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The Science Behind Absinthe
by M.J. Ricatti, M.D.

There are so many stories about this beverage: madness, green fairies, illumination, crimes. Today after a longtime ban around the world, it is making a comeback in some countries. With science as a tool, I will try to explain the truth about absinthe.

The main active compound of absinthe is a terpene (a hydrocarbon produced primarily by plants), the thujone from dry wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). The story about how to obtain the antique liquor is one of the most widely used recipes, and not just in old cookbooks. The method is just like a protocol in the lab, beginning with an overnight extraction in a liquid substance, for instance, ethanol 85vol%. The product of that maceration is the absinthe essence. This essence must be diluted with water, boiled and distillated, and finally mixed with other plant essences, like hyssop and fennel. The essence of those herbs have thujone-like neuroactive molecules: pinocamphone and fenchone. After filtering, the final ethanol concentration will be around 55°-74°, more than the average grade in ordinary alcoholic drinks.

In the beginning of the 19th century, the most common beverage in France was red wine, at a reasonable price and high quality. However, in 1863 the phylloxera plague (Dactylosphaera vitifoliae, a sap-sucking aphid) destroyed almost all vineyards in Europe, and most significantly in France. The result was not only the loss of wine, but also vine products such as grape alcohol.

The first absinthe drinkers in France were the Parisian cultural elite. Those absinthes were made with high quality grape alcohol, and came at a high price too. However, after phylloxera, the price of wine and vine secondary products increased significantly. What was the solution to that problem? With absinthe's new brands featuring lower quality, less expensive alcohol, wine consumption decreased significantly. Absinthe worked its way down to the French working class with prices a third less than a piece of bread, answering the dilemma of how to fill empty stomachs and survive the winter.

Indigence, dementia and gruesome crimes were emerging, and an influential French psychiatrist with a prolific background made the decision to research the issue. With experience in the field of epilepsy and alcoholism, Valentin Magnan (1835-1916) experimented on different animals using absinthe essence instead of absinthe liquor. The results were indisputable; the animals died after a convulsive status.

Was absinthe the main reason for all public health problems in those days or not?

The social and economic situation in France during the end of the 19th century was bleak - misery, disease and hunger, mainly in the working class. What happened if they drank? Alcohol offered a quick and strong solution to an empty stomach without any fat (if you eat any fatty food while drinking, the effect of alcohol is slower because those fatty foods delay ethanol absorption and its consequences).
Dr. Magnan's experiments were performed with absinthe essence; in other words, high thujone concentration with neurotoxic effects. The commercial absinthe liquor was a dilution of the essence, with a final thujone concentration less than 100 parts per million. These concentrations do not have psychotropic effects per se; you won't have hallucinations or illusions, and you won't see green fairies...except if you have a precondition, of course.
You can try absinthe in many ways, today the most recommendable is in a dilution of 5 parts water. Some romantic French bohemians like to dilute it with Brandy or drink it while eating strawberries with ether as a topping. Another extreme cocktail was absinthe mixed with chloroform and opium, but only recommendable for experts.
The quality of industrial alcohol was very low at the time and the hepatic damage was steadily increasing. In some cases, the reason is simple: methanol was mixed with ethanol. Today, in countries without strict control in the food industry, the adulteration of alcoholic beverages, specifically those with a high ethanol concentration mixed with methanol, continues to be a problem.
Some common pathologies, such as porphyrias, a metabolic disorder caused by a heme biosynthetic pathway, began to show unusual signs due to alcoholic behavior. Aside from marasmus and malnutrition, the life expectancy of drinkers was greatly diminished. Finally, a frequent complication of cirrhosis, associated with chronic alcoholism, was hepatic encephalopathy. This disorder is usually observed in association with severe hepatic insufficiency, or sometimes with dementia and delirium tremens (usually caused by withdrawal), and ultimately ends in death.

This is simply another point of view on the same old story about absinthe.

References:

Absinthe. The Lancet, May 9 1868, Pages 600-601.
Absinthe and alcohol. The Lancet, March 6th 1869, Page 334.
Absinthism. The Lancet, January 4, 1873, Page 22.
M Magnan. On the comparative action of alcohol and absinthe. The Lancet, September 19, 1874, Pages 410–412.
M Magnan and A Fillassier. Problems in Eugenics, Alcoholism and Degeneracy. Papers communicated to the First International Eugenics Congress held at The University of London, July 24th to 30th, 1912.
C. W. J. Brasher. Absinthe and absinthe drinking in England. The Lancet, April 26, 1930, Pages 944-946.
Hold KM, Sirisoma NS, Ikeda T, Narahashi T, Casida JE. Alpha-thujone (the active component of absinthe): gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor modulation and metabolic detoxification. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Apr 25;97(9):4417-8.
Olsen RW. Absinthe and gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Apr 11;97(8):3826-31.
Naser B, Bodinet C, Tegtmeier M, Lindequist U. Thuja occidentalis (Arbor vitae): A Review of its Pharmaceutical, Pharmacological and Clinical Properties. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2005 Mar;2(1):69-78.
Padosch SA, Lachenmeier DW, Kroner LU. Absinthism: a fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2006 May 10;1(1):14.
Lachenmeier DW, Nathan-Maister D, Breaux TA, Sohnius EM, Schoeberl K, Kuballa T. Chemical composition of vintage preban absinthe with special reference to thujone, fenchone, pinocamphone, methanol, copper, and antimony concentrations. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 May 14;56(9):3073-81.
Lachenmeier DW, Nathan-Maister D, Breaux TA, Kuballa T. Long-Term Stability of Thujone, Fenchone, and Pinocamphone in Vintage Preban Absinthe. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Mar 3.

ISSN 1944-0065 (online)

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