Does alcohol cause hypertension? Study finds even low consumption heightens blood pressure

01 Aug 2023 --- A study with 19,548 participants across the US, Japan and Korea has found adverse health effects of drinking alcohol regularly as blood pressure increases over the years, even for those not suffering from hypertension. 

Alcohol consumption was positively associated with increasing blood pressure for both men and women. They found no threshold for a “below level” of alcohol consumption to avoid this. Therefore they stress that consuming alcohol at any level is considered a risk.

“We found no beneficial effects in adults who drank a low level of alcohol compared to those who did not drink alcohol,” says senior study author Dr. Marco Vinceti, a professor of epidemiology and public health at the Medical School of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia University, Italy, and an adjunct professor in the department of epidemiology at Boston University’s School of Public Health, US.

“We were somewhat surprised to see that consuming an already-low level of alcohol was also linked to higher blood pressure changes over time compared to no consumption – although far less than the blood pressure increase seen in heavy drinkers,” says Vinceti.

Published in Hypertension, the study used data between 4-12 years and conducted seven studies comparing drinkers and non-drinkers.

Even though alcohol is not the sole driver of increasing blood pressure levels, it does contribute significantly. No safe threshold
It found increases in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. At the start of the study, none of the participants had high blood pressure, although the differences in starting levels also showed differences in the results.

”We found participants with higher starting blood pressure had a stronger link between alcohol intake and blood pressure changes over time. This suggests that people with a trend toward increased (although still not “high”) blood pressure may benefit the most from low to no alcohol consumption,” says Paul K. Whelton, study co-author and president of the World Hypertension League.

Furthermore, Dr. Tommaso Filippini, an associate professor of epidemiology and public health in the Medical School of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, explains that the analysis was based on grams of alcohol consumed rather than the number of drinks. 

“[This was] to avoid the bias that might arise from the different amounts of alcohol contained in ‘standard drinks’ across countries or types of beverages,” Filippini underscores. 

“Alcohol is certainly not the sole driver of increases in blood pressure. However, our findings confirm it contributes meaningfully. Limiting alcohol intake is advised, and avoiding it is even better,” stresses Vinceti.

The American Heart Association urges the public not to start drinking if they haven’t started and otherwise to limit consumption.

Prior research claims that alcohol consumption brings health benefits were debated against previously this year, and experts warned that promoting alcohol through this advice may indirectly encourage overconsumption.

Edited by Beatrice Wihlander