Effects of artificial sweeteners on breath alcohol concentrations in male and female social drinkers

Abstract

Background Alcohol is often mixed with various nonalcoholic beverages. While consumption of food with alcohol will decrease peak breath alcohol concentrations (BrAC), recent evidence has suggested that mixing alcohol with diet beverages can result in higher BrAC when compared with mixing the same amount of alcohol with sweetened beverages. The purpose of this study was to examine this phenomenon using two different moderate alcohol doses. Methods Twenty participants (10 males) attended five sessions where they received 1 of 5 doses (0.91 ml/kg vodka + 3.64 ml/kg of diet soda, 0.91 ml/kg vodka + 3.64 of regular soda, 1.82 ml/kg vodka + 7.28 ml/kg diet soda, 1.82 ml/kg vodka + 7.28 ml/kg regular soda, and a placebo beverage). BrAC was recorded repeatedly up to 180 minutes after dose administration. Results Participants had significantly higher BrAC when the mixer was diet as compared to regular for both alcohol dose conditions. No gender differences were observed. Conclusions Mixing alcohol with diet beverages can result in higher BrAC when compared to the same amount of alcohol administered with a similar sweetened beverage. Individuals who consume diet mixers with alcohol may reduce caloric intake but increase the harms associated with higher BrACs.

Cardiovascular and cutaneous responses to the combination of alcohol and soft drinks: the way to orthostatic intolerance?

“…Delayed gastric emptying increases the time of exposure of alcohol to gastric alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes, increasing first pass metabolism of alcohol, leading to a lesser absorption and thus a lower BrAC. Previous studies already exposed higher BrAC in humans after drinking alcohol mixed with artificially sweetened (i.e., diet) compared to sugarsweetened (i.e., regular) soft drinks (Wu et al, 2006;Marczinski and Stamates, 2013;Stamates et al, 2015). Sugars in sweet drink reduces the gastric emptying rate (Kalant, 1971) explaining the lower BrAC after drinking V+S compared to V observed in the present study.…”

Desire to Drink Alcohol is Enhanced with High Caffeine Energy Drink Mixers

“…This lowered BrAC was expected given that the alcohol is less concentrated in this beverage and this outcome has been observed in other research (Peacock et al., ). In addition, it is known that high calorie content soft drink mixers can lower BrAC when compared to lower calorie mixers (Marczinski and Stamates, ; Stamates et al., ). In this study, drinks were consumed on an empty stomach.…”

Mixing alcohol with artificially sweetened beverages: Prevalence and correlates among college students

“…Such educational materials could include information about the effect that diet mixers can have on one’s intoxication and that despite the fact that greater objective intoxication may be achieved, one’s subjective intoxication may not be any different (Irwin et al, 2014; Marczinski & Stamates, 2013). Also, experimental evidence (Marczinski & Stamates, 2013; Stamates et al, 2015) suggests that up to a 25% difference in greater BrACs may be observed when consuming alcohol with diet beverages. Standard drink calculators may need to be adapted so drinkers can more effectively estimate their BAC.…”

“…Mixing alcohol with artificial sweeteners (i.e., diet beverages) has been linked to greater objective levels of intoxication, such as higher breath alcohol concentrations (BrACs; Irwin, Shum, Desbrow, & Leveritt, 2014; Marczinski & Stamates, 2013; Stamates, Maloney, & Marczinski, 2015) and blood alcohol concentrations (BACs; Wu, Chaikomin, Doran, Horowitz, & Rayner, 2006). This may be because diet mixers facilitate faster alcohol absorption rates (see Marczinski & Stamates, 2013 for discussion).…”

“…Faster gastric emptying times in combination with higher BACs suggest that a diet mixer may offer no buffer in the stomach; thus, alcohol is more quickly able to be absorbed in the small intestine and into the bloodstream. Field research (Rossheim & Thombs, 2011) and within-subject experiments support associations between diet mixers and greater intoxication (Irwin et al, 2014; Marczinski & Stamates, 2013), even at varying doses of alcohol (Stamates et al, 2015). Importantly, drinkers are unaware of differences in intoxication between these beverages, as studies indicated no difference in subjective impairment and willingness to drive (Irwin et al, 2014; Marczinski & Stamates, 2013).…”