If you’re one of the nearly half of American adults with hypertension, you may mentally sort foods and drinks into two categories: what’s good for blood pressure and what you know you should minimize.
For example, berries, green tea and walnuts all fall into the good for blood pressure category. Soda, sugary treats and fatty meat all fall into the eat-minimally category. Following a heart-healthy diet can take mental effort at first, but after a while, it becomes second nature, and you no longer have to think about how each food and drink you consume impacts your heart.
But even if you’ve been following a heart-healthy diet for a while, there can still be some moments of confusion. For example, there is a lot of misinformation about whether eggs are beneficial for people with hypertension. Alcohol is also confusing. Perhaps you’ve heard before that red wine is good for heart health. What about other alcoholic beverages?
We talked to cardiologists about exactly how drinking alcohol impacts blood pressure—including the often lauded red wine. Here’s what they want everyone to know.
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According to Dr. Mark Houston, MD, FACP, a cardiologist and the director of the Hypertension Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, alcohol raises blood pressure shortly after drinking it.
Dr. Gary McGowan, MB, BCh, BAO, MSc, a medical doctor and nutritionist specializing in preventive cardiology at Triage Method in Ireland, echoes that drinking alcohol raises blood pressure after it’s consumed. “When we drink alcohol, it triggers the body’s stress ‘fight or flight’ response. This leads to an increase in heart rate and causes a narrowing of blood vessels, which increases blood pressure,” he explains.
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Alcohol doesn’t just elevate blood pressure short term. Both experts say that when alcohol is consumed regularly, it elevates blood pressure long-term too. “Regular drinking can lead to sustained higher blood pressure. We see a tightening of blood vessels from the stress response and the damage alcohol causes to them, along with fluid and sodium retention. This is like adding more water to a closed plumbing system. The pressure inside the pipe increases,” Dr. McGowan explains.
Scientific research backs this up. Seven studies, with a total of more than 19,000 participants, found that those who consumed alcohol daily had higher blood pressure than those who didn’t.
There is another way that drinking alcohol increases blood pressure long-term, besides triggering the body’s fight or flight response. Dr. McGowan says that it can cause an increase in visceral fat around the organs in the abdomen. “This type of fat promotes inflammation and contributes to elevations in blood pressure,” he says. Scientific research shows that even moderate alcohol consumption can lead to more visceral fat.
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Is Red Wine Good for Blood Pressure?
Perhaps you can see how beer and liquor can raise blood pressure, but you’ve heard that red wine is actually good for heart health. Is this true? Unfortunately, Dr. Houston says that all forms of alcohol impact blood pressure the same way—including red wine.
While it’s true that red wine has some properties that support heart health (namely, a powerful antioxidant called resveratrol), he says that the impact of the alcohol in red wine outweighs these benefits. He emphasizes that red wine is not good for heart health. If you want the benefits of resveratrol, it’s better to eat red grapes!
Dr. McGowan reiterates that all alcoholic drinks impact blood pressure the same way. “Ethanol is the active ingredient in alcohol here that contributes to these effects. It’s found in all alcoholic drinks,” he says.
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He also points out that the higher the calories in an alcoholic drink, the more the drink can influence blood pressure indirectly through weight gain. “But it’s the alcohol in the drink that is the main thing increasing blood pressure. So it really comes down to how much someone is drinking and how often,” he says.
If you like to unwind with an alcoholic drink or knock a few back when you’re socializing, this can all be unwelcome news. Is there a way you can safely drink alcohol without negatively impacting your blood pressure? Dr. Houston says that there really isn’t. Simply put, he says that alcohol is not good for heart health.
Dr. McGowan agrees. “For the most part, as little as possible is probably best,” he says. If you are going to drink alcohol, he recommends sticking to the American Heart Association’s guidelines of capping intake at one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men.
When it comes to alcohol and blood pressure, the less you drink, the better. Save alcohol for special occasions and stick to alcohol-free options the rest of the time. This doctor-recommended advice is worth taking to heart!
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Sources:
Dr. Mark Houston, MD, FACP, cardiologist, director of the Hypertension Institute and Vascular Biology, medical director of the Division of Human Nutrition and medical director of clinical research at the Hypertension Institute in Nashville, Tennessee Dr. Gary McGowan, MB, BCh, BAO, MSc, medical doctor and nutritionist specializing in preventive cardiology at Triage Method in IrelandHigh Blood Pressure Facts. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionDi Federico, S., Filippini, T., Whelton, P.K., et al. (2023). Alcohol Intake and Blood Pressure Levels: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Nonexperimental Cohort Studies. Hypertension. 80(10):1961-1969Cigolini, M., Targher, G., Bergamo Andreis, A., et al. (1996). Moderate alcohol consumption and its relation to visceral fat and plasma androgens in healthy women. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders. 20(3):206-12Das, M. and Das, D. (2010). Resveratrol and cardiovascular health. Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 31(6):503-12Piano, M.R., Marcus, G.M., Aycock, D.M., et al. (2025). Alcohol Use and Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 152.1.doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001341Hence then, the article about here s what actually happens to your blood pressure when you drink alcohol was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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