High blood pressure because of alcohol?

How does alcohol affect blood pressure?

The relationship between blood pressure and alcohol can be confusing. On the one hand, alcohol dilates blood vessels, which you can often see as facial flushing after drinking. You might think that widening blood vessels would normally lower blood pressure and you're not entirely wrong. Dilated vessels by themselves do lower blood pressure. However, the vasodilation caused by alcohol is only temporary. And: when larger amounts of alcohol are metabolized, several mechanisms kick in that lead to vessel narrowing. For example, alcohol can increase sympathetic nervous system activity, which raises the release of hormones that increase blood pressure. These hormones cause (besides raising heart rate) the narrowing of blood vessels blood pressure goes up. This is made worse when alcohol is used to relieve stress or as is often the case smoked with.

Lots of calories and damaged organs

Secondly, alcohol has an indirect effect through the extra calories it supplies, because many calories usually lead to weight gain and that often goes along with high blood pressure.

Another link comes from alcohols damaging effects on organs. Organ damage from regular or excessive spirits consumption can in turn lead to high blood pressure.

Finally, the direct effect on blood pressure also depends on the situation. Alcohol like other intoxicants can intensify the drinkers emotional state. A beer or glass of wine sipped in a relaxed setting affects blood pressure less than the same amount of alcohol consumed in a tense or aggressive mood.

Is there a safe amount of alcohol?

Experts disagree on this question because study results are not consistent. What is certain is that regular and/or heavy alcohol consumption has negative effects on the body. More recent studies generally conclude that alcohol should be avoided where possible or at least greatly reduced.

That is the overall takeaway. However, many people find it hard to give up alcohol entirely, for social reasons among others. Therefore the recommendations say men should have no more than 30 g of alcohol per day, which is roughly a quarter liter of wine or half a liter of beer. For women the limit is a bit lower 20 g of alcohol per day. But according to studies even these amounts already affect blood pressure. Regular, especially excessive, drinking does raise blood pressure.

So, for the sake of your blood pressure, its advisable to at least cut back on alcohol.

An American study found a link between high blood pressure and even moderate alcohol consumption of 713 alcoholic drinks per week. Compared with people who don't drink, this group already showed a 50% higher risk of developing high blood pressure.

In 2023 a meta-analysis of seven long-term studies on alcohol consumption and increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure was published. It showed there is no safe threshold any alcohol consumption adversely affects blood pressure. According to this analysis, there is no harmless amount of alcohol you can drink. Alcohol's blood-pressure-raising effect starts with the first glass and increases linearly with the amount consumed.

This is supported by a Japanese study published in October 2025. It analyzed data from 58,943 adults who took part in 359,717 annual health checkups between 2012 and 2024. When these people stopped drinking, their blood pressure fell. The more they had previously drunk, the more their blood pressure dropped after they completely stopped. Conversely, people who had been abstinent and then started drinking showed increases in blood pressure. The conclusion of this study: alcohol consumption should be reduced, preferably stopped altogether.

Do cultural influences play a role?

A subanalysis of a Spanish study, which originally aimed to show wine consumption regardless of amounts reported by participants, suggested a protective effect in very limited circumstances. Study participants were older people from the Mediterranean region who all had a high cardiovascular risk. The data analysis found a possible protective effect when these people drank up to 35 glasses of wine (100 ml each), i.e. up to 3.5 liters, per month. With higher consumption the potential protective effect disappeared. It was also noted that this effect may not apply to other populations and explicitly referred only to wine consumption in this specific cohort.

Be cautious when taking medication

When taking medication, alcohol often increases the risk of side effects. It can also make a drug's effect stronger or weaker. This applies not only to swallowing pills with alcohol, but also to drinking alcohol during the period you are taking medications.

Sources:

This article comes from BloodPressureDB – the leading app since 2011 that helps hundreds of thousands monitor their blood pressure every day. Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 12/2025).

Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as in outpatient care, and has led BloodPressureDB's specialist editorial team since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as a paramedic, first responder and in various therapy and emergency areas, she provides solid, practical and reliably reviewed information.