Mixing Diet Soda and Alcohol Creates Higher Blood Alcohol Content

Cutting calories certainly may seem harmless or even a good idea when you're at the bar, but could it be dangerous?

A recent study released in the journal Alcoholism suggests that cutting alcoholic drinks with diet soda actually makes them more potent than using the counter product. Researchers even found that mixing alcohol with diet, or zero sugar beverage contents, gave consumers a higher breath alcohol content than when mixing them with a sugar soft drink.

"The results were surprising," said Cecile A. Marczinski to  ABC News, assistant professor in the department of psychological science at Northern Kentucky University, and one of the lead investigators of the study.

In a study, researchers served participants one of three beverages: vodka added to a diet drink, vodka added to a regular drink or a regular soft drink with a vodka scent added so that participants would believe it was an alcoholic beverage.

According to the study, participants drinking with the diet beverages had a significantly higher breath alcohol content than the others.

"We are talking about significant differences here," Marczinski said. "Participants who drank diet soda with vodka had blood alcohol contents as high as 18 percent more than when sugar-containing mixers were used."

It's believed that drinks containing sugar help stimulate the stomach in a way that's similar to having a meal. When eating food, the emptying of the stomach is delayed, which thus would also delay the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream when combined with a sugary beverage.

As diet beverages contain no sugar, the stomach's emptying is not delayed, allowing alcohol to reach the bloodstream more quickly.

"The choice of what you mix your alcohol with can make a difference," Marczinski said, adding that there may even be potentially harmful consequences for those who regularly request a diet soda with their spirits.

"In the long run, it's more harmful for your body to be exposed to a higher alcohol concentration than a few extra calories," she said.