Is Alcohol a Blood Thinner?

Many people enjoy an alcoholic drink from time to time. Right now, experts often define moderate alcohol use as fewer than 7 drinks per week for women or 14 drinks per week for men. But it’s not clear whether any level of alcohol use is completely safe. 

Even moderate alcohol use can affect the body. For example, mild and moderate alcohol intake can thin your blood.

Let’s look at what research shows about the relationship between alcohol use and your risk of bleeding or forming blood clots. 

Does alcohol thin your blood?

Yes, alcohol can “thin the blood” — or make it harder for your body to form blood clots. 

Blood coagulation (clotting) is a complicated system that involves many different clotting factors: 

• Normally, platelet cells move through the body in the blood until they reach a site of bleeding. 

• Then they change shape, become “sticky,” and start clumping together. 

• Platelets then “call for help” and initiate the clotting cascade. This is a complex chain reaction that recruits other clotting factors to help build a blood clot. 

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Alcohol affects your body’s ability to form a clot by:

• Decreasing platelet function: Alcohol makes platelets less “sticky.” This means it’s harder for them to clump together and form clots.

• Lowering levels of fibrinogen: Fibrinogen is a protein made by the liver. It’s one of the main components of a blood clot. 

How much alcohol does it take to thin your blood?

Alcohol has blood-thinning qualities. But it doesn’t necessarily put you at a higher risk for bleeding.

An occasional alcoholic drink won’t significantly affect the blood. Alcohol is cleared from the body in about an hour. That’s not long enough to change the blood’s clotting ability. 

But drinking every day — or drinking in large amounts on a single occasion (binge drinking) — can have a significant effect on blood clotting. 

One study looked at what happened when people who drank light-to-moderate amounts of beer increased their consumption by 1.5 oz daily. Researchers found that this increase in alcohol consumption led to measurable changes in several blood-clotting factors. 

Another study found that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption thins the blood. However, binge drinking and heavy drinking actually increases the risk of blood clots. 

The type of alcohol may matter too. Researchers compared the blood-thinning effects of beer, liquor, and wine. Wine had the biggest blood-thinning effect, followed by liquor and then beer. This may be because wine contains polyphenols, which can also decrease platelet activity. 

Can you drink alcohol while taking blood thinners?

Alcohol can interact with blood-thinning medications and increase the risk of bleeding. 

It’s best to avoid alcohol if you’re taking a blood thinner. But an occasional drink and even light drinking may not increase your bleeding risk by a large amount. 

This is true for most over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription blood thinners, including:

• Aspirin

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen 

• Antiplatelet medications like clopidogrel 

• Heparin

• Warfarin

• Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), including rivaroxaban and apixaban

Talk with your healthcare team about how much alcohol you may be able to drink while taking a blood thinner. They can help you determine if you can have alcohol without increasing your risk for bleeding.

Can alcohol help prevent blood clots?

In theory, yes, alcohol could prevent blood clots. But in practice, it’s not a good idea. There’s some evidence that certain types of drinking can reduce blood clotting. However, too much alcohol intake can actually increase your risk of forming a blood clot.

And research hasn’t shown exactly how much alcohol is too much when it comes to blood clotting. 

There are much safer ways to avoid blood clots. If you’re at higher risk for forming blood clots, prescription blood thinners can prevent clots. Staying hydrated and active can also help lower your risk of blood clots. 

Talk with your healthcare team if you’re at higher risk for blood clots. They can help you develop a plan that’s right for you. 

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Written by:

Inga Johannesson, DO

Dr. Johannesson is a licensed, board-certified internal medicine physician with more than 20 years of clinical experience. She started her medical career combining hospital and critical care medicine with outpatient-based clinical practice and nursing home care.

Edited by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

Reviewed by:

Christine Giordano, MD

Christine Giordano, MD, is board-certified in general internal medicine. She received her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and completed residency at Thomas Jefferson University.

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