Mixing Alcohol with Energy Drink

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Mixing alcohol with energy drinks is an increasing trend especially among university/college students (O’Brien, McCoy, Rhodes, Wagoner, & Wolfson, 2008; Peacock, Bruno, & Martin, 2012a; Peacock, Bruno, & Martin, 2012b). Due to this being a relative new practice there is no long term research available to draw conclusions about the possible effects of engaging in this practice and recent research appears to offer conflicting results. O’Brien and colleagues (2012) suggests that students who consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) have a higher risk of experiencing alcohol-related consequences. Peacock et al. (2012b) however reveals that risk taking behaviours were reduced when consuming AmED compared to alcohol only, but argues there is an increased chance of physiological side effect from AmED consumption. Whilst Verster, Aufricht, and Alford (2012) argue there is inadequate scientific evidence to support either of the above views. This review will compare three studies and one literature review about the issue and conclude there is insufficient information available to determine what effects if any there are in partaking in this trend. On the other hand, it will address possible risks that have been identified by the studies and why further researched is required.
Energy drinks are advertised as having the ability to boost short term energy levels due to the mix of active ingredients. Ingredients can include; caffeine, simple sugars, amino acids (e.g., creatine, taurine), herbs (e.g., gingseng, ginkgo biloba), vitamins and a chemical compound called glucuronolactone which is produced as a result of metabolism (O’Brien, et al., 2012). To understand the drive behind the increasing trend two studies looked at possibl...

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Works Cited

O’Brien, M. C., McCoy, T. P., Rhodes, S. D., Wagoner, B. S., & Wolfson, M. (2008). Caffeinated Cocktails: Energy drink consumption, high-risk drinking, and alcohol-related consequences among college student. Academic Emergency Medicine, 15(5), 453-460.
Peacock, A., & Bruno, R., & Martin, F. H. (2012). Patterns of use and motivations for consuming alcohol mixed with energy drinks. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 27(1), 202-206.
Peacock, A., Bruno, R., & Martin, F. H. (2012). The subjective physiological, psychological, and behavioral risk-taking consequences of alcohol and energy drink co-ingestion. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 36(11), 2008-2015.
Verster, J. C., Aufricht, C., & Alford, C. (2012). Energy drinks mixed with alcohol: misconceptions, myths, and facts. International Journal of General Medicine, 2012(5), 187-198.

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