Is alcohol good for the heart?

Why the overall health risks from drinking alcohol outweigh any possible limited heart benefits that certain people may see when drinking at a low level.

Drinking alcohol increases the risk of various types of heart disease, including coronary heart disease which can result in serious and life-threatening conditions such as angina, heart failure and heart attack.¹

Cutting back on the total amount of alcohol you drink and taking more drink-free days each week, can improve overall health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.

Regularly drinking more than the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs’) low risk drinking guidelines, can increase your risk of developing heart disease by increasing your blood pressure² and weakening your heart muscle.³

Are alcoholic drinks, like red wine, good for your heart?

There is some evidence that low levels of alcohol consumption can have a limited protective effect against coronary heart disease, but only in a specific section of the population - women over 55.

Even for women over 55, the overall risks of harm from alcohol outweigh any small benefit for the heart.

This small protective effect for women over 55 is only seen with low levels of alcohol consumption (not more than one unit a day) and it does not appear to be dependent on the type of alcoholic drink – there is no evidence that red wine offers extra protection.⁴ At all levels of alcohol consumption more than one unit a day, the protective effect disappears and there is an increased risk of coronary heart disease in both men and women, of all ages.⁵

Even low-level drinking increases the risks of other serious illnesses including other types of heart disease, several types of cancer,⁶brain damage,⁷ and alcohol-related liver disease.⁸ For example, it’s estimated that between 3-4 out of every 100 cases of cancer in the UK are caused by alcohol. That’s somewhere between 11,500 – 12,500 new cases every year.⁹

The safest level of drinking is to drink no alcohol at all.^{10, 11}

So, the evidence of the small benefit to heart health for women over 55 certainly does not justify drinking alcohol to protect your heart. The other risks of harm from alcohol far outweigh any small benefit for anyone that chooses to drink alcohol.

Find out more about how alcohol affects heart health

Further advice and information

Arming yourself with strategies and tips can help you or a loved one take small steps towards big results.

How to reduce the amount you and your partner drink How to cut down on alcohol at home How to stop drinking alcohol completely Low alcohol drinks

References

[1] Arora, M., ElSayed, A., Beger, B., Naidoo, P., Shilton, T., Jain, N., Armstrong-Walenczak, K., Mwangi, J., Wang, Y., Eiselé, J.-L., Pinto, F. J., & Champagne, B. M. (2022). The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Cardiovascular Health: Myths and Measures. Global Heart, 17(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.5334/gh.1132

[2] British Heart Foundation website, High blood pressure. [Accessed 18 April 2025]. Available at: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/high-blood-pressure

[3] British Heart Foundation website, High blood pressure. [Accessed 18 April 2025]. Available at: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/high-blood-pressure

[4] Global Burden of Disease Alcohol Collaborators. (2018). Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet, 392(10152),1015-1035.

[5] Lea, Williams. (2016). Alcohol Guidelines Review - Report from the Guidelines development group to the UK Chief Medical Officers. Department of Health. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f51b4e5274a2e87db5206/summary.pdf

[6] Cancer - Griswold, M. G., Fullman, N., Hawley, C., Arian, N., Zimsen, S. R. M., Tymeson, H. D., Venkateswaran, V., Tapp, A. D., Forouzanfar, M. H., Salama, J. S., Abate, K. H., Abate, D., Abay, S. M., Abbafati, C., Abdulkader, R. S., Abebe, Z., Aboyans, V., Abrar, M. M., Acharya, P., … Gakidou, E. (2018). Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet, 392(10152), 1015–1035.

[7] Topiwala, A., Ebmeier, K. P., Maullin-Sapey, T., & Nichols, T. E. (2021). No safe level of alcohol consumption for brain health: Observational cohort study of 25,378 UK Biobank participants (p. 2021.05.10.21256931). medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.10.21256931

[8] Liver disease - Jarvis, H., O’Keefe, H., Craig, D., Stow, D., Hanratty, B., & Anstee, Q. M. (2022). Does moderate alcohol consumption accelerate the progression of liver disease in NAFLD? A systematic review and narrative synthesis. BMJ Open, 12(1), e049767. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049767

[9] Brown, K.F., Rumgay, H., Dunlop, C., Ryan, M., Quartly, F., Cox, A., Deas, A., Elliss-Brookes, L., Gavin, A., Hounsome, L. and Huws, D. (2018). The fraction of cancer attributable to modifiable risk factors in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom in 2015. British Journal of Cancer, 118(8), 1130.

[10] Haseeb, S., Alexander, B., andBaranchuk, A. (2017). Wine and cardiovascular health: A comprehensive review. Circulation. 136, 1434–1448.

[11] Chiva-Blanch, G., & Badimon, L. (2019). Benefits and Risks of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Cardiovascular Disease: Current Findings and Controversies. Nutrients, 12(1), 108.

Last Reviewed: 22nd April 2025

Next Review due: 22nd April 2028

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Is alcohol good for the heart?

Are alcoholic drinks, like red wine, good for your heart?

Further advice and information

References

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