Can I Drink Alcohol if I Have High Blood Pressure?

As social gatherings and holiday celebrations frequently feature festive beverages, it can be challenging to avoid drinking entirely. To help navigate these occasions, we’ve sought advice from expert doctors on which types of alcohol you should avoid if you’re trying to protect your heart health. When the SNS gets activated by alcohol, it can increase heart rates and constrict blood vessels.

Many factors can influence high blood pressure

• However, with long-term alcohol consumption, there is a sustained rise in blood pressure (red arrow), and eventually, blood pressure at night is also higher than that in non-drinkers (red line). Studies are mixed when it comes to any heroin addiction potential heart health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption. It’s all about moderation when it comes to keeping your heart healthy and blood pressure in check, Dr. Appelbaum says.

• One key lifestyle factor you might not realize is impacting your blood pressure is alcohol consumption.
• People who need four or more medicines to control their blood pressure also have RH.
• High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a condition where the force of the blood against the artery walls is consistently too high.
• Ask your doctor what your blood pressure should be and how often you should have it checked.

Who Is Most at Risk of Alcohol-Induced Hypertension?

• To better understand how alcohol consumption affects the cardiovascular system in the long-term, it is necessary to focus on individual variations in BP.
• American Addiction Centers is a leading provider of addiction treatment across the nation.
• We are also moderately certain that high‐dose alcohol decreased blood pressure within six hours, and the effect lasted up to 12 hours.
• Since people with RH are at risk for other serious health problems, including stroke, heart attack, and even death, it’s important to take your medicine as prescribed.
• These lifestyle changes can significantly improve your blood pressure levels and overall heart health.

The most common type of arrhythmia is atrial fibrillation (also called Afib or AF), an irregular heart rhythm that begins in the upper chambers (atria) of your heart. If you have atrial fibrillation, the normal cycle of electrical impulses in your heart is interrupted. This leads to a fast, chaotic heart rhythm and poor movement of blood from your atria to your lower chambers (ventricles). There’s not currently a recommended amount of alcohol for people with hypertension since this can vary from person to person. Next, learn about the health dangers of even slightly high blood pressure. The best way of knowing if there’s a problem is to have your blood pressure measured.

• Several factors are to blame, one being your body’s network of blood vessels, which changes with age.
• Hangover EffectsHangovers arise from dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and low blood sugar among other factors.
• A 2023 report found that drinking too much alcohol regularly, exceeding 30 grams per day, can significantly increase the risk of developing high blood pressure.
• An increased heart rate isn’t always a problem, but it can be dangerous, even life-threatening, if you’ve got other conditions.
• Blood pressure is the force of blood pumping through your blood vessels (the tubes that carry blood to your organs).
• Heavy alcohol use—defined as more than three drinks per day—damages the blood vessels, weakens the heart muscle (a condition called alcoholic cardiomyopathy), and leads to a higher risk of developing hypertension.

What is an appropriate alcohol intake for people with high blood pressure?

Mechanisms of chronic BP increase and the demonstration of long-term benefits of reducing alcohol intake as a means to treat hypertension remain open questions. Alcohol may raise blood pressure alcohol, particularly when consumed in excess. While moderate alcohol consumption might not significantly harm most people, drinking too much alcohol, especially through binge drinking or heavy alcohol use, poses serious health risks. The type of alcohol you drink—whether beer, wine, or spirits—does not significantly impact how alcohol raises blood pressure. While red wine contains antioxidants like resveratrol that may have heart-health benefits, drinking too much wine still increases the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. Taken together, these studies suggest that in the acute phase of alcohol consumption, BP declines due to vasodilation caused by alcohol and then increases (Fig. 1, orange arrow).

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Heart rate increased significantly after alcohol consumption and remained increased at all times measured. We are moderately certain that medium‐dose alcohol decreased blood pressure and increased heart rate within six hours of consumption. We did not see any significant change in blood pressure or heart rate after that, but the evidence was limited. At the time of drinking, alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream and then carried throughout the body, with a temporary increase in heart rate and blood pressure. It also discusses treatment and some frequently asked questions about alcohol and high blood pressure. Dr. Azadeh Beheshtian is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in both cardiovascular disease and internal medicine.

• If you’re concerned about your drinking habits or blood pressure, consult with a healthcare professional for personalized advice.
• This may be why binge drinkers are more likely to have high blood pressure than their teetotaling counterparts, a 2018 study in the Journal of American Heart Association suggests.
• Her method involves creating carefully tailored care plans aimed at optimizing patient health outcomes.

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Having more than three drinks in one sitting raises blood pressure for a short time. Ye et al. presented the possibility that antihypertensive treatment based on clinic BP readings may be insufficient to control nighttime BP in alcohol drinkers or improve disturbed nighttime BP. Even when taking antihypertensive medications, alcohol drinkers may experience abnormal changes in their diurnal BP. The stronger antihypertensive effect of daytime BP in drinkers may lead to the masking of hypertension or nighttime hypertension. Conversely, if hypertensive drinkers treated with calcium channel blockers have high daytime BP, their BP may be even higher at night. Therefore, 24-hour ABPM is beneficial for diagnostic evaluation and management.

The type of alcohol doesn’t matter, but rather the frequency of your consumption, according to Sameer Amin, MD, a cardiologist and chief medical officer at L.A. “If you have high blood pressure, it’s probably in your best interest to drink minimally,” Morledge said. Alcohol also stimulates the release of adrenaline and puts the body in a fight-or-flight mode, leading to elevated blood pressure. By Ayesha Gulzar, PharmDAyesha Gulzar is a clinical pharmacist interested in medical research, pharmacy practice, and medication therapy management.

Whether you’re managing existing conditions or looking to prevent future risks, we’re here to help every step of the way. Alcohol disrupts the normal function of blood vessels, making them less elastic and impairing blood flow, which can increase blood pressure alcohol. Over time, this can lead to damage to the vascular system and increase the strain on your heart. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) low risk drinking guidelines advise that people should not regularly drink more than more than 14 units a week to keep health risks from alcohol low. If you do choose to drink, it is best to spread your drinks throughout bp alcohol the week.