There’s no shortage of scientific studies reporting on the benefits and dangers of alcohol. The latest such research reports that just one glass of alcohol a day can raise blood pressure and, therefore, be harmful to cardiovascular health – even in people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.

Published in “Hypertension”, a journal of the American Heart Association, this research is based on data from seven studies involving more than 19,500 adults aged 20 to 70 in the United States, Korea and Japan. They reveal a link between an increase in blood pressure over the years and the number of alcoholic beverages consumed daily, even in people who do not suffer from hypertension.

The study goes even further, pointing out that just one alcoholic drink a day can raise blood pressure.

“We found no beneficial effects in adults who drank a low level of alcohol compared with those who did not drink alcohol,” said senior author Dr Marco Vinceti.

“We were somewhat surprised to see that consuming an already-low level of alcohol was also linked to higher blood pressure changes over time compared to no consumption – although far less than the blood pressure increase seen in heavy drinkers.”

In detail, the researchers compared the health data of adults who drank alcohol regularly with those who did not, spanning an average of more than five years.

They found that those who consumed an average of 12g of alcohol a day – the equivalent of about one glass of wine – saw their systolic blood pressure rise by 1.25 millimeters of mercury (mmHg), compared with 4.9 mmHg for those who consumed an average of 48g a day.

However, the scientists note that these associations were seen in males but not in females.

“Alcohol is certainly not the sole driver of increases in blood pressure; however, our findings confirm it contributes in a meaningful way. Limiting alcohol intake is advised, and avoiding it is even better,” Vinceti concluded.

Worldwide, more than three million deaths were attributable to alcohol abuse in 2016, according to the World Health Organization.