We've all read the health benefits from drinking red wine.  One joke that commonly gets tossed around for any ailment is, "You have x?  Red wine cures that!"  Distinguishing between myth and science can be very difficult.  Everyone has heard that red wine might let you live longer, but did you hear the dosage required?  Studies show alcohol is great for the heart, but not so good for the colon.  And do sulfites really give you a headache, or did you drink too much the night before?  Hopefully this article will help you clear up the myths from the facts.

Sulfites/headaches and red wine

Everyone knows that red wine causes headaches.  It's because of the higher amounts of sulfites in red wine... or is it?

Many sweet white wines contain more sulfites than red wines, but do not cause headaches.  Dried fruits contain sulfites, but no one has claimed "dried fruit headaches".  The science shows that sulfites can cause allergic reactions, but only asthmatics get headaches from sulfites.  If it isn't the sulfite, then why are so many people getting headaches?

One hypothesis is histamines.  Histamines are up to 200% higher in red wines than white wines.  People who are allergic to the histamines, are also deficient in certain enzymes.  Some scientists believe that the combination of the allergy and the enzyme deficiency cause the headaches.  However, in a very small study (16 people), conducted by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (Feb 2001), they reported no correlation between high or low histamine wines and headaches.

Others have pointed to the tannins as the source for headaches.  Scientists have shown that tannins can release high levels of serotonins, a neurotransmitter that could cause the headaches.  Some migraine sufferers have high levels of serotonins.  However, tea, soy, and chocolate all contains similar amounts of tannins.

There is no known answer why red wine causes headaches.  More research is required, but since sulfites are not known to cause headaches unless you are asthmatic, sulfites are not the culprit.  It is known that too much wine the night before will likely give you a headache the next day, but that problem is a hangover with a very simple solution.  Don't drink so much next time!  A simple, but potentially painful, experiment for the other red wine headaches that you can perform is to keep a notebook of all the wines that you try.  Note which ones give you headaches, and avoid those.