Does it really work?
It’s the pill you take before you drink – and it’s selling out faster than Aldi champagne. But does it warrant the cork pop? Our beauty editor gave it a try – just in time for party season…
As an adult, it’s rare to get exactly what you want for Christmas; rarer still that a colleague anticipates your desires before you do. So when an email from WH’s features director landed in my inbox, asking if I’d like to try the buzziest new anti-hangover pill on the market, I was happier than a four-year-old in front of Frozen.
The USP of Myrkl (pronounced ‘miracle’) is that it metabolises much of the alcohol you drink before it reaches the bloodstream – and, crucially, your liver. The £30-a-pack pills are made up of two bacteria strains, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans, plus vitamin B12, which is essential for metabolism. And while its food supplement status prevents the brand from making health claims, the pills still sold out within 24 hours of going on sale.
That the pill has performed well in research might have something to do with the buzz; the one published research study showed that the blood alcohol levels of those who took Mrykl was 70% lower after an hour, compared with those who took a placebo. But the study was small, with only 24 participants. So, to better understand it, I turn to neuropsychopharmacologist David Nutt to enlist his help.
Increasing the rate at which you metabolise alcohol isn’t new, he tells me, but Myrkl’s mechanism – using bacteria to accelerate the process – is. The addition of amino acid l-cysteine could also help block some of the alcohol-induced inflammation. What’s less clear is whether the bacteria can also break down acetaldehyde – aby-product of alcohol metabolisation, which damages DNA. ‘If the [bacteria] also chew this up, then there could be a real health benefit,’ Professor Nutt explains. If they don’t? You risk drinking more than you intended because you think it’s not affecting you, leading to higher levels
