Does beer and/or alcohol affect cholesterol levels?

Hi Maria,

Unfortunately, the answer is yes.  Alcohol especially impacts your triglycerides.  If you are not familiar with triglycerides, your total cholesterol number is made up of three things - LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides.  Triglycerides are a type of fat and alcohol causes the liver to release more triglycerides into circulation. 

So, if you have high triglycerides I recommend strictly limiting alcohol, if your triglycerides are fine, but you have high cholesterol, drink in moderation (no more than 1 drink/day for women, 2 drinks/day for men; 1 drink = 12 oz beer, 4 oz wine, 1 ½ ounce hard liquor).

All the best,

Lisa Nelson, RD, LN

Lower Cholesterol

What affect does berr have on cholestrol