Energy Drinks Added To Alcohol Change The Perception Of Impairment, Increasing The Danger

Mixing an energy drink like Red Bull with alcohol changes the reaction to alcohol that a drinker experiences, compared to a drinker who imbibes alcohol only, creating a potentially dangerous situation. Drinking alcohol makes people act impulsively. For the study, researchers randomly assigned 56 male and female college students to one of four groups that drank alcohol alone, alcohol plus an energy drink or a placebo, then measured task execution times. Adding the energy drink to alcohol did not increase impairment, but did change the perception of impairment. “The mix of impaired behavioral inhibition and enhanced stimulation is a combination that may make energy drink consumption riskier than alcohol consumption alone,” the researchers concluded.