The truth about mixing drinks…

Do you think that different drinks make you act in different ways? Does vodka make you happy and gin make you sad? Well listen up, because you could be in for a surprise.

Some people say that drinking gin makes them depressed while brandy makes them boil over with rage. Another old cliché is that champagne makes you lose your inhibitions. So can different types of alcohol make you act in different ways? Er, no. No matter how much to claim that they do.

Whether your choice of gargle is lager, stout, wine, vodka, cider, whiskey, tequila or whatever, it all boils down to one thing: alcohol. No matter what way you look at it any beverage that you buy from behind the bar is made up of water, alcohol and sugary flavourings. So basically, alcohol is alcohol.

You may be wondering why you’ve heard whiskey increases testosterone levels in men - assuming that you have. You may have heard it off your drunken mate as you both stumbled out of the kebab shop at 4am. Well, you certainly didn’t hear it off a medical professional. All types of booze make a lad's testosterone level drop quickly. It may even take up to three days before you get it back up ... your testosterone level that is.

But hang on. You’ve seen your mates acting like gentlemen while sipping back a few bottles of wine. So why is it that they act like escaped gibbons after a couple of pints of beer? Well, whisper it - it could all be in their head.

The theory behind it...

Some theories on the subject suggest that if you go out expecting to get sloshed off a certain drink, you probably will.

A great example of this can be seen from a scientific study where volunteers were given free booze once they took part in the research. However, what the boozehounds didn’t know about the ‘free gargle’ that was on offer was the fact that it was actually a non-alcoholic placebo. Those sneaky scientists.

The scientists fooled the volunteers into thinking the booze was real by simply rubbing some alcohol around the rim of the glass.

Around 80 per cent of the 'sober' volunteers who thought they had found free booze heaven started acting like they were off their bin. They began talking louder, staggering about, feeling dizzy, slurring their speech, even tripping up over themselves - yet remarkably, all would have passed a breathalyser test.

If you’re still full on sure that some drinks make you act differently, then maybe you need to have a look at the amount you drink and not the drink itself. Now there's something to think about.

For more simple hints & tips on how to pace your drinks follow the link to those helpful folk over at drinkaware.ie.