What happens when you mix energy drink and alcohol?

When you put energy drink in alcohol it gives a hit like cocaine and this is proven in a research conducted by Richard van Rijin who told that a mouse was exposed to alcohol and then to caffeine and the mice were somewhat numb to the rewarding effects of cocaine as adults.

So it is very important to understand that this combination could prove deadly also because the almost all energy drinks have high quantities of caffeine and these when mixed with alcohol produce the same effect in the adolescent brain similar to taking cocaine and not just this its effects last into adulthood as an altered ability to deal with rewarding substances.

Richard Van Rijin works as an assistant professor at Purdue University in the United States, done this research on adolescent mice that were looked for effects of highly caffeinated energy drinks and highly caffeinated alcohol and the changes were found in the brain of mice but this research could not be done on adolescent humans.

Do you know that the energy drinks contains 10 times more caffeine than any soda and marketed to teenagers and adolescents with flashy titles without letting them know about the side effects of drinking so much caffeine especially when consumed with alcohol.

Van further explained that they compared two mice, one was given high levels of caffeine mixed with alcohol and the other mice were given cocaine dose and shockingly they both behaved same way by showing similar physical and neurochemical signs. Van said “It seems the two substances together push them over a limit that causes changes in their behavior and changes the neurochemistry in their brains, we’re clearly seeing effects of the combined drinks that we would not see if drinking one or the other.”

Anyways researchers also found that those who are addicted to cocaine and morphine have increased levels of protein delta FosB which is responsible for the long term change in the neurochemistry and because of this the drug addicts are not able to easily quit these lasting changes in the brain.