Calorie counting alcoholics of the world rejoice! A new study has shown alcohol mixed with artificially sweetened beverages, like diet soda, can cause an increase in intoxication levels more so than its calorie heavy equivalent. Woo Hoo!

Published in the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the study had sixteen participants (8 male, 8 female between the ages 21-33) who received vodka with either regular soda, diet soda or, for the unfortunate, a placebo.  Afterwards, a breathalyzer test was administered, a few timed computer tasks were performed, and a series of questions were asked which included how inebriated they believed to be (because everyone's more honest after a few shots of vodka, uh huh). Long story short, those who consumed the vodka and diet soda showed an increased level of impairment when performing the computer tasks as well as a significantly higher breath alcohol concentration (BrAC).

Although, ask yourself this: Do you really want to be that guy/gal asking for a Whiskey Diet Coke?

H/T + PicThx Greatist