Alcohol has a number of effects on triglyceride levels. Alcohol is a major source of excess calories which get turned into fat, so the triglyceride levels in the blood increase. Alcohol also has been shown to inhibit the burning of fat. A 2003 study conducted in Geneva, Switzerland found that alcohol in the bloodstream can slow down fat metabolism by more than 30%. (Journal of the American Medical Association. July 2003).

It should also be noted that drinkers of alcohol usually consume foods high in sodium and fat while drinking.

When alcohol (ethanol) is present in the blood, the liver prioritizes removing alcohol from the blood over other metabolic processes. The liver can detoxify about one ounce of alcohol (distilled spirits) per hour, which is about 1 serving of an alcoholic beverage (equivalent to 12 ounces of beer or 4 ounces of wine).In the meantime, however, glucose tends to be further processed into triglycerides which raises their blood levels.

Alcohol spurs the liver to make more triglycerides, and even light drinking (two to four ounces of wine a week) can raise triglycerides.
{Diabetes Organization, Feb. 2000, and Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, July 1997}.

Alcohol reduces the amount of the enzyme that breaks down triglycerides. It even spurs the liver to make more triglycerides. {Steven Inkles, MD, assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA Medical School and physician at Pritikin Longevity Center}

Fatty liver is a condition is which large deposits of triglycerides form in the liver. It may be temporary or permanent. The condition is not harmful in itself, but may indicate a more serious problem. In severe cases, the liver can increase to over three times its normal size and may be painful and tender. The most common cause of fatty liver is alcoholism. The over-consumption of alcohol interferes with the way the liver breaks down and stores fat.

Some research has been done to suggest that drinking red wine can actually help prevent heart disease. Results, however, are not conclusive with some suggesting that it is the overall lifestyle of the participants rather than the drinking of red wine that led to the improvements. If consuming red wine to benefit your heart health, the wine should be made with organic grapes - free of toxic agricultural chemicals, synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers. For example, it may contain little antioxidants and/or no resveratrol (res-VAIR'ah-trol) at all. (Resveratrol is a prostate cancer-fighting compound found in red grapes from which red wine is being made; it also prevents platelets in the blood from sticking together).

It should also be stated that consuming large amounts of red wine or just grapes - which have a much lower concentration of antioxidants than wine - will increase your insulin levels and eventually have a negative impact on your lipid health due to their high fructose (sugar) content.

In addition, a recent study suggested that regular wine drinkers have elevated systolic blood pressure levels. In an attempt to see if the antioxidant chemicals in red wine could offset some of the blood pressure effects of alcohol, researchers compared the effects of red wine on blood pressure with beer. Compared with the men who did not drink any alcohol, the red wine drinkers had a nearly 2.5 point jump in their systolic blood pressure. Beer drinkers' blood pressure rose nearly two points. Heart rate also rose. The researchers tested heart rate during sleep to rule out any effect of activity. Red wine drinkers' heart rate climbed five points for eight to 10 hours after drinking. Beer drinkers' heart rate rose four points.

The researchers conclude that the blood pressure effects of red wine and beer appear to be similar. (Zilkens, R. Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, May 2005; vol 45: pp 1-6.).