What the Best-Known Study Used
The study that first put DHM on most researchers' radar is the 2012 paper by Shen and colleagues1. It was a study in rats, using injected DHM, mostly at 1 mg/kg, and it found that DHM counteracted alcohol intoxication and withdrawal signs. It did not measure liver enzymes, and at 1 mg/kg it found no significant change in blood alcohol.
That paper gives no human dose. In its main experiments the DHM was injected rather than swallowed, and what it measured was intoxication and the brain's GABA-A receptors, not the liver. So it cannot be converted into a dose for people, and I did not use it, or any other study, to set ours.
What Is Known About DHM Absorption
DHM is poorly absorbed when swallowed, at least in animals. A pharmacokinetic review gives its oral bioavailability as about 4%2; that figure comes from rats, and I have found no published study of how DHM is absorbed in people. The compound is poorly soluble and chemically unstable in the gut.
Acts by promoting aldehyde and alcohol metabolism of foods.†
† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Where 1,500mg Comes From
1,500mg is where my testing settled: my own tests, and what I saw directly in the people I tested with. No study was used to set it.
Triggers the liver to produce more of the aldehyde- and alcohol-metabolizing enzymes (ADH and ALDH) and boosts their efficiency in breaking down aldehydes and alcohols in foods as well as their by-products.†
† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
What I Saw in the 150 Self-Tests
I am not a pharmacologist. I am the guy who tested different DHM amounts on himself, holding the formula's other ingredients constant and varying just the DHM. Amounts below 1,000mg were dropped. I settled on 1,500mg, because going higher did not justify the cost per serving.
Helps you feel fresh.†
† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The 1,500mg number is not magic. It is where my testing settled, weighed against the cost per serving.
What This Page Is Not Claiming
A higher number on the label is not automatically better, and this page does not claim that 1,500mg works better than a smaller amount. There is also a real cost penalty -- DHM is not cheap, and 1,500mg per serving puts pressure on every other component of the formula. We chose this dose because it is where my testing settled; the published data cannot say which amount works best.
For the enzyme research on DHM and how far it goes, see How DHM Works: The ADH/ALDH Pathway. For the separate way DHM affects the GABA receptor system, which has nothing to do with metabolism, see DHM and GABA Modulation.