Heart rate increased significantly after alcohol consumption and remained increased at all times measured. After that, blood pressure was found to be increased. We are also moderately certain that high‐dose alcohol decreased blood pressure within six hours, and the effect lasted up to 12 hours. We did not see any significant change in blood pressure or heart rate after that, but the evidence was limited. We are moderately certain that medium‐dose alcohol decreased blood pressure and increased heart rate within six hours of consumption.

The source of funding was not reported for a majority of the studies.įor low doses of alcohol, we found that one glass of alcohol had little to no effect on blood pressure and increased heart rate within six hours of drinking.

Although these trials included adults from 18 to 96 years of age with various health conditions, most study participants were young healthy males. We included 32 randomised controlled trials involving 767 participants published up to March 2019. We wanted to quantify the effects of a single dose of alcohol on blood pressure and heart rate within 24 hours of consumption. We reviewed available evidence about the short‐term effects of different doses of alcoholic drinks compared to non‐alcoholic drinks on blood pressure and heart rate in adults (≥ 18 years) with both normal and raised blood pressure.ĭrinking excessive alcohol is considered one of the most common causes of raised blood pressure. High‐dose alcohol ≥ 13 hours after consumption (4 RCTs, N = 154) increased SBP by 3.7 mmHg (95% CI 2.3 to 5.1), DBP by 2.4 mmHg (95% CI 0.2 to 4.5), and HR by 2.7 bpm (95% CI 0.8 to 4.6) (moderate‐certainty evidence for all).Īlcohol has a biphasic effect on blood pressure and increases heart rate The certainty of evidence was moderate for SBP and HR, and low for DBP.

High‐dose alcohol within 7 to 12 hours of consumption (3 RCTs, N = 54) decreased SBP by 3.7 mmHg (95% CI ‐7.0 to ‐0.5) and DBP by 1.7 mmHg (95% CI –4.6 to 1.8) and increased HR by 6.2 bpm (95% CI 3.0 to 9.3). High‐dose alcohol (> 30 g) within six hours (16 RCTs, N = 418) decreased SBP by 3.5 mmHg (95% CI ‐6.0 to ‐1.0), decreased DBP by 1.9 mmHg (95% CI‐3.9 to 0.04), and increased HR by 5.8 bpm (95% CI 4.0 to 7.5). The certainty of evidence was moderate for SBP and HR, and was low for DBP. Low‐dose alcohol ( 13 hours after consumption (4 RCTs, N = 66) did not affect BP or HR. The mean age of participants was 33 years, and mean body weight was 78 kilograms. We included 32 RCTs involving 767 participants. Most of the study participants were male (N = 642) and were healthy.

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