver to the digestive system,” said Professor Raphael Mezzenga of the Food and Soft Materials Laboratory at ETH Zurich. This allows alcohol to be digested in the liver, which prevents the formation of acetaldehyde as an intermediate product, which is toxic and is responsible for the problems caused by excessive drinking.
To avoid this harm, this gel can be consumed before or after drinking alcohol. The gel will be effective only as long as alcohol is present in the gastrointestinal tract. This means that when alcohol enters the bloodstream, it can help in reducing its poisoning. This gel can be beneficial for those who cannot give up alcohol.
what is the gel made of
Researchers have used whey protein in making the gel. To create long, thin fibers, they boiled it for several hours and added salt and water as a solvent, which causes the fibrils to bind together and form a gel. The advantage of this gel compared to delivery systems is that it is digested slowly.
However, many catalysts are needed to break down alcohol, for which iron atoms have been used in the gel. A little hydrogen peroxide is needed to trigger this reaction in the intestine, for which gold has been added. Since gold is not digested, its effect lasts for a long time. This means that iron, glucose and gold have been used to make this gel.
When will the gel come in the market?
Researchers said that they have already applied for the patent of the gel. Many clinical tests are yet to be done before getting permission to use it on humans. Only after this, this gel will be available in the market for common people. They have expressed hope to complete the entire process as soon as possible.
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