May 22, 2006

Dr. Koop Says Drink Diet Mixers

That's right, Dr. Koop (as in C. Everett) has announced a study revealing that diet drink mixers and low carb alternatives might help you get drunk faster. Something about the burning of carbs or something, and now that we think of it, he might not have actually been saying that was a good thing.

We didn't end up reading the whole article because we were too busy mixing a fifth of vodka with Crystal Light, so if you want the full scoop you'll have to read on yourself at Koop's Korner:

In the study, Rayner and his colleagues tracked the blood-alcohol levels of eight men. On two different days, the men drank either an orange-flavored vodka beverage made with a regular mixer (478 calories) or a diet mixer (225 calories). In each case, the vodka included 30 grams of ethanol [alcohol] in a 600 milliliter serving.

Sugar content is important to how quickly alcohol enters the system, Rayner explained.

"Caloric load influences how quickly the stomach is emptied," he said, with lower-calorie beverages emptying more quickly than regular mixers. He theorized that drinks made with diet mixers would make it into the digestive system more rapidly.

via DrKoop.com - Diet Drink Mixers May Make You Drunker

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