This is unfortunate, as we have reason to believe that the effects of alcohol on BP might be greater in women. Much of the current literature on alcohol does not mention the hypotensive effect of alcohol or the magnitude of change in BP or HR after alcohol consumption. This review will be useful for social and regular drinkers to appreciate the risks of low blood pressure within the first 12 hours after drinking. Heart rate was increased by 4.6 bpm six hours after drinking alcohol compared to placebo.
Data collection and analysis
Furthermore, the high caloric content of alcohol can contribute to weight gain and obesity, which are major risk factors for hypertension. Chronic alcohol intake can inappropriately activate the RAS, leading to the constriction of blood vessels and retention of sodium and water, which directly increases blood pressure. It also increases the production of stress hormones, such as cortisol, which cause blood https://ecosoberhouse.com/ vessels to narrow. When it comes to alcohol and high blood pressure, a 2023 study published in the AHA’s journal, Hypertension, found that an average daily consumption of 12 grams of alcohol can increase systolic blood pressure by 1.25 mmHg.
The Impact of Regular Alcohol Consumption on Blood Pressure
Being aware of these risk factors can help you make informed choices about your alcohol intake and overall health strategies. We created three SoF tables to show the certainty of evidence and the summary of effects on outcomes of interest (SBP, DBP, and HR) for high (Table 1), medium (Table 2), and low doses (Table 3) of alcohol. We identified Stott 1987 and Barden 2013 from Analysis 3.1 and Analysis 3.2 as having a considerably lower standard error (SE) of the mean difference (MD) compared to the other included studies. Assuming that the low SEs of MDs reported in Stott 1987 and Barden 2013 are errors and are not reliable, we replaced these measures with the average SE of MD from the rest of the included studies.
Botden 2012 published data only
Clearly define what cutting back on drinking means to you, such as, perhaps, aiming to slash your drinking days in half each week. Download a sobriety tracking app or purchase a printed tracker to monitor successes and keep yourself accountable as you work towards your goals. It’s important to note that some studies examined only looked at small numbers of females compared to males. As a result, further research is necessary to confirm the effects on all people. This article will use the terms “female” and “male” when discussing people assigned female or male at birth to reflect language that appears in does beer lower blood pressure source materials. Keep in mind that high blood pressure usually doesn’t have symptoms – and is very common.
- High‐dose alcohol decreased SBP by 3.49 mmHg within the first six hours, and by 3.77 mmHg between 7 and 12 hours after consumption.
- This occurs because alcohol stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for regulating heart rate and blood pressure.
- As part of a comprehensive treatment plan for alcohol use disorders, group therapy, individual counseling, family counseling, support group meetings, wellness activities, and medication treatments may be included.
- The hormone AII is a potent vasoconstrictor that stimulates aldosterone and vasopressin secretion from the adrenal gland, promoting sodium and water retention (Schrier 1999).
Of the 32 studies, two studied low‐dose alcohol, 12 studied medium‐dose alcohol, and 19 studied high‐dose alcohol. The sample size in the meta‐analysis for low‐dose comparison was not adequate to assess the effects of low doses of alcohol on BP and HR; however, we believe that the direction of the change in BP and HR was correct. For medium doses and high doses of alcohol, participants represented a range in terms of age, sex, and health condition. Because the participant population comprised predominantly young and healthy normotensive men, the overall evidence generated in this review cannot be extrapolated to women and older populations with other comorbidities.
- In the case of registration at clinical trials.gov, we considered only one study to have low risk of bias (Barden 2013).
- If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol addiction, it is essential to seek help and support.
How Much Alcohol is Needed to Affect Your Blood Pressure
This review did not find any eligible RCTs that reported the effects of alcohol on women separately. Because women could be affected differently by alcohol than men, future RCTs in women are needed. If future RCTs include both men and women, it is important that their blood pressure and heart rate readings are reported separately.
But if you drink alone, or down multiple drinks a day, it could turn into an unhealthy habit. If you can’t control it, it may lead to a condition called alcohol use disorder. Giving up drinking may let you focus on your relationships, work, and health. “Even moderate alcohol consumption can interfere with blood pressure medication,” Dr. Brandon said.
Keep reading to learn how alcohol can affect your blood pressure and cardiovascular health and which other factors may play a role. According to the published protocol, we intended to include only double‐blind RCTs in this review. Because higher doses of alcohol exert specific pharmacological effects on drinkers, we had a few double‐blind RCTs after the first screening.
Okamura 2001 published data only
The magnitude and direction of the effects of alcohol on blood pressure alcoholism depend on the time after alcohol consumption. Moderate‐certainty evidence shows that acute consumption of medium to high doses of alcohol decreases blood pressure within the first six hours and for up to 12 hours after alcohol consumption. For times greater than 13 hours, high doses of alcohol consumption increased blood pressure. Low, moderate, and high alcohol consumption increased heart rate within the first six hours. High alcohol consumption also increased heart rate from 7 to 12 hours and after 13 hours. Most of the evidence from this review is relevant to healthy males, as these trials included small numbers of women (126 females compared to 638 males).
Asking for a Friend: How I Navigate Living with a Chronic Disease
Most of the included studies did not report the standard error (SE)/standard deviation (SD) of the mean difference (MD) for the outcomes of interest. As described in our protocol, when we were unable to obtain the required SE/SD from study authors or by calculation from the reported P value or 95% CI, we imputed data according to the pre‐specified imputation hierarchy. We most often used the reported endpoint SE/SD value to impute the SE/SD of MD.