Researchers have found that you get drunk faster when you mix your alcohol with diet soda in comparison with regular soda. Smirnoff Red Label was mixed with Squirt (a caffeine free lemon-lime soda) and it was then compared with the same vodka mixed with Diet Squirt (interestingly, this was the first soft drink in the US to be sweetened with aspartame). The drink which contained the diet product actually increased the Breath Alcohol Content (BAC) by 18 percent! It seems that diet drinks have less sugar in them so they are digested faster in the intestine . . . and this means that the alcohol ends up in the bloodstream faster. This, of course, means that a person mixing their favourite alcoholic beverage with diet soda is at an increased risk of finding themselves over the legal driving limit. Even when they have been adhering to the drink limits set down by law, diet soda increased the intoxification process in their body. The state of someone’s liver also has an effect on how fast alcohol is metabolised in the body. In fact, there are quite a few variables when it comes to measuring the alcohol content in individuals. Always play it safe and, if you drink, don’t drive!