SATURDAY REWIND: Diet soft drinks make cocktails unexpectedly more potent

The following article from the alcohol research news archive demonstrates how using low- or no-calorie sodas as mixers can boost blood alcohol concentration compared to the same cocktail with regular soda. (See full article here.) A couple points difference in BAC can make a difference when behind the wheel.


Artificially sweetened sodas, when used as cocktail mixers, make the drinks more potent, according to a study released in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research . Specifically, researchers found that mixing alcohol with diet (sugar-free) soft drinks resulted in a higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) than mixing alcohol with a regular (sugar-sweetened) soft drink.

Researchers gave college students vodka drinks with regular soda and with diet soda, and the diet soda group got more intoxicated – almost 20 percent more – than those who mixed regular soda with liquor. The sugar actually slows down the effects of alcohol, researchers say.

Sugar-containing drinks stimulate the stomach, delaying stomach emptying and, as a result, delaying absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. Diet beverages, since they contain no sugar, do not trigger the stomach to delay emptying, allowing alcohol to reach the bloodstream more quickly.

Though it was a very small study, only eight women and eight men, the findings closely match previous research linking diet drinks and increased BACs. "The results were surprising," said Cecile A. Marczinski, assistant professor in the department of psychological science at Northern Kentucky University, and one of the lead investigators of the study. "We are talking about significant differences here," Marczinski said, adding that there may even be potentially harmful consequences for those who regularly request a diet soda with their spirits.

"In the long run, it's more harmful for your body to be exposed to a higher alcohol concentration than a few extra calories," she said. This could increase the incidence of alcohol abuse and the disease of alcoholism.

The students also completed computer tasks testing their reaction times after drinking, mimicking what they might face while driving. Those drinking the diet soda were slower to react.

No difference was noted between the genders, but the students said they felt the same no matter what they drank, even though tests showed the diet drinkers were about one-fifth more intoxicated. To put that in perspective, you'd have to add almost another shot of vodka to the sugar-sweetened drink to equal the potency of the diet drink mixture.

"Marczinski's findings are very consistent with what we've found in the field in a natural drinking environment. When the mixer is diet soda, the bar patrons tend to have somewhat higher intoxication levels than when they consume regular soda," says Dennis Thombs, professor and chair of the Department of Behavioral and Community Health, School of Public Health at the University of North Texas in Fort Worth.

Drinkers often mix diet soda and alcohol to save on calories. Calorie-counting drinkers might do better simply to limit their alcohol intake, since alcohol itself is packed with calories. (See this related article on alcohol calories.)

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SATURDAY REWIND: Social media can give clues to college drinking

Hundreds of thousands of college students have returned to campuses for the fall semester, many of them first-timers getting accustomed to campus life.  And for some young adults, it is an exposure to binge drinking that keeps their parents on edge miles away.  Having a college student is a chance to cut the cord a little and let them discover a few things.  With the dangers of alcohol being what they are especially for young adults (see related underage drinking research here), concerned parents can still get a glimpse into the sides of the university living in which their sons or daughters voluntarily enroll.  According to this October article from the alcohol research news archive, social media can provide clues if alcohol is more of a priority than books.


Eleven students were hospitalized for alcohol poisoning in Houston over the weekend after an on-campus Halloween party. Organizers said more than 1,000 students attended the dorm party, which has been an annual rite of passage since the 1970s.

No parent of a college-age man or woman sleeps well with such headlines. But they don’t need to go much beyond their son’s or daughter’s social media pages to get a glimpse at what’s happening on campus. A recent study published in the quarterly Spectrum by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that 83 percent of college students’ social media profiles refer to drinking. These profiles could help target problem drinking patterns before they include at trip to the hospital, as the bash at Rice did early Sunday morning.

Colleges and universities already spread college safety prevention information about alcohol misuse on campus, however the NIAAA study indicated that students would rather hear from their peers if their social media pages indicated a lot of drinking. Parents could also intervene, but students are likely to be more responsive when the parents reply to the posts in nonjudgmental and respectful ways.

A separate NIAAA study indicates that only 10 percent of students drink in a safe manner (e.g. pacing themselves), 30 percent engaged in high-risk drinking activities and the remainder engaged in what they claimed were a mix of safe and risky activities. A look at the social profiles online could give a glimpse into activities past and whether a student is likely to be among the 10 percent or the 30 percent.


My own campus experience is decades behind me.  (The drinking age was lower, and nobody had cell phones... there was such a time.)  My children are years away from jetting out of the nest and onto some campus.  The practical takeaway advice in the story is to be respectful.  These are young ADULTS, and are eager to explore life on their terms and even make their own mistakes, but parenting doesn't end with the emptying of the nest.  Regard their boundaries, but keep them safe. It's a fine line.
www.alcohologist.com