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Scientific studies on the benefits or harms of alcohol for health follow each other without ever resembling each other. The latest tells us that just one glass of alcohol a day can raise blood pressure, and therefore be harmful to cardiovascular health. And this, even in people who do not suffer from hypertension. Explanations.
No more than two glasses of alcohol a day, and not every day. These are the recommendations, or at least the benchmarks for alcohol consumption, in France, to reduce health risks. And yet, 24% of French people exceed these benchmarks, according to the results of the France Public Health Barometer 2017. Figures to consider as a new international study reveals that just one alcoholic drink a day can harm cardiovascular health by raising blood pressure.
A glass of alcohol a day is enough to raise blood pressure
Posted in Hypertensiona journal of the American Heart Association, the research is based on data from seven studies involving more than 19,500 adults between the ages of 20 and 70 from the United States, Korea, and Japan.
They reveal a link between increased blood pressure over the years and the number of alcoholic beverages consumed daily, even in people without hypertension. The study goes even further by stating that just one alcoholic drink a day could raise blood pressure.
No benefit for low consumption
“We found no beneficial effects in adults who drank little alcohol compared to those who did not. We were somewhat surprised to find that drinking an already low level of alcohol was also linked to greater changes in blood pressure over time compared to not drinking – although the increase blood pressure is significantly lower than that seen in heavy drinkers“, explains Professor Marco Vinceti of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy in a statement.
An effect on blood pressure found in men only
In detail, the researchers compared the health data of adults who regularly drank alcohol and others who did not. All for more than five years on average. Verdict, people who consumed an average of 12 grams of alcohol per day, the equivalent of about a glass of wine, saw their systolic blood pressure increase by 1.25 millimeters of mercury (mmHg), against 4.9 mmHg among those who consumed an average of 48 grams daily. On the downside, however, this link has been established in men, but not in their female counterparts.
Limit your alcohol consumption
“Alcohol is certainly not the only factor in increasing blood pressure, but our results confirm that it contributes significantly. It is advisable to limit the consumption of alcohol, and it is even better to avoid it“, concludes Professor Marco Vinceti. In 2015, in France, 41,000 deaths were attributable to alcohol, including 30,000 among men and 11,000 among women, according to data published by Public health France. Globally, more than 3 million deaths were attributable to alcohol abuse in 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
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