Mixing alcohol and energy drinks may make for a trendy cocktail, but combining the two just seems like a bad idea. And researchers at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Addictions Research of BC in Canada say that about sums it up.
They found that the stimulating effects of energy drinks tend to keep people from realizing how drunk they really are, which can in turn prolong their drinking and put them at risk.
RELATED: Despite what you may have heard (and tried), a morning beer won’t stop that hangover
“The stimulant effects of caffeine mask the result that most people get when they drink,” said researcher Audra Roemer, M.Sc. “Usually when you’re drinking alcohol, you get tired and you go home. Energy drinks mask that, so people may underestimate how intoxicated they are, end up staying out later, consume more alcohol, and engage in risky behavior and more hazardous drinking practices.”
So you take something that already makes you act like an idiot and mix it with something that makes you act like even more of one. Thanks, but no thanks. Most of us are perfectly fine with just being minor tools when we drink.