I’ve been reading a lot lately about RU-21, aka the “anti-hangover pill” developed in Russia for the KGB.
As anyone tried it?
Does/did it work?
Any side effects?
Can I get it in Canada?
Other sites:
http://www.clubRU21.com
http://www.RU-21.net
http://www.RU21now.com
http://www.RU21usa.com
http://www.ru21works.com
I’m no biologist…but this (from one of your links):
…sounds as if it’s just slowing down the metabolism, so you’ll stay drunk for longer and get hungover more slowly? The same as a plate of pasta before drinking?
You would trust them Commies? :mad:
After reading a blurb about it in the Jan '04 Maxim magazine, it seems to have mixed results.
Tripler
But then again, I would trust Maxim magazine?
I don’t know much about the “drug” because it is not a drug at all. It’s not approved by the FDA, and is being sold as a NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT.They seem to be running a full-blitz viral marketing campaign in the media (e.g. call a reporter, offer a free case, and the names of some happy customers - it’ll get an ain’t-it-cool article on a slow news day), but they can’t legally make any medical claims like reducing hangovers. That works in their favor: they don’t have to reveal much or support their claims
I’ve been told the pills contain contain vitamin C, fumaric acid, glutamine and succinic acid. Glutamine is a common amino acid. Fumaric acid and succinic acid are essentil compounds that are made and consumed in fairly sizable amounts by every living cell of your body, as part of the Krebs cycle In fact, since the Krebs cycle turn succinic acid into fumaric acid, I’d guess the only reason the fumaric acid is there is to slow down the rate the succinate is used up.
If this is indeed the full chemical composition, your body already contains 100-1000x as much succinic acid, fumaric acid and glutamine as the pill. That doesn’t mean that adding a little extra wouldn’t help (the glutamine is mostly tied up in compounds such as proteins), but it does make me suspicious. The Vitamine C has minimal effect on hangover or you’d never get hangovers from bloody marys or screwdrivers (there are also many studies proving this)
Succinic acid makes up ~35% of the mass of each pill. The manufacturer, Spirit Sciences, claims that it stops the body from producing “an enzyme” that turns alcohol into acetaldehyde. (They probably mean, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.) This pretty much means the alcohol stays in you longer, since the other pathways are typically going full-bore when you’re solidly drunk.
You’ve probably heard that some ethinic groups (e.g. about half of Chinese, most native Americans, eskimos, etc.) get drunk more easily or otherwise don’t handle alcohol as well as Caucasians. There are several reasons for this (which is why this generalization is a dangerous one, if you’re not a scientist studying the phenomenon). one is that most caucasians have two forms of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (cell and mitchondrial), while about many individuals in the affected ethnicities only have the cellular version, and not the mitchondrial. They metabolize ethanol more slowly, in a manner similar to the way this pill claims to. They tend to get hangovers MORE readily, not less
Of course, I’ve made a lot of guesses here. I’ve had to, because they seem to play the facts pretty close to their chest. (I’d know volumes more if it were an FDA-approved drug I could imagine other pathways that could fit the available informations. However, I would say that my clinical suspicion is that this pill would not have any significant effect in a double-blind placebo study, or if it has an effect, it would have undesired effects that need to be understood before it can be safely used. I would also guess that it would work differently for different people, and if it had a prominent might even be dangerous for certain ethnicities. (e.g. suppose it acts on cellular acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, and you don’t have any mitochondrial dehydrogenase.) Just because it works well for many Russians doesn’t mean it will work for you
(Many Russians have a phenomenal tolerance that suggests a biological basis. I’ve seen government offices where they kept bottles of vodka on the desks and drank all day long; They used to have beer and vodka machines on the street, the way we have coke machines - except the cups were rewashed in the machine, so you had to finish your drink on the spot and return the glass. That doesn’t mean they don’t suffer serious ill effects, especially longterm ones, it just means that they tolerate the short term effects well)
**Bottom line: if the composition I was given is complete, and no weird production quirks emerge [1], it would be safe, but probably ineffective
If you can give me more information about the product, I’ll be happy to explain its significance** Right now, I’m tired and beginning to ramble.
[1]The common and essential amino acid tryptophan had a problem about 10 years ago: a then-unknown trace contaminant from the bacterial production vats all around the world was randomly giving people blood diseases and even killing them. Though Tryptophan is present in all meat, it became illegal to sell as a supplement.