At the weekend I attended a friends garden party. As the sun shone, and the drink flowed, we were clinking glasses and making merry. An hour into the revellry and I was feeling all floaty and fun. The colours in the garden seemed brighter, the laughter tinklier. As I threw my head back and laughed, I felt tipsy.
Which is weird, as I am a teetotaller of 30 years standing. And no, I hadn’t fallen off the booze wagon and got stuck into the party Prosecco being handed round. My state of seeming inebriation was down to a new non alcoholic mood drink. Sentia, GABA Gold is all the rage. Not surprisingly as it claims to mimic the effects of alchohol to give you that initial warm fuzzy two drink feeling with zero hangover. It was certainly working with me.
At first, I confess I was a bit apprehensive about drinking something that was going to make me feel a bit sloshed. As a sober alcoholic who lacks the sensible gene, that stops you reaching for the nth glass of white wine and falling off the bar stool blind drunk, I am fine as long as I stay away from the demon drink for life. After all, when I gave it up at 27, after a decade spent in a fug of bad behaviour, and a litany of broken friendships, it was the best and most difficult decision I ever made.
That is not to say I don’t miss alcohol. I do. But I am not hopping up and down with my tongue hanging out at the first sniff of a Martini. That is until this time of year. If I am honest, when the evenings are balmy and everyone is having a ball, I wish I could have a glass of Pimm’s to round off the edges. So had I found the perfect substitute?
Back at the party, the first sign that all was as it should be was when - like all good drunks - instead of pacing myself, and pouring a thimble of Sentia with a glass of tonic as you are supposed to, I poured a glass of Sentia with a few drops of tonic. Whilst the brand advises not to drink more than 200ml a day, I had asked the host to put my bottle in her fridge, and spent most of the evening sneaking back for another nip.
Fortunately I didn’t get to the 'whipping off my top and flinging my arms round random men’ stage (my favourite party piece back in the day). Yet as Sentia - backed by the UK’s leading drug and alcohol researcher professor David Nutt - is designed to enhance the body's GABA, a natural neurotransmitter that helps us feel more sociable and disinhibited, I did find myself feeling a bit more boisterous and noisy.
At one point sitting around a table, I started shouting and jabbing my finger at another guest as we argued politics. He reeled back in horror. There was an awkward silence, and later a friend took me aside and asked what was I doing? I hadn’t realised just how loud I had become on the Gaba- I was beginning to feel that finger wagging judgement from back in my drinking days. As the evening wore on, I didn’t get plastered, just sort of slurrier. I even got to the hugging strangers stage. ‘What a lovely party, ‘I cooed and then burst into tears. A friend told me , I seemed a bit emotional and gave me a lift home. I immediately fell into a deep sleep. The next thing I knew I was awoken by a group of children screeching. I looked at the clock it was midday. I had slept like a log (another of the so called effects) and as I made my coffee I felt bright and clear headed no post drink grogginess. If I tempered my finger jabbing, could I have found my golden pot, I thought .
Later that day, as I was getting ready for another evening of merriment, I automatically poured myself a strong glass of Sentia and lemonade - I had kept back half the bottle. Within a few minutes, I felt that floaty pleasurable feeling whoosh over me. Cue me logging onto Amazon and ordering a bottle for the following weekend. Just in case I thought. Then it hit me. Whoa ! What was I doing. I had unwittingly stepped onto the slippery slope, and like an addict I was already thinking of my next high.
Which brings me to my next point. Sentia, is not physically addictive, apparently. But I would argue this misses the point. There is often a powerful psychological dependency If Sentia could replicate the effects of alcohol, it could also replicate the desire to have more and more. Which in turn, for those like me, could kick start an addiction to the real thing. The mere thought of this being a gateway to my toxic booze fuelled days, gave me the shivers.
I cancelled my order on Amazon and breathed a deep sigh of relief. I had dodged a Sentia shaped bullet. GABA drinks are certainly a game changer. And am sure will make the perfect botanical pick me up for those wanting to moderate their alcoholic intake. In my case, I had had a fun evening. But as I made my way to my local club that evening, I had never felt happier and prouder to be back to the stone cold sober me.
