Red bull is a heavily caffeinated energy drink spiked with additional stimulants, and a red bull is a definite pick me up; and when mixed with vodka or other liquor, red bull cocktails help counter the depressive effects of alcohol, letting people enjoy the buzz of red bull cocktails, while perceiving less of the unpleasant drowsiness, feelings of un coordination and intoxication. You can dance all night on red bull cocktails.

You're just as drunk, but you don’t feel it

But the problem is that although you may feel more alert, more coordinated and generally more sober, your reflexes and motor skills are just as impaired as people drinking regular cocktails; the effects of alcohol intoxication are not countered by the effects of red bull.

Researchers in Brazil examined the motor skills performance of people who had drank an equivalent amount of alcohol, but half had drank it with red bull mixers, and the other half with non stimulant mixers.

The group that drank the red bull cocktails self reported feeling less drunk on a number of measures than the non red bull drinking group, but when tested on motor skills performance, and other quantitative measures of intoxication, performed equally badly.

So what's the big deal?

A false self awareness of intoxication presents with a couple of problems.

Firstly, people who are not truly aware of how intoxicated they are tend to drink more alcohol. They are more at risk for acute alcohol poisoning, and intense intoxication. They are more at risk of getting drunker than they would normally, and acting in possibly risky and unsafe ways.

Secondly, although campaigns against intoxicated driving promote the use of a designated driver, a recent Canadian study indicates that a sizable percentage of people do not plan for a designated driver prior to a night out, and the person who drives the car home is simply the person who seems least drunk at the time. With people on red bull cocktails feeling a lot less drunk than they actually are, this may lead to more intoxicated people behind the wheel.

By careful…

If you drink red bull cocktails, you should be aware of the risks of misperceiving your actual level of intoxication. You may be a lot drunker than you think you are.

Selecting the least drunk person to drive home is an appalling and irresponsible policy, and should never be condoned, and when clinical studies show that people drinking cannot accurately gauge their level of intoxication, it truly makes no sense.