Sentia Red Gaba Spirit: 50cl Vegan Gluten-Free Non-Alcoholic Beverage Fair Trade Certified 0% ABV Caffeine Free

Product Information

Alcohol Change UK reports a steady rise in non-drinkers between the ages of 16 and 24, and the non-profit predicted that 6.5 million people would take part in Dry January this month. That’s up from 3.9 million in 2020, and just 4,000 when the concept launched in 2013. It’s safe to say there’s a market for all this. In 2020, 11 new non-alcoholic spirit brands launched in the UK market, making a grand total of 42. We want you to get a good effect that plateaus,’ says Nutt, confirming that it’s not possible to get wasted on Sentia. GABA Labs is now raising investment to support the regulatory process for their synthetic ingredients, and to develop further their bioprospecting program into plant-based molecules using AI-based techniques.

Sentia is a non-alcoholic drink made of a licensed, ‘Botanical GABAergic Blend’ from Nutt’s team at GABA Labs. When you get down to it, taste is the most important factor in a drink – happily, Sentia hits the mark in that department. And while there’s no evidence of impairment with Sentia, the team won’t recommend it for designated drivers as people might be affected by it differently.

GABA Labs was originally formed in May 2016, with a mission to develop new compounds that are designed to mimic the pleasurable effects of alcohol on the GABA* system, without the use of alcohol. Sentia is the first drink to replicate the pro-social effects of alcohol, by targeting the brain system that mediates them,’ David tells Metro.co.uk. GABA Labs is a pioneering and science-driven company that develops ingredients as patentable alternatives to alcohol. ‘Alcarelle’ is a synthetic GABAergic* ingredient that can be used to make adult drinks and works as an effective catalyst for conviviality and social interaction without some of the unpleasant aspects of ethanol. So to raise that money and develop the concept, we started looking for botanical ingredients that would work in a similar way to GABA. We identified four plants that in combination, and with uptake enhancers, produced this effect. There are other botanical drinks on the market – such as Three Spirit Drinks, which uses ingredients including cacao and lion’s mane for mood-boosting, energising effects. Not to mention the slew of non-alcoholic beers, wines and spirits already flooding the market.

Sentia doesn’t try to look like anything other than itself. It’s not an alcohol-free version of something else so it doesn’t come in a lookalike bottle, it is an original. The main calming transmitter in your brain is called GABA [gamma-Aminobutyric acid]. Alcohol enhances GABA, which is why it relaxes you and makes you more convivial. Sentia is also designed to replicate the sweet spot you get after your first couple of alcoholic drinks, that relaxed and de-stressed feeling that washes over you after your first glass of wine. It does this by stimulating GABA activity in the brain. Does SENTIA work? However, for somebody just starting out on their alcohol-free journey, those people who want to give their bodies a rest during January after the excesses of Christmas, or somebody who really does miss that alcohol buzz, then Sentia and zero-alcohol functional spirits like it could be the way forward.The flavour is fruity, but there’s a bitterness that lasts once the initial flavour has dissipated – it’s sort of like grapefruit, but nicer. The colour is rich and deep, and even when diluted with tonic it has a pleasing, deep-red hue. According to its inventor, Professor David Nutt, Sentia is “Neither alcohol nor alcohol-free, but a great tasting, effective alcohol alternative.”