A claim you hear on longevity podcasts

Does alcohol raise your resting heart rate during sleep?

The claim checked: In one person's own sleep tracking, two or more drinks push resting heart rate 10 beats higher Hear it at 8:42

What do the studies say?

Leaning for

Two of seven studies found alcohol raised night heart rate and cut REM or heart rate variability. Five backed only part of it, some only at binge doses, and two saw sleep stages barely change.

Computed from 7 studies that test this point, each judged by two readers, in full. 1 more study is waiting for a full read and does not count yet.

What was said on the podcast?

“one drink in the evening does not impact my sleep two or more absolutely does and does so in a profound way the two things that happen are my resting heart rate will be 10 beats higher”
Peter Attia, The Drive · The effect of alcohol consumption on health (AMA #1) · 8:42 on YouTube
Comes up in 10 episodes of the show.
The point checked Leaning for

Two or more evening drinks worsen sleep physiology: higher overnight resting heart rate, lower HRV, compressed REM

Agree 2

controlled trial · 2022

“During the night, alcohol decreased total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and percentage of time spent in REM stage sleep and increased nocturnal HR.”

Effects of alcohol on sleep and nocturnal heart rate: Relationships to intoxication and morning-after effects. Alcohol Clin Exp Res
Who: 31 healthy social drinkers aged 21-45 (15 men, 16 women, mean age 25.3) with at least one binge episode in the past 6 months, no sleep disorders, randomized placebo-controlled crossover with polysomnography
PMID 35953878

other primary study · 2018

“In the large heterogeneous, noncontrolled, and free-living study population, alcohol intake caused a dose-dependent effect in cardiac autonomic regulation during the first 3 hours of self-reported sleep time.”

Acute Effect of Alcohol Intake on Cardiovascular Autonomic Regulation During the First Hours of Sleep in a Large Real-World Sample of Finnish Employees: Observational Study. JMIR Ment Health
Who: Finnish employees aged 19-65 (mean 45.1) wearing a chest HR monitor on days with and without alcohol
PMID 29549064

Partly agree 5

other primary study · 2021

“However, only small hourly differences in PSG sleep composition between placebo, low- and high-alcohol dose nights were detected in our study, suggesting that the impact of evening alcohol consumption on the dynamics of sleep ANS and CV regulation, at the levels investigated here, is largely independent of alterations in sleep macrostructure.”

Impact of evening alcohol consumption on nocturnal autonomic and cardiovascular function in adult men and women: a dose-response laboratory investigation. Sleep
Who: Healthy adults aged 30-60 (15 men, 11 women), non-heavy drinkers, free of sleep disorders
PMID 32663278

pooled analysis · 2025 · landmark

“A dose-response relationship was identified such that disruptions to REM sleep occurred following consumption of a low dose of alcohol (≤0.50 g∙kg-1 or approximately two standard drinks) and progressively worsened with increasing doses of alcohol.”

The effect of alcohol on subsequent sleep in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev
Who: Healthy adults aged 18-70 in controlled (mostly crossover) laboratory trials with polysomnography
PMID 39631226

controlled trial · 2000

“The distribution amongst the various sleep stages was not significantly altered”

Effect of moderate alcohol upon obstructive sleep apnoea. Eur Respir J
Who: 21 male habitual snorers aged 34-59 with mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnoea, moderate drinkers
PMID 11153591

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controlled trial · 2021

“Binge drinking decreased total sleep time (P = 0.006), sleep efficiency (P = 0.004), and the percentage of REM sleep (P = 0.003) compared with fluid control.”

Morning sympathetic activity after evening binge alcohol consumption. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol
Who: young healthy adult binge drinkers aged 21-40 (12 men, 10 women; 24 ± 1 yr), randomized crossover
PMID 33185112

controlled trial · 2021

“We observed a significant decrease in both frequency- and time-domain analyses of cardiovagal indices of HRV within N2, SWS, and REM.”

Evening binge alcohol disrupts cardiovagal tone and baroreflex function during polysomnographic sleep. Sleep
Who: healthy young adults aged 21-40 who reported at least one binge episode in the past 6 months, without moderate-severe alcohol use disorder, sleep apnea, diabetes or smoking
PMID 34015116

Disagree 0

None.

What else was said but not tested?

  • In his own tracking the resting heart rate rises about 10 beats
  • One drink in the evening does not affect his (own) sleep

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