RED, RED WINE –
August 4, 2025 – Red wine has built a reputation as a “healthy” drink; however, limited scientific evidence supports its blood pressure benefits. Small amounts of red wine may not affect your blood pressure, but drinking lots of it can.
Overall, experts agree that red wine, like other types of alcohol, raises blood pressure.
In the short term, alcohol stimulates your nervous system to narrow your blood vessels and make your heart beat faster, which increases blood pressure.
In the long term, alcohol affects the areas of your brain that manage blood pressure, contributing to chronic high blood pressure.
If you drink an average of two or more drinks per day, cutting back on your alcohol intake can significantly reduce your blood pressure.2 If you drink red wine, try to do so in moderation to limit its impact on your blood pressure.
Resveratrol is a molecule found in red wine that offers some health benefits, including potentially lowering blood pressure by relaxing vessel walls. However, the adverse effects of alcohol consumption outweigh the potential benefits of resveratrol from red wine.
Moreover, you would have to drink excessive amounts of red wine to consume the amount of resveratrol needed to produce blood pressure benefits.
