So many people tell me they have difficulty drinking wines, especially red wine, and they blame it on being allergic to sulfites. This may be true, but only 1-2% of the population is diagnosed with a sulfite allergy. You may have a sensitivity to sulfites and that may be the issue…but in general you would experience breathing problems rather than a headache.
Wine does not have a huge amount of sulfites compared to other things we eat. Surprisingly, even frozen French fries and other frozen foods can have quite a bit more (see the chart below courtesy of the online seminar).
I recently watched a great online seminar from the Wine Scholar Guild that explained sulfites and debunked the myth that they are to blame for headaches and other issues people have when drinking wine. There are a few other reasons why this might be happening.
First, it could be a reaction to alcohol and the diuretic properties of it. Blood vessels in the brain can dilate from alcohol and it can cause migraines or headaches.
Another reason you could be having a reaction is that wines contain something called “biogenic amines.” Here’s the scientific definition: “Biogenic amines are organic bases with low molecular weight and are synthesized by microbial, vegetable and animal metabolisms. In food and beverages, they are formed by the enzymes of raw material or are generated by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids. These can include:
- Histamine
- Tyramine
- Putrescine
- Cadaverine
Biogenic amines are naturally present in grapes or can occur during the vinification and aging processes, essentially due to the microorganism’s activity – and this can include lactic acid bacteria, something that is resent in some white wines for malolactic conversion but in virtually all red wines. Histamines are also present in the grape skin, so red wines, made with skin contact, would have these where white wine, made without skin contact, would have little.
When present in wines in high amount, biogenic amines may cause adverse effects in sensitive human individuals, such as migraine, headaches, gastric and intestinal problems, and pseudo allergic responses, mainly due to the toxic action of histamine and tyramine
Even though there are no legal limits for the concentration of biogenic amines in wines, some European countries only recommend maximum limits for histamine. This could be aa reason people say they can drink French wine, for example, but have difficulty with California wine.
Think about the word histamine – when we take allergy medicines, they are antihistamines, to counteract the effect of these compounds. So don’t blame sulfites the next time you get a reaction to wine…it could be biogenic amines at work!
