London - Mixing alcohol with energy drinks to get a bigger hit could be more harmful than research currently suggests, claims a leading psychologist.
Clubbers who knock back vodka and drinks such as the popular Red Bull may have been falsely reassured by laboratory studies that don’t reflect “real world” use, says Professor Peter Miller.
He said concerns are growing about the dangers of drinkers mixing alcohol and energy drinks which enable them to drink for longer and achieve “higher levels of intoxication”.
Surveys show around three out of four college students in Europe and the US regularly indulge in such combinations.
But the role played by energy drinks is under-researched and much of the work has only studied the effects of mixing low levels of alcohol with a single energy drink, said Professor Miller, associate professor of psychology at Deakin University in Australia.
Although some researchers have concluded “we should not be concerned about the risks”, many of them have been funded by the makers of Red Bull, he said.
At a recent conference in Australia, four out of five who presented research on alcohol and energy drinks had received financial support from Red Bull, he said, writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
They had received funds to attend international conferences or for research and all concluded there was no evidence showing a combination of energy drinks and alcohol increased drinking or harm.
However, studies looking at statistical links between certain forms of behaviour and drinkers mixing energy drinks and alcohol show they are more likely to consume bigger quantities of alcohol, engage in aggressive acts, hurt themselves and drink-drive.
Professor Miller said he was worried that research does not consider “real world” levels of consumption because lab studies are restricted to testing the effects of a single alcoholic drink and a single energy drink.
However, 40 percent of those on city streets in Australia on weekend nights are heavily intoxicated and nearly a quarter will have drunk more than two energy drinks, he said. - Daily Mail