[ad_1]
Research supports anecdotal evidence that alcohol appears to cause headaches for some people. In a meta-analysis, the most frequently reported culprit was red wine, followed by spirits, white wine, and beer or sparkling wine.
Chia-Chun Chan, a headache specialist and assistant professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic, said the association appears to be even stronger among people with headache disorders such as migraines. In a study of about 2,200 migraine sufferers, about one in three reported that alcohol triggered an attack, and most (about 78%) reported that wine, especially red wine, triggered a migraine attack. However, in most cases, the seizures were inconsistent.
Experts have several theories about what it is about red wine that can cause headaches, but they say the exact cause is not fully understood.
“How alcohol causes headaches and why only some people experience them remains a mystery,” said Aaron White, senior scientific advisor to the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. ” he says.
Some people are especially sensitive to tannins in grapes, histamines and sulfites produced by fermentation, or sulfites added to preserve wine. Experts say there may be different pathways that affect people differently.
Recently, a study suggested that quercetin, an antioxidant found in grapes, may be to blame.
Liver enzymes convert alcohol, or ethanol, into acetaldehyde, a toxic substance, and then into acetate, a harmless molecule that helps the body in a variety of ways. If acetaldehyde is not broken down properly, it can build up in the blood and cause alcohol flush reactions, including headaches. Based on this, researchers theorized that acetaldehyde may also cause red wine headaches.
Quercetin causes the production of quercetin glucuronide in the body, which inhibits liver enzymes that break down acetaldehyde, causing accumulation and can cause these headaches, said Andrew Water, a wine chemist and senior author of the study. Mr. House said.
The study, published in November, was conducted in a laboratory rather than on humans. However, researchers are planning clinical studies to test the theory.
What else you should know:
people including many people People of Asian descent who don’t have the enzyme to break down acetaldehyde and who have experienced flushing reactions may want to avoid alcohol, including red wine. People who get severe headaches when drinking alcohol may also want to avoid it.
But experts say people who get occasional red wine headaches can take some steps to alleviate their symptoms.
- Consider an inexpensive red wine. Levin and Waterhouse, co-authors of the quercetin study, say that while grapes used to make cheap wine were grown on healthy vines and grown in areas with little sunlight, grapes that were exposed to more sunlight said that because quercetin tends to form, quercetin may also decrease.
- Try a light red wine such as Pinot Noir. Looking at them, they appear to be somewhat protective, perhaps due to lower levels of quercetin, Levin said.
- Eat a meal or a hearty snack before drinking, as food can slow the absorption of alcohol and reduce side effects such as headaches.
- Please stay hydrated.
- If you suffer from migraine or other headaches, take prescribed medications to control your headaches. That way, in some cases, red wine may no longer be a trigger, said Chen, director of the American Migraine Foundation.
Red wine headaches are common. Food, hydration, and light, inexpensive red wine can help alleviate the problem for some people.
[ad_2]
Source link
