SCIENCE MAY ONE DAY DO SO… –
Nov. 10, 2022 – Altering the types and ratios of microbes in the human gut is incredibly complicated and would almost certainly have unwanted affects beyond any addiction-related benefits.
“But happily, we already know that glycine and sarcosine — an amino acid the body uses to make glycine — are not toxic and are easy to take,” says Sperandio, whose work is supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Sarcosine is a relatively common nutritional supplement popular among athletes and already available over the counter in stores.
“There is a lot that needs to be done to translate this to humans,” says Sperandio, whose research is supported by the National Institutes of Health. “But now that we have isolated this addiction mechanism in mice, we can explore methods to disrupt it — possibly by ways as straightforward as supplementing glycine and sarcosine in the body.”
