It has been no secret that a large meal ahead of an evening of drinking can help to reduce the impact of alcohol, or at least slow the rate at which you begin to enter the territory of stumbling and slurring, but for the fist time a snack has been specifically designed to achieve this.
The SOBAR is a 210 calorie bar which has already proven to reduce the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream by up to 50%, meaning the snack is around twice as effective per calorie as the average food consumed before drinking.
Joseph Fisher, inventor of SOBAR, spoke of the inspiration: "This research project started after I had too much to drink on an empty stomach at a wedding. After that experience I thought that there was a huge need for a specialised, low-calorie snack that could efficiently and effectively reduce alcohol absorption."
The results of the trial itself proved to be convincing reading for the potential of SOBAR - "The trial compared the SOBAR's ability to reduce alcohol absorption against two other foods in a group of 21 healthy adults, 10 men and 11 women. Each person was tested 4 times, eating either (1) no food, (2) a 210 calorie SOBAR, (3) 210 calories of a popular snack mix, or (4) a 635 calorie full meal right before consuming 2 drinks. The average peak blood alcohol concentration measured over 90 minutes was reduced (compared to eating no food) by 50% with a SOBAR compared to only 25% by the snack mix. Although the reduction was even greater (68%) after eating the full meal, on a per calorie basis the SOBAR outperformed both other foods by about 2 to 1. The core technology behind the SOBAR's high efficiency is called Alco-HOLD, which is designed to hold alcohol in the stomach for a longer time where it can be inactivated."