Does Alcohol Affect Your Heart Health?

We’ve heard it before: “A glass of wine a day” keeps the doctor away,” but is this true? Drinking heavy amounts of alcohol comes with risks to health, including the heart. There are important things to note about drinking alcohol and how it may impact your heart health.

Key Takeaways: Alcohol And Your Heart

• Alcohol can raise blood pressure. Regular or excessive drinking increases your risk of hypertension, but cutting back can help lower it.
• Binge drinking can trigger dangerous heart rhythms. Heavy alcohol use may lead to atrial fibrillation (AFib), which raises the risk of stroke, heart failure and other complications.
• Moderation matters—and sometimes abstaining is best. Recommended limits are one drink per day for women and two for men, but alcohol may not be safe with certain medical conditions or medications.

Does Drinking Raise Your Blood Pressure?

Drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure.

“If you drink enough alcohol on a regular basis, it does raise your blood pressure, which can lead to hypertension,” said William Espar, MD, cardiologist at Franciscan Health Heart Center in Michigan City.

Dr. Espar noted that taking away alcohol can help lower blood pressure.

Does Drinking Change Your Heartbeat?

Binge drinking, a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 g/dl or above, can impact the rhythm of your heartbeat.

“There are instances when people are binge drinking, it can cause rhythm issues with the heart,” said Dr. Espar. “The common one is atrial fibrillation. You will notice your heart is beating faster and racing while drinking a certain amount of alcohol.”

Atrial fibrillation is an irregular or quivering heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke and heart failure.

“If anyone is having heart palpitations, I think it's always important to get it checked out,” said Asad J Torabi, MD, a cardiologist at Franciscan Health in Munster.

If someone is experiencing frequent heart palpitations, getting a medical evaluation is important. This often includes wearing a heart monitor for anywhere from 48 hours to a couple of weeks to better understand what’s happening.

“If we detect an abnormal heart rhythm, say atrial fibrillation, that's very common in the general population,” said Dr. Torabi. “Then, having that glass of wine is probably not the best thing to do, particularly for that arrhythmia, because we know that it can increase the recurrence.”

While moderate drinking is generally considered acceptable, excessive alcohol intake can trigger rhythm issues, Dr. Torabi said.

“There's a well-known phenomenon known as holiday heart,” he said, adding that holiday heart syndrome is typically associated with heavier alcohol use, not just an occasional drink.

What Are Risks Of Excessive Drinking On Your Heart?

Excessive drinking also can contribute to cardiomyopathy, a disorder that affects the heart muscle.

“This is when the heart muscle starts to weaken and can happen when someone is drinking four or five or more drinks per day,” said Dr. Espar.

Excessive drinking can also lead to cardiac arrhythmia and even death from alcohol poisoning. And it can interfere with the brain’s communication pathways, affecting the way the brain works.

“Additional risks from consuming too much alcohol include gaining weight, sleep apnea and strokes,” said Dr. Espar.

What Is Considered ‘Too Much’ Alcohol?

To lower the risks associated with alcohol use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults of legal drinking age can choose not to drink, or to drink in moderation by limiting intake to two drinks or less in a day for men or one drink or less in a day for women.

The American Heart Association recommends avoiding alcohol if:

• You are pregnant or trying to become pregnant
• You are under 21 years old
• You take medications that interact with alcohol.

Will A Glass Of Wine Really Keep The Doctor Away?

The American Heart Association says that it's unclear whether red wine is directly associated with the health benefits seen in some studies, or whether other factors are at play. It might be that moderate wine drinkers are more likely to have a healthier diet and lifestyle that includes physical activity and lots of fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Espar stated that, for many people, it is OK to enjoy alcohol in moderation.

“I don’t caution people to stay away from drinking alcohol, but they should drink following the recommended amounts, but not if they have liver issues or other serious health issues,” he said.

Should I Drink Alcohol If I Am On Heart Medications?

"When you take alcohol with any medications, particularly heart medications, alcohol is, in a sense, a drug itself," said Joshua Rajkumar, PharmD, a cardiology clinical pharmacist working at Franciscan Health Indiana Heart Physicians in Indianapolis. "It's a chemical compound, and it has its own unique chemical structure that can interact with some of your medications as well. In general, I would never advise taking alcohol with a medication.

"Statins are affected by it. Your anticoagulant medications are affected by it. Some blood pressure medications, not all, but some can affect it by raising or lowering blood pressures."