The wine headache….Are
sulfites to blame?
by Jennie Monfried and Anjali Sarath
It’s wine o’clock somewhere! The
wine connoisseurs of 2016 are hunting their nearest organic grocery stores to
find sulfite free wine. Who cares about the price, the undertones, the age, the
place of origin, or even the type of wine for that matter… these days the sulfite
free label is believed to be the golden ticket to a wine buzz with no headache. In
fact, quite a few will pay more just for the “sulfite
free” label. Sulfites are obviously to blame for the
excruciating headache experienced shortly after drinking a glass of
wine...right? Not to break your heart wine connoisseurs of America but
actually, WRONG. Sulfites are not to blame for your headache. Red wine contains about 10 mg of
sulfites in a typical glass, with slightly higher levels in white wine versus
red.
However, ONE dried apricot has about 16.5 mg
of sulfites with other dried fruit containing about the same amount. Most
consumers don’t only eat one piece of dried fruit, so at the end of their
snack, they could end up ingesting sulfite levels in the hundreds. But for some
reason, consumers don’t complain of the same headache as when they drink wine. New
organic wines on the market contain lower levels of sulfites, less
than 10 ppm. But the headache triggering potential still
remains with no published literature being able to link the presence of
sulfites to headaches.
The Truth About Sulfite Sensitivity
Sulfites are used as a preservative
and antioxidant in different foods, beverages, and in the pharmaceutical
industry. Sulfites have been used in
wine for centuries to preserve and prevent discoloration. It is
estimated that 1% of
the population is affected by sulfites, and of that group 5% have asthma. Of those sensitive to sulfites, the most
common side effects are dermatological
symptoms such as hives and blotchy skin, gastrointestinal
issues such as diarrhea and nausea, and respiratory
symptoms such as bronchoconstriction and wheezing. Although
sensitivity to sulfites is an issue for 1% of the population, these
symptoms do not include headaches. Moreover, there is no evidence that the
other 99% of the population would experience a headache due to sulfites in
wine, or any other product for that matter.
Is alcohol to blame?
Although the relationship between alcohol and headaches is not
clearly understood, it is believed that the alcohol may be the cause for the
wine headache. A great number of people are online searching for the
relationship: a google search of the topic yields about 27 million results. Alcohol seems to feature in
a wide variety of headaches from migraines to the very obvious hangover
headaches. Migraine sufferers almost always cite alcohol as a major dietary trigger. It appears that a combination of many agents could be responsible for the headaches
after the consumption of alcohol. Some things
identified as possible causes may be naturally present in wine such as tannins,
histamine, or it could just be the alcohol. The alcohol (ethanol ) present in wine is converted to a compound to called acetaldehyde by enzymes in the liver. Formation of acetaldehyde is associated with hang over headaches. In some people, formation of acetaldehyde
from ethanol is so
rapid that headaches occur immediately after consuming alcohol. Tannins are naturally
present in grape seeds and skins, and may interfere with the metabolism of certain neurotransmitters (also known as chemical
messengers) to trigger headaches. The presence of histamines can cause
headaches in people who are sensitive. However, histamine sensitivity or intolerance
has other symptoms than headaches and can
resemble an allergic reaction resulting in diarrhea, congestion of nose, asthmatic wheezing, irregular heart beat etc.
Save
your $$$
So the
next time all you wine connoisseurs decide to host Wine Wednesday, save your
money. To be exact save your average
of $1.23, which is how much more consumers are willing to pay extra
just to avoid added sulfites. You may need that extra cash for the Advil and coconut
water to get rid of your alcohol-induced headache.