Blood pressure after changes in light-to-moderate alcohol consumption in women and men

Alcohol consumption is a known factor that can raise blood pressure (BP) but the link between changes in light-to-moderate alcohol consumption (≤1 drink for women and ≤2 drinks for men daily), quitting, and BP remains uncertain.Published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, a study examined the associations between alcohol cessation or initiation and subsequent blood pressure changes, emphasising sex-specific estimates, light-to-moderate consumption, and the type of alcoholic beverage.
Researchers analysed data from adults undergoing annual health check-ups at a Japanese preventive medicine centre from October 2012 to March 2024. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DSP) changes between consecutive visits were evaluated. Alcohol intake was self-reported as standard drinks (1 drink = 10 g ethanol). Associations between alcohol cessation or initiation and BP changes were assessed, adjusted for demographics, clinical history, and lifestyle behaviours.
Among 359,717 visits from 58,943 participants, the cessation cohort showed that quitting alcohol was linked to dose-dependent reductions in blood pressure. Among women, stopping 0.5 to 1.0 drinks per day did not significantly affect systolic blood pressure (SBP) (-0.44 mm Hg; 95% CI: -0.93 to 0.06 mm Hg) and was associated with a -0.41 mm Hg change (95% CI: -0.77 to -0.05 mm Hg) in diastolic blood pressure. Stopping 1.0 to 2.0 drinks per day was linked to decreases of -0.78 mm Hg (95% CI: -1.53 to -0.04 mm Hg) in SBP and -1.14 mm Hg (95% CI: -1.68 to -0.61 mm Hg) in DBP. Among men, cessation of 0.5 to 1.0 drinks daily did not result in significant changes in SBP (-0.27 mm Hg; 95% CI: -0.81 to 0.27 mm Hg) or DBP (-0.39 mm Hg; 95% CI: -0.77 to 0.01 mm Hg). However, stopping 1.0 to 2.0 drinks per day was linked to reductions of -1.03 mm Hg (95% CI: -1.70 to -0.35 mm Hg) in SBP and -1.62 mm Hg (95% CI: -2.11 to -1.12 mm Hg) in DBP. The initiation cohort (showed dose-dependent increases in blood pressure following alcohol initiation, with the overall effect being consistent across sexes. Beverage-specific analyses indicated similar blood pressure effects regardless of alcohol type in both cohorts.
Even at low levels, drinking was linked to higher BP, and quitting was linked to lower BP in both sexes. These findings suggest that stopping alcohol is a widely applicable strategy for BP management, even among light-to-moderate drinkers. In this large dataset, BP changes in women associated with consumption as low as 0.5 to 1 drinks per day are observable.
Source: Suzuki, T., Fukui, S., Yoneoka, D., et al. (2025). Blood pressure after changes in light-to-moderate alcohol consumption in women and men: Longitudinal Japanese Annual Checkup Analysis. Journal of the American College of Cardiology,S0735-1097(25)07781-2.