What Does Alcohol Do to Your Body? Benefits & Risks

Limiting alcohol intake is advised, and avoiding it is even better,” Vinceti said. One area of interest is how the consumption of alcohol impacts blood pressure. However, even drinking small amounts of alcohol may contribute to high blood pressure. Your doctor will often advise you when it’s safe to start drinking alcohol again, from a medical perspective. Psychologically, however, many people feel low in mood after they’re discharged home, especially following open heart surgery. Too much alcohol can raise blood pressure and weight, increasing risk of a heart attack, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

• The study also didn’t look at how different types of alcohol influenced blood pressure.
• Unfortunately, the worst drinks for your blood pressure are, well, all of them.
• Senior Cardiac Nurse Christopher Allen finds out more from Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Consultant Physician and Gastroenterologist at Royal Liverpool University Hospitals.
• Devineé Lingo is a registered dietitian nutritionist who is on a mission to cultivate health and wholeness in people seeking restoration and renewal.

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Now experts have reason to believe even moderate drinking carries risks. ”We found participants with higher starting blood pressure readings, had a stronger link between alcohol intake and blood pressure changes over time. There is a very clear link between regularly drinking too much alcohol and having high blood pressure. Over time, high blood pressure (hypertension) puts strain on the heart muscle and can lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD), which increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.

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• It’s true, all types of alcohol can have a negative effect on your BP levels.
• “Over time, this repeated damage can result in cirrhosis, where the liver becomes so scarred that it loses functionality,” she explains.
• Cortisol increases the release of catecholamines, which are chemicals in the body that help regulate many processes and help keep the body functioning as it should.

Certain drinks may be harmful for a person who has hypertension. In a study from 2021, researchers gave 500 mL of orange juice, around 2 cups, daily to people with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension. A research review from 2022 analyzed studies that gave participants with hypertension 70–250 milliliters (mL) of beetroot juice per day for 3–60 days. Home blood pressure monitors are available widely and without a prescription. Talk to a healthcare professional about home monitoring before you get started.

Is There a “Best” or “Worst” Alcohol To Drink if You Have High Blood Pressure?

For low doses of alcohol, we found that one glass of alcohol had little to no effect on blood pressure and increased heart rate within six hours of drinking. Drinking excessive alcohol is considered one of the most common causes of raised blood pressure. We wanted to quantify the effects of a single dose of alcohol on blood pressure and heart rate within 24 hours of consumption. Some studies suggest low amounts of alcohol may provide health benefits.

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• Heavy alcohol users who cut back to average drinking can lower their top number in a blood pressure reading by about 5.5 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and their bottom number by about 4 mm Hg.
• However, long-term or severe hypertension can have other complications that may last for longer.
• Limiting alcohol to less than one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men can help lower blood pressure by about 4 mm Hg.
• Individuals who do not experience withdrawal symptoms will likely see the positive effects of giving up alcohol shortly after doing so.

A lot of people shouldn’t drink at all for specific reasons — family history of alcoholism or heart or liver disease, he says. But if you have no hereditary risk factors, a glass (for women) or up to two (for men) may be justified, depending on your age. “Wine and spirits like whiskey or vodka are OK,” Dr. Mintz says. “Anything but beer is OK, as beer comes with a salt load that can cause high blood pressure and is high in calories.” A doctor may recommend a person with hypertension not to consume energy drinks.

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It’s true that alcohol, whether you have high blood pressure or not, will temporarily increase your blood pressure levels. And over time, if you drink more than one to two drinks per day, you increase your risk of hypertension that needs to be treated, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Because high BP often doesn’t have symptoms, you may not even realize the effect your drinking habits are having (unless you’re getting regular checkups, that is).

Cortisol is a hormone that regulates the body’s response to stress. It also regulates metabolism, immune function, and inflammatory pathways. The following sections will look at some of these ways in more detail. “If you have high blood pressure, it’s probably in your best interest to drink minimally,” Morledge said. This means paying attention to portion size does alcohol drop blood pressure is important, too, as a wine glass filled to the brim or an oversized margarita may actually count as two or three drinks, says Sheth.