Jack and Diet Gets You Drunker

Allison Aubrey:

Looking to cut back on the calories in your cocktail by mixing, say, diet soda and rum? Well, get ready for the buzz.
According to the results of a new study, this combination will leave you drunker than if you'd mixed the liquor with a sugary, caloric mixer.
"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.

I've most often heard girls ordering mixed drinks with diet pop.  A study like this may cause some guys looking to get drunk fast to switch their mixer.  I'll stick to beer.