Don't Mix Energy Drinks with Alcohol

Many people use energy drinks to counteract the effects of alcohol such as dizziness or drowsiness, but a new study has shown that their ability of actually counteracting the effects is illusory. People mixing alcohol and energy drinks have the impression that their skills are relatively unimpaired but in reality they are equally impaired.

Maria Lucia Souza-Formigoni of the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, recruited 26 male volunteers in their 20s and divided them into two groups. Twelve received a certain amount of alcohol, and the others an almost double amount. In one session the volunteers consumed the alcohol alone, while in another they drank it mixed with Red Bull. Finally, in a third session they were given only the energy drink without any alcohol.

The scientists found that volunteers in both groups felt they were more sober and that they had better motor coordination when drinking alcohol mixed with the energy drink than when they consumed alcohol alone. However, when actually tested for motor skills and for visual impairments, those drinking alcohol mixed with an energy drink did not perform any better than those who drank the alcoholic drink alone.

"There are two key points," said Souza-Formigoni. "Although combined ingestion decreases the sensation of tiredness and sleepiness, objective measures of motor coordination showed that it cannot reduce the harmful effects of alcohol on motor coordination. In other words, the person is drunk but does not feel as drunk as he really is. The second important point is that many users reported using energy drinks to reduce a not-so-pleasant taste of alcoholic beverages, which could dangerously increase the amount (as well as the speed of ingestion) of alcoholic beverages."

Thus, the result is that the effect of energy drinks is not that is alleviates the effects of alcohol, but that it further disrupts the judgment and the ability to be aware of your condition. The "don't drink and drive" stipulation cannot be overridden by Red Bull. (But fortunately it gives you wings, so you won't need your car anyway.)

Photo credit: Steve Ferdman

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