{"id":626348,"date":"2024-01-22T09:30:12","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T14:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=626348"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:45:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:45:32","slug":"alcohol-and-cholesterol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/alcohol-and-cholesterol\/","title":{"rendered":"Is drinking bad for your cholesterol?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cholesterol gets a bad rap, but the truth is that your body needs cholesterol. The health issue that arises for many people is when levels get out of whack\u2014meaning, your \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol is too high while the \u201cgood\u201d kind is too low. Lots of factors can affect cholesterol levels, including drinking alcohol.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re keeping an eye on your cholesterol levels, does this mean you can never have a drink? And are there certain types of alcohol that might be better for someone with high cholesterol? Here, we discuss the relationship between alcohol consumption and cholesterol levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does alcohol affect cholesterol levels?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Alcohol doesn\u2019t contain cholesterol. However, it does affect cholesterol levels in your body. Alcohol\u2019s effects on cholesterol vary depending on alcohol use\u2014such as how often and what you\u2019re drinking\u2014and other factors, like genetics, a healthy diet, lifestyle, and any pre-existing health problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your body gets<\/span> cholesterol<\/span><\/a> from two sources: your liver and the foods you eat. The liver creates blood cholesterol, a waxy substance necessary for your body to do things like digest certain foods or create hormones. One thing that many people don\u2019t realize is that your body actually produces all the cholesterol it needs. Dietary cholesterol comes from the foods we eat. Because a well-functioning liver is already making all the cholesterol you need, your cholesterol levels can become too high if you\u2019re consuming too much dietary cholesterol.<\/span>
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\n<\/b>There are two<\/span> types of cholesterol<\/span><\/a>: low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or \u201cgood\u201d cholesterol. A third player in this equation is triglycerides, a type of fat in your blood used for energy. Your total cholesterol level, measured through a blood test, is made up of your HDL cholesterol levels, LDL cholesterol levels, and triglyceride numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have too much bad cholesterol or not enough good cholesterol\u2014or high triglycerides with either of these\u2014cholesterol can build up in your arteries (remember, it\u2019s waxy!), making it more difficult for blood to flow freely to your brain and heart. It\u2019s why high cholesterol can increase your risk of cardiovascular problems, like high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, or a heart attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

While<\/span> some research<\/span><\/a> suggests that \u201cthere\u2019s a small increase in good cholesterol (HDL) levels with alcohol consumption, the minuscule cholesterol benefit is not enough to overcome the negative effects on liver and brain health,\u201d says <\/span>Sanjay Bhojraj, MD<\/span><\/a>, an interventional cardiologist at Providence in Orange County, California, and founder of <\/span>Well12.Health<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

A key factor in alcohol\u2019s effects on cholesterol levels is how much you\u2019re drinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Light to moderate alcohol use<\/span><\/h3>\n

Currently,<\/span> American guidelines<\/span><\/a> define drinking in moderation as limiting alcohol to two drinks or less in a day for men and one drink or less in a day for women. This is the cohort that was often told that drinking a small amount of alcohol could<\/span> raise good cholesterol levels<\/span><\/a> or even<\/span> improve cardiovascular health<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the tide is turning on these recommendations. Recently, researchers have been reviewing and calling into question older studies done around light-to-moderate alcohol consumption and health. While many of these studies \u201cproved\u201d that light drinking could be beneficial for cardiovascular health, there was something called the abstainer bias in the research.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Often, these studies didn\u2019t account for differences between the non-alcohol drinkers, some of whom may have had underlying health issues that accounted for why they didn\u2019t drink. It\u2019s why, when compared to the light drinkers, who may have been healthier, it often looked like light drinking was a better option than not drinking at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, after adjusting for abstainer bias, <\/span>a research review<\/span><\/a> that encompassed nearly 4 million people found that light drinking has no mortality benefit compared with lifetime abstention or occasional drinking. Another<\/span> study<\/span><\/a> found a reduction in all-cause mortality but an increase in the risk of some types of cancer with modest drinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, if you were considering picking up alcohol for the health benefits, the World Health Organization recommends you don\u2019t, advising that \u201c<\/span>no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Bhojraj agrees that drinking alcohol for health benefits is overrated. \u201cThough red wine does have a potent antioxidant called resveratrol, which helps heart health, to get the proper dose for heart health (which is about 500 mg), you would have to drink 40 liters of wine a day to get the same benefit as a good resveratrol supplement,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, while a small amount of alcohol occasionally likely won\u2019t impact cholesterol levels too much, drinking alcohol to improve your cholesterol levels or cardiovascular health isn\u2019t recommended.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heavy alcohol use<\/span><\/h3>\n

Any ambiguity about drinking levels and cholesterol disappears when looking at<\/span> heavy alcohol use<\/span><\/a>. In men, heavy drinking is classified as five or more drinks in a day or more than 15 over a week. For women, it\u2019s four or more drinks in a day or more than eight a week. Problem drinking in this manner is consistently linked to high total cholesterol.<\/span><\/p>\n

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