Health
This Is Why You Get A Headache After A Glass Of Red Wine
Photo by Jep Gambardella, Pexels
Health
This Is Why You Get A Headache After A Glass Of Red Wine
Do you get a sudden headache when drinking red wine? It turns out, there's a scientific reason that explains why!
Forget sulphites or tannins; University of California researchers believe headaches linked to drinking red wine are due to quercitrin, an antioxidant from the flavonoid family found in the skin and pits of red grapes.
When you drink wine, the alcohol is metabolized in two stages. The first transforms ethanol into acetaldehyde, and the second transforms acetaldehyde into acetate. However, according to researchers in Scientific Reports, quercitrin is disrupting the second stage.
During their experiments, the scientists examined ten compounds commonly found in wine. They found that quercitrin, once it enters the body, undergoes a transformation, leading to the production of a substance that triggers the accumulation of toxic acetaldehyde in the blood.
This buildup causes symptoms that can appear as quickly as 30 minutes after drinking one or two glasses of red wine, meaning quercitrin may be to blame for your hangover!
Quality wines may be worse
If you think fine wines will solve the problem—think again! Good quality wines could cause more intense headaches than cheap red wines, says one of the researchers in an interview with the BBC.
Why? Red grapes produce more quercitrin when exposed to sunlight, and the grapes used to make fine wines generally spend more time in the sun.
Cabernets from the Napa Valley region can contain five times more quercitrin than other red wines!
The research team hopes to verify their theory by testing red wines with different quercitrin levels. They'll also look at other elements that may contribute to headaches, such as specific products used in wine preservation.
Recommended
10 Canadian Coffee Roasters You Need To Try
Comments