Mixing Red Bull with Vodka Makes You Keep on Boozing: Study
People feel tempted to overindulge in drinking after having alcoholic beverages mixed with energy drinks, warns a study.
Researchers from the Australian National University discovered a cocktail of red bull and vodka can be more unsafe and unhealthy than conventional drinks made from fruity soda and vodka. They found intake of even small to moderate amount of energy drink along with alcoholic beverages induces people to drink heavily. Reckless drinking habits and intoxication may raise the odds for dying in road accidents, injuries, fights and falls.
Energy sodas contain sugar and caffeine and are popular among youngsters. Combining these drinks with alcohol imparts a sweet taste to the overall alcohol mixture, which triggers the desire to drink more. The study involved 75 participants aged between 18 and 30 who were either given two ounces of vodka with 8.5 ounces of flavored energy drink and seven ounces of fruit drink or just two ounces of vodka along with 8.5 ounces of soda, reports the Live Science News.
The subjects' drinking behaviors and opinion about the taste and effect of cocktail drinks were noted down with the help of a questionnaire. These individuals also underwent breath-analyzer tests to record the level of alcohol in blood.
It was observed that majority of participants preferred beverages mixed with energy drinks that tasted better and sweeter than normal alcohol and soda mixture. These people reportedly continued having more drinks than subjects from the other group. However, the study could not accurately determine if unrestrained drinking behavior was fueled by sweetness or the caffeine content in energy drinks.
"This is an important finding because it provides evidence of a mechanism through which energy drinks may increase binge drinking, and consequently, alcohol-related harm among young people," said Rebecca McKetin, study author and researcher at the Australian National University, Canberra, reports the Live Science News.
More information is available online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
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