Diet mixers ‘lead to more alcohol in breath’

People who mix alcohol with diet drinks have more alcohol on their breath than those who mix with higher calorie drinks, a study has found.

Vodka and diet cola is a favourite of consumers looking to keep the calorie count low (Photo: Wiki)

Research into the impact of mixers on breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) showed that those who drink vodka mixed with diet cola had higher BrAC than those who drink the same amount of vodka mixed with regular cola.

Test subjects that consumed alcohol with low-calorie mixers had nearly a fifth more alcohol on their breath than their high-calorie counterparts, an article published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence said. 

It referred to a previous study showing that as much as an 18% higher BrAC level was detected with carbonated diet soda compared to calorific soda.

The study suggests that alcohol is more readily absorbed into the blood stream with low-calorie mixers than with high-calrorie mixers.

Consumers often try to limit the calorie content of their alcoholic drinks by using diet mixers. Those concerned about the speed with which they become intoxicated could rethink their choice of mixer based on the findings.

“Alcohol contains calories and consumers often limit added calories to alcohol via caloric mixers,” the study, led by Dr Amy Stamates of Northern Kentucky University, said.

However, evidence from her’s and others’ research suggests that “mixing alcohol with diet beverages results in higher breath and blood alcohol concentrations (BrAC) when compared with the same dose of alcohol mixed with a sweetened mixer”.

“The difference can be noticeable with one study reporting an 18% higher BrAC when the carbonated soda mixer was diet versus caloric,” it said.