‘Wine moms’ who drink just ONE glass a day are 45 percent more likely to get heart disease, according to major analysis

Drinking a large glass of wine every night can raise a woman’s risk of deadly heart disease by 45 percent, a new study suggests.

What’s more, women who binge drink – having at least three wine glasses daily for three months – are more than 68 percent more likely to develop heart disease than those who drink alcohol a few times a week.

Researchers found the risk of regular alcohol is markedly higher in women compared to men. 

Men who have the equivalent of a glass of wine every night have a 33 percent increased risk of heart disease; 12 percent lower than women, according to research from The Permanente Medical Group.

The scientists suggest the gender difference may be due to hormonal differences between the sexes that affects the way the body processes alcohol.

In the new study, the average age of women with a significantly increased risk of heart disease was 45 – suggesting the harms of alcohol can begin at a younger age than previously thought

The findings come amid rising alcohol use among young and middle-aged US women. 

The number of 30-44 American women who admit to binge drinking doubled from from 21 percent to 42 percent between 2006 and 2018, according to a study of over 200,000 US adults conducted by Columbia University. 

Since 2016, the number of women dying from excessive drinking has increased 35 percent accounting for 58,701 annual deaths in the US, according to CDC data.

Some experts have attributed much of this pattern to the social media trend that sees middle-aged women share their heavy alcohol with their thousands of followers – and make jokes about it.

It is a phenomenon that has been dubbed ‘wine moms’, which involves mothers using booze to cope with the stress of parenthood and joking about it on social media.

Since 2016, the number of women dying from excessive drinking has increased 35 percent accounting for 58,701 annual deaths in the US, according to CDC data.

‘Women feel they’re protected against heart disease until they’re older, but this study shows that even when you’re young or middle aged, if you are a heavy alcohol user or binge drink, you are at risk for coronary heart disease,’ said Dr Jamal Rana, a cardiologist with The Permanente Medical Group, who ran the study.

The study included 189,000 women and 243,000 men aged 18 to 65, with an average age of 44.

Participants were sorted into three categories based on the number of alcoholic drinks they said they had per week – and their health tracked over four years.

Low drinkers had one to two drinks per week, moderate drinkers had three to seven drinks and heavy drinkers had eight or more drinks per week.

The researchers also noted whether the participants should be classified as binge drinkers  – if they reported having more than three drinks in one day over a three month period, they were qualified as a binge drinker. 

The researchers accounted for other elements that could’ve influenced health outcomes like age, physical activity, smoking and other known cardiovascular risk factors. 

Since 2016, the number of women dying from excessive drinking has increased 35 percent accounting for 58,701 annual deaths in the US, according to CDC data.

By the end of the four-year study, over 3,100 people had developed cardiovascular disease.

There was no significant difference between the groups with low and moderate drinking habits. 

However, the heavy drinkers – who had at least eight standard-sized drinks per week – showed a surprisingly significant increased risk of 45 percent, compared to the low group.

The researchers say the most striking findings are the difference between men and women, and that the potential harm was seen in young people.

The average age of heart attacks in women is 70. The cohort in the current study show signs of heart disease at a much younger age.

‘I wasn’t expecting these results among women in this lower age group because we usually see increased risk for heart disease among older women. It was definitely surprising,’ Dr Rana said.  

On average, women have smaller body masses and more body fat, which does not absorb alcohol well, compared to men.

This means when they drink alcohol, it is less dilute and enters the bloodstream quicker and at higher levels.

The risk of heart disease is thought to lie in the impact of alcohol on blood pressure, metabolism and body weight, all of which are factors that can contribute to heart disease, the study authors wrote. 

‘I think a lot more awareness is needed, and alcohol should be part of routine health assessments moving forward,’ said Dr Rana.