A recent study has pointed out that mixing alcohol with diet soft drinks resulted in a higher breath alcohol content much more than mixing alcohol with a normal soft drink.
In a study, researchers chose to serve some participants vodka mixed with diet drink, some others vodka mixed with regular soft drink and to the rest, a regular soft drink with a vodka scent.
After people had finished their drink, researchers observed that participants who had consumed the vodka-diet drink had markedly higher breath alcohol content and also portrayed the highest degree of behavioral impairment in the group.
"We are talking about significant differences here. Participants who drank diet soda with vodka had blood alcohol contents as high as 18 percent more than when sugar-containing mixers were used," researchers said.
The rationale is that sugar-containing drinks behave in the stomach much like a meal does, and delays absorption of alcohol in the blood stream.
"This is why southern European countries have lower rates of alcoholism despite their increased alcohol intake. They always drink while eating. The choice of what you mix your alcohol with can make a difference. In the long run, it's more harmful for your body to be exposed to a higher alcohol concentration than a few extra calories," researchers concluded.