A Northern Kentucky University scientist recently determined that mixing alcohol with sugar-free drinks is actually a pretty bad choice.

Given that most alcoholic spirits have few calories, mixing them with diet soda seems to be a logical move for those watching their waistlines.

A Northern Kentucky University scientist recently determined that it’s actually a pretty bad choice.

The reason is that cocktails made with sugar-free beverages quicken the delivery of alcohol into the system.

The researchers say that it’s because the body treats the sugar in mixers as food.

Said the study’s director, “Your stomach empties more slowly with sugar in your system but when there is no sugar, the alcohol goes directly into your blood stream.”

In other words, you feel drunker more quickly, which could lead to all sorts of poor judgment calls - including the decision to have a few more drinks than you might otherwise.

Through her study she also found when drinking the non-sugar versions of adult beverages, participants crossed the legal blood alcohol limit for driving. When they stuck with the sugared mixers they stayed below it.

For the experiment, the 16 males and females involved, all self-described social drinkers, were given vodka with either diet or regular non-caffeinated lemon-lime soda.