Beer and wine consumption can lead to higher blood pressure, new study shows

• Red wine appears to have a dual effect on blood vessels.
• The alcohol in it may raise blood pressure, but the polyphenolic compounds in red wine may have antioxidant effects and help relax blood vessels.
• There may be subtle differences between wine, beer and spirits on heart rate and other cardiovascular measurements.
• Researchers investigated whether red wine has less of an impact on blood pressure than other alcoholic beverages and whether it improved vascular function.
• At the end of the four-week intervention, the volunteers switched to a different intervention, until they had completed all four.
• Researchers found that drinking beer increased waking systolic blood pressure (the first number in a blood pressure reading) by 2.9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), while wine increased systolic pressure by an average of 1.9 mm Hg.
• Beer also increased sleeping heart rate by 5.0 beats-per-minute (bpm) and wine increased it by 4.4 bpm.
• Removing alcohol from red wine did not lower blood pressure either, Zilkens said.
• This study was conducted in healthy men with normal blood pressure, so it is unclear if beer and wine will have the same effect on men with high blood pressure, she noted.
• "The advice to drinking men 'at risk' of hypertension and those with hypertension is to drink less than two drinks per day.
• The American Heart Association recommends that if you drink alcohol, do so in moderation, i.e, no more than to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.
• Statements and conclusions of study authors that are published in the American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect association policy or position.