Energy Drink And Alcohol Mix Boosts Desire To Drink?

Everyone should be quite familiar with the energy drink "cocktail" that has become so common as of late.

A new research reveals that mixing caffeinated energy drinks with alcohol boosts the desire to keep on drinking, according to Philly.com.

Research based on a small study of young adults suggests that the energy drink and alcohol mix could fuel a higher risk for dangerous binge-drinking, according to Australian researchers.

"Based on our study, we can't be certain whether it was the caffeine or the sugary additives that made the energy drink and vodka cocktail more appealing than drinking alcohol alone," stated study lead author Rebecca McKetin, a fellow with the Center for Research on Aging, Health and Well-being at the Australian National University in Canberra.

McKetin and her co-author, Alice Coen, asked 75 volunteers ranging from 18 to 30 to fill out a questionnaire that rated their urge to drink. The volunteers were then randomly assigned to receive either an energy drink combined with fruit juice and two shots of vodka or soda water and fruit juice mixed with two shots of vodka, according to Today.com.  

Questionnaires that were filled out 20 minutes after the cocktails were consumed showed that the volunteers who had consumed the combination of alcohol and energy drink had a greater urge to keep drinking.

"The real risk of this combination is that people feel they aren't drunk when they are. That's because caffeine wards off the sedation that normally comes when you drink," explained Dr. Charles O'Brien, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Center for Studies in Addiction.