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Danger in the mix
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 20:04 |
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SYDNEY – Caffeine and alcohol can be a deadly mix.
A field study of more than 800 young drinkers in the United States has found those who consumed caffeine-alcohol mixed drinks were often in a drunker state when they left the bar.
The rising popularity of mixed drinks like the "Jager Bomb" (Jagermeister and Red Bull) or the self-explanatory "Vodka and Red Bull" has worrying implications for road safety, research shows.
Worrying trend
Compared to those who drank only alcohol-based drinks, those who reported having caffeine-alcohol mixed drinks were also much more likely to say they intended to drive home, said the Associated Australian Press.
Dr Lucy Burns, from the University of NSW's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, said a 2009 study of almost 700 Australian Ecstasy users found about 70% had consumed caffeine-alcohol mixed drinks.
"It is common to believe that energy drinks will reduce the fatigue, cognitive and motor impairments of alcohol and other drugs," Dr Burns said, adding that the popularity not confined to United States alone.
"So there is a real danger that consumers may be more likely to engage in risky behaviours, such as operating a car or a motorcycle."
Be educated
Consumers needed to be more aware of the effect of caffeine on their body and the risk posed by consuming it alongside alcohol, she said in a report carried by Bernama.
The problem stems from consuming a stimulant alongside an intoxicant, which clinical studies have shown can reduce the perception of being drunk but not the impairment.
Dark side to energy drinks
Red Bull's introduction to the US market in 1997 has lead to an explosion in the global energy drink sector.
Consuming these drinks with alcohol was now emerging as a cause of "elevated involvement in night-time risk-taking behaviour", according to the study which is published in the Journal of Addictive Behaviours.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 February 2010 20:21 |
