Best alcohol for high blood pressure: Can it help?

There is also no drink, such as red wine or beer, that can be proven ‘better’ than another. For example, some people who are on cholesterol-lowering medicines may experience muscle aches when they drink alcohol. Because alcohol and cholesterol medicine both are processed through your liver, they are, in a sense, competing for clearance. So, it’s important to think about your overall health and talk to a healthcare provider about your personal risk factors. Drinking excessive alcohol is considered one of the most common causes of raised blood pressure.

Other risks of alcohol use

A slower metabolism also plays a role, as do medications — prescription, over-the-counter, even herbal remedies — that are common among older people. “As you grow older, health problems or prescribed medicines may require that you drink less alcohol or avoid it completely,” the Institute says. “Those who drink heavily are three times as likely to be hypertensive” as those who abstain.

Aren’t there some benefits to drinking alcohol?

In hospital, your medications are adjusted to control your blood pressure, but you aren’t drinking alcohol at that time. Back home, if you start drinking regularly again and your blood pressure changes, your GP can alter your medications. There is certainly no reason to start drinking alcohol if you don’t already.

This combination of higher fluid levels in the body and smaller blood vessels increases blood pressure. When the SNS gets activated by alcohol, it can increase heart rates and constrict blood vessels. Prolonged activation of the SNS can contribute to health issues like high blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, your doctor may have advised you to drink alcohol in moderation and cut back on your overall alcohol intake. Each study had to meet strict eligibility criteria, allowing researchers to focus on participants with no previous history of cardiovascular disease.

Vasopressin levels

We wanted to quantify the effects of a single dose of alcohol on blood pressure and heart rate within 24 hours of consumption. Keeping blood pressure within a healthy range can reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes. Many factors can increase someone’s risk for high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. However, researchers are still seeking to understand the full impact of certain risk factors. A study from 2019 looked into the effects of aged white wine consumption in males with a high risk of cardiovascular disease. Completely refraining from consuming alcohol lowers the risk of some of the health risks listed above.

A research review from 2022 analyzed What to Do if You Relapse studies that gave participants with hypertension 70–250 milliliters (mL) of beetroot juice per day for 3–60 days. She notes that it can cause an enlarged heart (alcoholic cardiomyopathy), which weakens your heart and makes it harder to pump blood. And if you drink heavily and quickly, Goldberg says it can set you up for heart arrhythmias, which are abnormal or irregular heartbeats.

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T​here was a particular risk for bias in the studies that met the eligibility criteria, and there is still the potential risk for residual confounding. There are also a number of opportunities to expand on the research, including understanding more about how alcohol intake influences blood pressure among women. A doctor may recommend a person with hypertension not to consume energy drinks. Research from 2019 found that drinking 32 ounces (oz) of energy drink in an hour could increase blood pressure. A study from 2023 found that tea consumption could help reduce a person’s risk of hypertension by 10%.

1. Back home, if you start drinking regularly again and your blood pressure changes, your GP can alter your medications.
2. Recent data suggest that moderate and heavy drinking contributes to high blood pressure in men and women.
3. A study from 2019 looked into the effects of aged white wine consumption in males with a high risk of cardiovascular disease.
4. You should never consider wine or any other alcohol as a way to lower your heart disease risk.

To understand how much alcohol is too much, it may be helpful to know what excessive drinking means. “Women might be more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol,” Goldberg says, noting that alcohol breaks down more slowly in women than in men. “In limited amounts, it’s probably OK based on the data that we have,” says cardiologist Luke Laffin, MD, co-director of the Center for Blood Pressure Disorders at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Blood Pressure Categories Infographic describing the corresponding blood pressure readings between normal and hypertensive crisis. One unit of alcohol is around 8g, which is 56kcal or the equivalent calories of one custard cream. Your drink or mixer may also have added sugars, increasing the number of calories it contains.