Drinking a glass of wine may help lower your blood pressure, though consuming larger amounts is apt to raise it. Wine has several constituents that may be responsible for its potential blood-pressure lowering effect. If you have high blood pressure or other health conditions, consult a doctor before consuming wine.
Alcohol Content
The alcohol in wine may help lower your blood pressure, notes the Mayo Clinic. In small amounts, alcohol may lower your blood pressure by 2 to 4 mm Hg; however, you lose this protective effect and risk elevating your blood pressure if you consume more than a moderate amount, defined as one glass a day for women and two for men. Scientific research produces conflicting results when it comes to the role of the alcohol in wine in lowering blood pressure, according to "Nutrition and Alcohol," by Ronald Ross Watson and Victor R. Preedy. Also, a 2005 editorial commentary in the American Heart Association journal "Hypertension" notes alcohol appears to produce an immediate dip in blood pressure due to vasodilatation, or the relaxation of smooth muscle that results in widening of blood vessels, but this is followed by a rebounding elevation in your blood pressure.
Endothelial Function
The polyphenols in wine appear to be one factor responsible for wine's blood-pressure lowering effect, according to a 2001 "Hypertension" study. Polyphenols in red wine, in particular, may be effective. Wine's most active polyphenols are flavonoids, which have potent antioxidant activity, notes a 2010 "Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research" study. These may improve endothelial function in your body. The endothelium is a layer of cells that lines the inside surface of your blood vessels. Impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation of blood vessels appears to play a major role in the development of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions, according to study authors T.S. Mohamed Saleem and S. Darbar Basha.
Polyphenols
One wine polyphenol in particular, resveratrol, may help lower blood pressure because it is a potent vasodilator and also inhibits platelet aggregation, according to Saleem and Basha. Increased platelet aggregation is associated with vasoconstriction. Resveratrol also appears to combat oxidative stress and to have a protective effect against heart muscle damage, note Saleem and Basha. Another polyphenol in wine, quercetin, also acts as a vasodilator and has a blood-pressure lowering effect.
Considerations
Despite its polyphenol content, drinking more than a moderate amount of wine will raise your blood pressure, warns Flávio D. Fuchs, author of the 2005 "Hypertension" commentary. This effect does not appear to be counteracted by other components of wine, notes Fuchs. For example, a 2005 study in "Hypertension" found that the polyphenols in wine do not significantly compensate for the blood-pressure elevating effects of the alcohol in wine when 375 mL wine is consumed daily, which amounts to 39 g alcohol. Also, while the polyphenols in wine have antioxidant activity, alcohol is a pro-oxidant, note Watson and Preedy.
References
- Mayo Clinic: 10 Ways to Control High Blood Pressure Without Medication; March 2011
- "Hypertension"; Wine Polyphenols Decrease Blood Pressure, Improve NO Vasodilatation, and Induce Gene Expression; M. Diebolt, et al.; 2001
- "Hypertension"; Vascular Effects of Alcoholic Beverages; Flávio D. Fuchs; 2005
- "Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research"; Red Wine -- A Drink To Your Heart; T.S. Mohamed Saleem and S. Darbar Basha; 2010
- "Hypertension"; Red Wine and Beer Elevate Blood Pressure in Normotensive Men; R.R. Zilkens, et al.; 2005
- "Journal of Studies on Alcohol"; Red Wine with the Noon Meal Lowers Post-Meal Blood Pressure; M, Foppa, et al.; 2002
