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There is certainly no shortage of options to pick from when it comes to how you consume your hard liquor(s) of choice. Pouring it into a shot glass and slamming it back is probably the easiest way to catch a buzz as quickly as possible, but if you’re looking to pace yourself a bit, it’s hard to go wrong with whipping up a mixed drink.
If you spent any time in college, there’s a very good chance you played around with the virtually unlimited number of combinations at your disposal (there’s also a very good chance some of those experiments went horribly wrong, like the time I learned why grape Fanta and gin has never caught on the hard way).
There are plenty of applications where you can deploy Sprite or ginger ale to make yourself a perfectly passable adult beverage, but it’s hard to argue there’s any soda that’s more versatile in that particular realm than Coke.
The most famous cola on the planet has carved out a solid niche for itself as the mixer of choice for countless people who rely on rum and whiskey to get them where they need to go. However, the soda’s combination of calories and sugar can come back to bite anyone who’s trying to watch their figure or avoid a brutal hangover.
As a result, it’s only natural that Diet Coke is a pretty popular alternative—and it seems like that option is going to gain more traction courtesy of a viral video from a doctor who shed some light on a sneaky upside (or, depending who you ask, downside) of using it as a mixer.
In November, a TikTok user posted the results of an experiment she conducted that appeared to prove using Diet Coke as a mixer can get you drunk quicker than its red-labeled counterpart.
That video eventually came to the attention of Dr. Karan Raj, who has amassed a sizeable following on the social media platform thanks to posts where he’s used his medical knowledge to highlight the benefits of growing a beard and provided users with tips they can use to sleep better.
Raj chimed in to lend credence to those findings, as he also went viral after explaining why Diet Coke will get you drunk quicker than the calorie-laden variety.
@dr.karanr DIET COKE V REGULAR COKE @lorynpowell
The explanation is pretty obvious once you hear it, as Raj said it has nothing to do with additives or some Mentosesque chemical reaction but rather the lack of the biggest differentiator on the list of ingredients: sugar.
When you use regular Coke, you’re giving your stomach more sugar (and, in turn, calories) to digest and subsequently increasing how long it takes for the alcohol you mixed it with to enter your bloodstream (he notes that it’s “the same principle as why you get drunk faster on an empty stomach”).
If you’re curious, that principle applies to all diet soda and other zero-calorie options like seltzer.
The more you know.