Tuesday, November 5, 2024
The Latest DUI News and Information From DUI Defense Attorneys Across the Country

“Mixing Alcohol with Diet Soda May Make You Drunker”

This is the title of a new NPR report about a recent study done on the effects of mixing alcohol with diet soda rather than sugared soda. Author Allison Aubrey posted the following information on the NPR “insider’s blog:”

“Alcohol, consumed with a diet mixer, results in higher (BrAC) Breath Alcohol Concentrations as compared to the same amount of alcohol consumed with a sugar-sweetened mixer,” says Cecile Marczinski, a cognitive psychologist who authored the new study.

Why? Turns out that sugar slows down the absorption of alcohol from the stomach to the bloodstream.

“In other words, it is not that diet soda accelerates intoxication. Rather, the sugar in regular soda slows down the rate of alcohol absorption,” explains Dennis Thombs, a professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. He published a paper with similar findings.

So what was the motivation for the new study? “I wanted to know if the choice of a mixer could be the factor that puts a person above or below the legal limit,” writes Marczinski, who’s a professor at Northern Kentucky University.

And it turns out, diet soda might just push you past that tipping point. Marczinski’s study found that the average BrAC was .091 (at its peak) when subjects drank alcohol mixed with a diet drink. By comparison, BrAC was .077 when the same subjects consumed the same amount of alcohol but with a sugary soda.

“I was a little surprised by the findings, since the 18% increase in BrAC was a fairly large difference,” Marczinski stated in an email.

Marczinski says she also wanted to determine if the volunteers in her study (eight women, eight men) would notice any differences between the two mixers. Not so much, it turns out.

The subjects didn’t report feeling more impaired or intoxicated after drinking the diet soda mixer, compared to the sugary soda. Experts say this may put them at an increased risk of drinking and driving.

The study is being published in the April issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.


Any who might question the size of the Marczinski study (eight women and eight men), for being too small a sampling, should remember that Dr. Widmark’s famous study in 1932, upon which is based all modern theories of retrograde extrapolation, involved only ten women and twenty men. (JJP)

If you have Indiana OWI (DUI) questions, I’m here to help. J. J. Paul, III, VOYLES ZAHN & PAUL, 141 E. Washington Street, Suite 300, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. (317) 632-4463 (answered 24 hours). Email: jjpaul@vzplaw.com, or find me at www.vzplaw.com.

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J. J. Paul

J. J. Paul, III (Jess), of Indianapolis, is a Founding Member of the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD). He served as both Regent and Dean of the NCDD, and was named a Fellow of the College in 2004. Mr. Paul has lectured at seminars in OWI (DUI) Defense Law in Indiana since 1983, and has taught DUI defense strategies in 16 states, internationally, and, since 1996, at NCDD Summer Sessions conducted at the Harvard Law School. In 2006 he was awarded the highest honor the NCDD may bestow on a DUI Defense Lawyer, the Erwin-Taylor Award—the fifth of seven lawyers in America to receive the award. He co-authors the yearly Board Certification examination in DUI Defense Law, given by the National College for DUI Defense, and was instrumental in the American Bar Association’s accreditation of the NCDD’s board certification program in 2004. Mr. Paul has been recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in Indiana, and carries an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, standing for the highest legal ability and ethical standards. He is Board Certified* in DUI Defense Law, the first of only two lawyers in Indiana to be Board Certified in DUI Defense Law by the NCDD.* Mr. Paul is licensed in Indiana, the Northern and Southern Federal District Courts, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He has authored more than 60 appellate briefs, including the case of Hannoy v. State, in which a police policy of drawing blood in any fatal or serious bodily injury accident in the absence of probable cause or consent was ruled unconstitutional. He has authored two Petitions for Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in Indiana OWI (DUI) cases. *The NCDD Board Certification in DUI Defense Law is not recognized in Indiana. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and recognized in more than half of the States. The National College for DUI Defense is not a governmental agency, and its Board Certification does not grant or imply a specialization status in Indiana.

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