Especially among men…
Few people know it, but alcohol is a significant risk factor for high blood pressure. In France, “we estimate that 655,000 people aged 18 to 74 are hypertensive due to (too high) alcohol consumption, including 624,000 men and 31,000 women.“, reports Public Health France. Hypertension increases the risk of stroke, chronic kidney failure or even heart failure. However, very often, we do not know from how many glasses of alcohol, the effects on blood pressure become apparent.
To see clearly, alcohol consumption benchmarks have been defined by experts from Public Health France and the National Cancer Institute (INCa). And a quarter of people exceed one of these consumption benchmarks, even more among men (33%) than among women (15%). This difference between the sexes mainly results from the greater alcohol consumption of men compared to women, but also from episodes of “binge-drinking” (the practice of drinking heavily in a very short period of time, for example at least 4 drinks in 2 hours) and heavy drinking, more often observed in the male population.
In fact, it is enough to exceed 2 glasses of alcohol per day or not respect the 2 alcohol-free days per week to see your blood pressure increase. As a reminder, a standard glass of alcohol in France is equivalent to half a beer at 5° (25 cl), a glass of aperitif at 18° (7 cl), a glass of sparkling wine or champagne at 12° ( 10 cl), a glass of whiskey at 40° (2.5 cl), a glass of pastis at 45° (2.5 cl) or a balloon of wine at 12° (10 cl).
The recommendations are clear: do not consume more than 10 standard glasses of alcohol per week; do not consume more than 2 standard drinks per day and have days during the week without alcohol consumption. Be careful, even below these benchmarks, alcohol is dangerous for your health. These are “lower risk” benchmarks, specifies Santé Publique France. Only “zero alcohol” completely protects the body from the harm of alcohol.
