What one chooses as the mixer for their next cocktail may have a greater effect on their blood alcohol level than previously thought. This news comes from researchers in Australia who looked at the effect of artificial sweeteners on alcohol absorption and peak blood alcohol levels.
The researchers were initially interested in this subject because artificial sweeteners affect stomach-emptying time, which can directly impact the degree and timing of alcohol absorption into the blood stream.
To measure the effect and more so if their was a difference between mixers they enrolled 8 healthy male volunteers. One day they consumed an alcoholic drink with an orange flavored mixer and a total of 478 calories, and the second day they consumed the same amount of alcohol with an artificially sweetened mixer with a total of 225 calories.
Each day stomach emptying was measured post drink and blood samples were taken to measure alcohol concentration. Several samples of blood were taken 30 minutes apart to observe the curve to peak concentration.
The results were presented at Digestive Disease Week 2006.
They found that stomach emptying occurred faster when an artificial sweetener was used. The amount of time it took to empty half the stomach contents was 15.3 minutes in the artificial mixer group and 21.1 minutes in the regular mixer group.
Peak alcohol concentration was also higher after consumption with the diet mixer compared to regular mixer as was the overall blood alcohol concentration.
The researchers were not expecting such as dramatic effect on blood alcohol concentration, even though they were aware that artificial sweeteners effected stomach emptying. They stressed that many times individuals may choose diet mixers because they are planning on consuming more than one drink and often drink more than those using regular or non-diet mixers.
Another great concern was the effect on peak concentration. It is generally believed that one drink can raise the blood alcohol level to near the legal limit, and quickly be metabolized in one hour. But if the peak alcohol concentration exceeds the legal limit with a diet drink (as observed in this study), then the usual one-hour limit may not apply. So someone who drinks 3 drinks in two hours will me more drunk if diet mixers were used compared to regular. The lead author even stated that this may be a public health issue and recommended label warnings on artificially sweetened drinks due to the effect on blood alcohol levels.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on August 31, 2006 11:21 AM
