Rosacea And Red Wine Headaches

Many people get headaches from red wine, and what causes it exactly is a little bit of a mystery. But the condition is so common there’s even a name for it – Red Wine Headache. You heard us: If you get headaches from red wine, you may be suffering from RWH.

Sulfites get the blame for the headaches most often. But it turns out only about 1 percent of the population is truly allergic to sulfites, which are found in most wines – red and white. And because sulfites act as a preservative, you’ll find them in a lot more places than just your favorite bottle of wine.

If you can eat dried fruit and guacamole without a problem, you likely don’t have a sulfite allergy. And if your only symptom is a headache, that’s another sign you’re not allergic to sulfites. Those allergic to sulfites will also experience coughing, wheezing, itching and even hives.

If that’s not happening to you, it’s probably something else in the wine that’s bothering you. Some people blame the tannins found in red wine. Tannins come from the grapes and their skin and act as a natural preservative for the wine. It’s why red wines often have the ability to age longer than white wines.

But studies haven’t been able to prove that tannins cause headaches. In fact, said University of California-Davis wine chemist Dr. Andy Waterhouse, studies have proved that lots of things do not cause red wine headaches – but no one knows what does.

“I haven’t heard of anything that can actually explain it,” Waterhouse said. “There’s plenty of data that shows it’s real – they’re not just drinking too much. There’s something real going on, but the cause is not known.”

Waterhouse said most of the suspected causes – everything from sulfites to histamines – have been disproved.

So what is it then that’s causing your head to pound? Well, some suspect it might be something called “congeners,” which appear in most alcoholic beverages. Congeners are a byproduct of fermentation and have higher concentrations in darker alcohols, like red wine.

Waterhouse said the congeners theory is a new one to him, but the search for the cause continues.

Now that you know this, what can you do about it? Well, there are a few remedies on the market, but nothing we’ve tried. Fortunately, we don’t suffer from RWH.

If you’re willing to suffer a few headaches in the name of research, it might be interesting to know whether certain red wines, like cabernet sauvignon, cause worse headaches than lighter reds, like pinot noir, or whether there is a threshold, like one glass is OK but two triggers a migraine. If you’ve got something that works for you, let us know and we’ll pass it along to 100,000 of our closest friends.

Another red wine ailment people often complain about is having their lips or teeth turn blue or purple after a glass or two or six.

Now this one, we can tell you about from personal experience. We went to Rome a few years ago where wine is cheaper than water. (Bottled water was $3.50, while a half-liter of wine was $3. Trust us, we miss Rome.) So, of course, with every meal, a glass of wine or two is standard. Well, not breakfast – but definitely brunch.

By the end of the trip – OK, just a few days into the trip – Krista’s lips were stained dark purple. It was a little disconcerting, but worth it for the great wine we had.

What caused it? The same thing that causes wine to have its color in the first place – the compounds in the grape skins. Just like soaking the skins in the juice during fermentation makes red wine deep ruby, soaking your lips in a glass can eventually have the same effect. Finally, many people have asked us why their faces get flushed when they drink wine – particularly red wine. Well, we know that drinking alcohol thins the blood and those suffering from Rosacea, a condition that causes the skin to turn red, have a hard time with red wine.

But we don’t know why red would do that to some people more so than white wine, except that red wines tend to be slightly higher in alcohol than whites, with some blockbuster reds approaching 15 percent.

The fact is, the chemistry of wine is complicated, and even though humans have been making wine for thousands of years, there’s still much we don’t know about it. Researchers such as Waterhouse have dedicated their entire careers to exploring the chemical mysteries of fermented grape juice.

We may not understand it all – it seems like every week a new report on the health benefits of wine is published – but we know we love drinking it. And in the end, that’s what really matters.