Have you ever heard that using diet soda as a chaser will get you intoxicated faster? Who would’ve thought there could be a difference? There has been some research that leads this statement to be true.
In a study done in 2006, a group of scientists studied 8 males and each day they were either given a mixed drink with regular sugar or with diet soda. The results of this study found that the diet-mixed-drink had an effect on the rate of gastric emptying and the blood alcohol response. During this study, as stated in a New York Times article by Anahad O’Connor, “In the diet-mixer conditions, the alcohol entered the subjects’ bloodstream about 15 minutes faster, and their blood-alcohol concentration was higher, peaking at 0.05 percent, compared with 0.03 percent with the regular mixer.” The reasoning as to why the alcohol is absorbed quickly with a diet soda is thought to be because the sugar isn’t present to slow it down.
In another study done on 16 males who were either given a Smirnoff Red Label plus Squirt or Diet Squirt and it was discovered that the diet drink increased the men’s BAC by 18%. The most alarming part is that the subjects didn’t feel more intoxicated than then the subjects that received the non-diet drink. Next time you plan on using a chaser it is recommend that you stick to flat mixers such as orange or cranberry juice and stay away from the diet soda!
Works Cited
“Artificial sweeteners versus regular mixers increase breath alcohol concentrations in male and female social drinkers.” PubMed.gov. N.p., 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23216417>.
O’Connor, Anahad. “The Claim: Beware of Drink Mixers Based on Diet Soda.” The New York Times. N.p., 8 July 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/health/08real.html>.
Szalavitz, Maia. “Diet-Soda Mixers Can Lead to Quicker Intoxication.” Time Magazine. N.p., 6 Feb. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/06/diet-soda-mixers-can-lead-to-quicker-intoxication/>.
Diet soda is always my drink of choice regardless of all the criticism it gets for being unhealthy. From what I have learned diet soda has so many negative effects on a drinkers health but for some reason I just can’t stay away. The taste of regular soda is just something I have developed a distaste for. If you are interested in some of the negative effects, check this out : http://naturalsociety.com/is-diet-soda-bad-for-you-4-major-negative-impacts/
It’s cool to think diet soda helps get alcohol to the blood stream faster, just a fun fact I never thought about. I always drink diet soda but I never saw it having a negative affect. The studies conducted that you wrote about are very interesting as well.
I feel that this topic is so relevant to our generation due to the fact that during our college years we use a large amount of chasers. Yet the idea of diet drinks allowing affecting ones ability to absorb alcohol took me by surprise. I was aware of the fact that the diet drinks are not always the best thing for us to drink but i did not know this idea. The fact that you brought up the second study allowed for people to see the actual correlation between the two and made the argument much stronger. I have to agree Alex when he brings up the idea of eating before we drink as this is definitely a good idea as the food absorbs some of the alcohol while in the stomach. Yet this idea of diet drinks actually causing one to become more drunk is definitely something to research more about and study more.
This is a really relevant post, as a lot of college students drink alcohol and use “chasers”. However, I never would have thought that what type of chaser it is would have an affect on your BAC level. Chasers are utilized by people to mask the harsh taste of alcohol, and are not intended to change how drunk one gets. At first I was skeptical of your findings, as the first rial only consisted of 8 subjects, but then you backed up your point with another experiment that yielded the same results. I think more people need to know of this, as some people only chase with diet drinks, which in return makes them more drunk. This will help people make the right decisions and drink responsibly. What else is important is what you eat before or during when you drink. This helpful information can drastically change your night, and ensure that you don’t end up drunk and pass out in an unfavorable place.
It’s really good that you included more than one study in your post. This topic is really interesting and I didn’t expect it to be true. I really wouldn’t have thought that a diet or regular drink could make an impact on a persons ability to get drunk. Both experiments make it clear that the diet drink effected the people and their intoxication level.
Similar to you, I never knew there would be a difference in the chaser you drank. I have also heard claims that diet soda causes cancer. I do not think drinkning sugary soda would help much more, but maybe sticking to oange juice and natural drinks would help the most. I am interested in seeing the chemical content in soda that makes it get into our blood stream faster. Great post!
This is a very interesting article because the results are not what I thought would be true. I was thinking that maybe some chemicals in diet soda make people get more drunk because diet sodas are known to have a lot of chemicals that help make it considered a “diet soda”. I wonder what the results would be if they compared diet soda to water as a chaser because that is another way to cut back calories when drinking water. I think that this study needs to be larger and have more research behind it. Some third variables that need to be considered is that people might have different tolerances to alcohol, different heights, different appetites and water consumption.
I like that you used more than one study, but both studies have such small sample sizes, and they include only one gender. If these sample sizes are so small and selective, what are the implications for other people that don’t fit into these groups? I think it is impossible to conclude that the results of these studies can be applied to anyone but the people it includes.
I had never thought about this before! I knew diet soda had less calories than other chasers however I never made the connection that this would increase your alcohol content. I agree that it is alarming that the males who participated in the study did not feel more drunk than those who drank regular chasers. I wonder if this has to do with the placebo affect. The may not know that the type of chaser you use changes how drunk you are, which would cause them to feel as drunk as those who had non diet chasers. I would be interested to see this study done with a larger sample size and with a difference in gender considering men and women process alcohol at different rates.