Is it possible to mix alcohol with soda

Does soda really make you get drunk faster?

There is speculation that soda increases the absorption of alcohol so that your ethanol levels in your blood and exhaled air rise faster. However, there is really little research on this topic, and their data are contradictory.

There is an assumption that soda accelerates the emptying of the stomach, so that alcohol quickly reaches the small intestine, where most of it is absorbed. However, scientists have not yet determined whether this is actually the case.

Here is what Anna Yurkevich, doctor and author, writes about this.

Anna Yurkevich is a gastroenterologist and psychotherapist.

On the one hand, an increase in the volume of gastric contents actually stimulates its contraction, accelerated absorption of alcohol and its movement into the small intestine. But, if there is enough food and gas in the stomach, it, on the contrary, can interfere with normal digestion. The contents of the stomach will move more slowly into the small intestine, and intoxication will come later.

At the same time, sweet soda, due to carbohydrates, slightly slows down the intoxication process compared to zero-calorie drinks. Mixing whiskey with regular cola will make you drunk later than if you dilute alcohol with a diet drink.

However, this does not mean that such combinations are useful.

How sweet soda affects your figure

Sweet soda increases the already high calorie content of alcoholic beverages. For example, diluting whiskey with cola in a ratio of 1: 3, you will drink 239 kilocalories. And this is just one glass of the drink, which is rarely limited to.

However, the main danger of soda is not even the number of calories, but what types of sugar it contains. So, in popular carbonated drinks, more than half of the sugars are represented by fructose. The metabolic characteristics of this substance cause the body to accumulate fat even without an increased calorie intake. Therefore, a high amount of fructose in the diet increases the risk of metabolic syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

How alcohol and soda affect the liver

In addition to harm to the figure, fructose from sweet soda is also dangerous for the liver, which already suffers during the holidays.

By combining alcohol with sugary drinks, we do more potential liver damage. Since sugary soda contains a lot of fructose, its excess is directly deposited in fat, including internal (visceral) fat in the liver.

Anna Yurkevich

What is the bottom line

Given the research data, the following conclusions can be drawn:

Mixing alcohol with unsweetened soda may increase the absorption of alcohol, but does not have an additional negative effect on the body.
Soda sugar slows down drunkenness somewhat compared to unsweetened sodas. However, due to the high fructose content, such water is dangerous for the figure and the liver.

Therefore, it is worth giving up sweet soda during a feast, when the liver is already having a hard time.