Psychiatrist Marina Kalyuzhnaya has warned that mixing alcohol with fruit juice disguises the taste of liquor, causing people to unwittingly drink beyond their normal limit.
Speaking to news outlet Lenta.ru, the founder of Doctor Kalyuzhnaya's Clinic explained that while fruit juice does not make alcohol chemically more toxic on its own, it masks its strength. As a result, individuals often drink alcoholic cocktails as quickly as lemonade without realizing how much alcohol they are consuming.
Kalyuzhnaya added that the high sugar content in fruit juice creates a second significant hazard for drinkers. Simple sugars such as fructose and glucose alter the rate at which alcohol enters the bloodstream, making sweet, low-alcohol cocktails absorb faster than neat, high-proof spirits due to the lower alcohol concentration and larger liquid volume.
Health risks of sugary cocktails
The extra sugar content also places a heavier workload on the liver, which must process the sugars alongside the alcohol. Kalyuzhnaya cautioned that this added metabolic strain worsens the severity of a hangover the following morning.
The liver is the primary organ responsible for breaking down alcohol in the human body. When forced to process large amounts of glucose and fructose at the same time, the metabolic breakdown of alcohol slows down, compounding dehydration and systemic inflammation after drinking.
Impact on digestive health
The specialist emphasized that combining alcohol with acidic juices is particularly dangerous for people suffering from diseases of the digestive system. She noted that orange, pineapple, and tomato juices naturally irritate the lining of the stomach mucosa on their own, and alcohol heightens this damaging side effect.
Acidic fruits contain naturally occurring acids that can inflame sensitive digestive tissues. Combined with alcohol, which weakens the protective stomach lining and increases gastric acid production, these mixers can exacerbate stomach pain, acid reflux, and gastrointestinal irritation.
Cognitive impacts of alcohol
Kalyuzhnaya previously warned about the destructive consequences of alcohol consumption on brain function. According to the physician, even a single shot or glass of an alcoholic drink negatively affects human cognitive abilities.
In medical practice, narcology is the branch of psychiatry focused on treating addiction and substance abuse. Psychiatrists and addiction specialists regularly caution that ethanol acts as a central nervous system depressant, impairing judgment, motor coordination, and short-term memory even in small quantities.
