Alcoholic drinks with DIET mixers made addict to it than full-sugar alternatives.Sugar-free mixers like tonic water, cola, bitter lemon and lemonade, increases blood-alcohol levels.
This findings were revealed by Dr Chris Rayner, of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia, at a conference in the United States. He found when combining alcohol with a mixer containing artificial sweetener it resulted in significantly higher levels of blood-alcohol than the same drink taken with an ordinary mixer.The blood-alcohol concentration peaked at 66 per cent higher, according to a study in which volunteers were given an orange-flavoured vodka drink made with either a diet or non-diet mixer.
Researchers studied eight volunteers, tracking the rate at which the regular and diet alcoholic drink was emptied from the stomach and their subsequent blood-alcohol levels for three hours. The results showed the gastric emptying time was lower for diet drinks when compared to regular.
Peak blood-alcohol concentrations were found to be ‘substantially greater’ with diet drinks (at 0.05 per cent) while regular drinks measured at 0.03 per cent.
Paul Waterson, of the Scottish Licensed Traders Association, said it that ‘The level of absorption isn't the problem - it's actually the alcohol that's the problem.’
