If you’re prone to the dreaded “red wine headache,” it’s not necessarily because you drank too much the night before. A new study from the University of California, Davis, published in Scientific reports, may have discovered the real reason why red wine seems to trigger migraines in people who otherwise wouldn’t get them from alcohol.
Red wine contains a high concentration of the antioxidant quercetin, present in grape skins, and therefore in red wine. When consumed, quercetin hinders the way the body metabolizes alcohol, which can begin to build up the toxin acetaldehyde. This is known to cause facial flushing, nausea and of course headaches.
“The study suggests that red wine contains a much higher concentration of these compounds than other types of alcohol, making people more likely to experience headaches after drinking,” says Dr. Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, FAAFP, family physician and chair of the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physician who was not affiliated with the study.
Fortunately for wine lovers, there are different amounts of quercetin in different types of wine. Wines from particularly sunny climates tend to contain more quercetin because it forms in response to sunlight. So the researchers’ next step is to examine how individuals respond to red wines containing high levels of quercetin compared to those containing very little.
This could offer a potential treatment for the disease in the long term, although it is not an ultimate cure. “Alcohol consumption in general also causes dehydration and dilates blood vessels, which can lead to headaches,” points out Dr. Iroku-Malize. “I always advise patients to exercise moderation when drinking alcohol, avoid drinking on an empty stomach and ensure they drink plenty of water. This helps people stay hydrated, which can reduce the risk of headaches or other side effects.
Jacob TeitelbaumMD, board certified internist and author of From tired to fantastic, agrees, saying doctors already had “a pretty good idea of what triggers most red wine headaches: dehydration, as noted above, as well as sulfite sensitivity.”
“The role of sulfites in red wine-related headaches in humans has already been studied and clearly documented. In another study, People with a history of red wine-related headaches were 22 times more likely to have headaches if they were blindly given a red wine containing higher levels of sulfites than a wine with low levels,” he said. His suggestion? Switch to sulfite-free wine and take a high-potency multivitamin.