The results of a new study published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research provide some interesting insights into why pairing alcohol with energy drinks may be hazardous. Cecile Marczinski, a psychologist at Northern Kentucky University, found that combining energy drinks such as Red Bull with vodka or other liquors effectively removes any built-in checks your body has for overindulging.
发表在《酒精中毒:临床与实验室研究》中的一项新的研究结果给出了"为何将酒精同能量混合是极其危险的"的相关原因。北肯塔基大学心理学家塞西尔马尔辛斯基发现,若将能量饮料如红牛与伏特加或其他烈酒相混合,将极富成效地移除身体内部固有的抗沉溺校检机制。
When you drink alcohol by itself, it initially induces a feeling of happiness — a comfortable buzz. But when you overindulge, your body knows it, and it starts to shut down; you start feeling tired, sleepy and more sedated than stimulated. "That's your cue to go home to bed," says Marczinski.
当你只喝单一烈酒时,最初产生一种快乐的感觉——舒适的陶醉感。但当你过度沉溺于其中,你的身体能感觉到,并开始校正之;你开始感觉到疲劳和瞌睡,而且更镇定而不是兴奋。“这就暗示你该回家睡觉了,”马尔辛斯基说。
But in her drinking study, for which she (easily) recruited participants, she found that people downing the combination of alcohol and energy drinks lost this natural control. Marczinski had volunteers show up at her lab and drink either plain alcoholic drinks; mixed beverages containing alcohol and energy drinks; energy drinks alone; or a non-alcoholic beverage.
而在她的饮酒研究中,她发现,在所招募的参与者中,那些沉溺于酒精-能量饮料的混合饮品的人失去了这一本能控制。马尔辛斯基让志愿者来到她的研究室,喝下一般含酒精饮料、含酒精-能量饮料的混合饮料、单一能量饮料和非酒精饮料中的任何一种。
When the drinkers were asked to rate how stimulated and energetic they felt — whether they were alert or awake — those consuming the combination energy-alcohol drinks reported twice as much stimulation as those drinking alcohol alone. They tended to report less sedation and fewer symptoms like tiredness or sleepiness. "The disconnect between what you feel and how you act is what is the problem here," she says, noting that these participants continued to feel stimulated and never came down off their alcohol buzz. "Stimulation may not be a good thing when you're drinking because you may drink longer, decide to stay at a party where you're drinking longer, and drink far more than you originally intended."
当要求他们评价自己所感觉到的兴奋或有力程度,是否处在警惕状态或是清醒状态,那些饮用含酒精和能量型混合饮料的人比饮用单一烈酒的人感觉到了两倍的兴奋感。他们常常表现出极少的镇定和更少的症状,如疲劳或瞌睡。“你的感觉和你的行为之间的不相干正是问题的所在,”她说道,并注释到那些参与者仍感觉到兴奋,他们的酒精陶醉感从未消减。“当你正喝酒时,鼓舞或许不是一件好事,因为你可能想喝的更久并决定留在派对上,而在这个派对上,你将喝的更久且会远比你开始打算喝的更多。”
Interestingly, Marczinski says, by combining these results with other work she has done on energy drinks, she found that it's not energy drinks' primary ingredient, caffeine, that's problematic. Rather, it's the mix of other awakening ingredients in the beverages that may be contributing to the enhanced alcohol high. When she compared the stimulation ratings between those who drank beverages made only from caffeine powder and those who drank alcoholic energy drinks, she found that the combination resulted in far greater alertness than the caffeine alone. "I always thought that it was a marketing thing when they mention the other things they put in like taurine, glucose and ginseng," she says. "But I think they do facilitate that stimulation; it's not just the caffeine."
有趣的是,马尔辛斯基说通过结合这些结果和已在能量饮料上所做的工作后发现,这不是能量饮料主要成分——咖啡因导致的结果,这才是问题的所在。恰好相反,其他振奋性成分的混合物对加强的酒精快感起着贡献作用。当她比较饮用只含咖啡因粉末饮料的人和饮用混合饮料的人所做出的兴奋评级,她发现混合物较单独的咖啡因产生更强的警惕状态。“当他们谈起向酒里加入其他物质,如牛磺酸、葡萄糖和高丽参时,我曾一直认为这是一项营销事件。但是,现在我知道它们对鼓舞起到了推波助澜的作用,这不仅仅是咖啡因的作用,”她说道。
Marczinski was able to assess changes in behavior only 45 minutes after the participants enjoyed their drinks, so she didn't record any increase in impaired judgment or behavior, but, she says, that may be because the subjects weren't monitored long enough.
在参与者饮酒后仅45分钟,马尔辛斯基便掌握了他们的行为变化,因此,她没记录任何关于受损的辨别能力和行为能力的增长情况。但是,她说这或许是因为主体被监测时间不够长的缘故。
Even so, the increased stimulation and impulsivity makes the combination of alcohol and energy drinks a dangerous one, especially for underage drinkers who may think they are capable of drinking more than their limit, or even driving after a party. "Even with just alcohol alone, young, underage drinkers are bad at deciding how safe a driver they are, but I think this would make that situation far worse," Marczinski says. And it's just another reminder not to drink and drive — no matter what combination of spirits you're consuming.
虽然如此,增强的刺激和冲动让酒精能量混合饮料变得危险,尤其对那些认为自己能够饮酒高于身体极限的未成年人和派对后驾车的人来说更加危险。“即使饮用单一的烈酒,年轻未成年人也不擅长决定他们是多么可靠的驾驶员,但我认为这将使情况变得更糟,”马尔辛斯基说道。无论你饮用哪种混合烈酒,这是禁止酒后驾车的又一暗示。