You dey get headache afta you drink red wine? Sabi pipo explain

- Author, By Michelle Roberts
- Role, Digital health editor
20 November 2023

US researchers say dem fit don discover why some pipo dey get headache afta just one small glass of red wine, even though dem dey feel fine wen dem drink oda types of alcohol.

Di University of California team tok say na sake of one compound wey dey inside red grapes wey fit mess wit how di body dey metabolise alcohol.

Di compound na one antioxidant or flavanol wey dem dey call quercetin.

Cabernets from di sunny Napa Valley dey contain high levels of am, dem tok.

High-quality grapes

Red grapes dey make more quercetin wen dem dey exposed to sunshine.

And dat one mean more expensive red wines, rather dan cheap reds, fit dey worse for pipo wey fit get headache, one of di researchers, Prof Andrew Waterhouse, tell BBC News.

"Di cheap grape varieties dey grow for vines wit very large canopies and plenti leaves, so dem no dey get much sun," e bin add say: "Whereas di high-quality grapes na from smaller crops wit fewer leaves.

"Di amount of sunshine dey carefully managed to improve di quality of di wine."

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Prof Roger Corder, one sabi pesin for experimental therapeutics, for Queen Mary University of London, bin tell BBC News say some evidence based on some pipo tori suggest say cheaper wines dey worse for headache, so to understand some of di additives wey dem dey use make lower-end mass-market red wines fit give more informate.

Possible culprit

Some theories dey wey dem don put forward to explain red-wine headaches, wey fit strike within 30 minutes wey pesin drink even small amounts.

Some don suggest say di cause fit be sulphites - preservatives wey dem dey put to prolong shelf-life and keep wine fresh.

Generally though, di sulphite content dey higher for sweet white wines rather dan reds.

And while some pipo fit dey allergic to sulphites and suppose avoid dem, na little evidence dey wey we fit blame for headaches.

Anoda possible culprit na histamine - one ingredient wey dey common inside red wine dan white or rose.

Histamine fit dilate blood vessels inside di bodi, wey fit trigger headache. But again, absolute proof no dey.

Toxic compound

Sabi pipo know say more dan one out of three pipo wey get East Asian heritage no fit tolerate any kind alcohol - beer, wine and spirits - and go experience facial flushing, headaches and nausea wen dem drink.

Dis na sake of one gene wey dey affect how well alcohol-metabolising enzyme wey dem dey call ALDH2 or aldehyde dehydrogenase dey work.

Alcohol dey break down for di bodi for two steps – e dey converted into one toxic compound dem dey call acetaldehyde, wey ALDH2 go den change to harmless acetate, basically vinegar.

If dis no fit happun, harmful acetaldehyde go build up and cause di symptoms.

And di researchers tok say similar pathway dey involved for red-wine headache.

Dem bin show for lab say quercetin fit indirectly block di action of ALDH2, through one of im own metabolites.

'Stay tuned'

Quercetin only become problematic wen you mix am wit alcohol, according to di researchers, wey bin crowd-fund for dia work and now don publish di findings for Scientific Reports journal.

Quercetin also fit dey for many oda fruits and vegetables - and e even dey available as health supplement sake of im beneficial anti-inflammatory properties - and show say e no dey cause headaches on im own.

Di researchers still need to prove dia theory wit pipo and say one simple experiment fit be to give volunteers wey dey prone to red-wine headaches one quercetin supplement or dummy pill, along wit one standard drink of vodka.

Co-author Prof Morris Levin, one sabi pesin for neurology and director of di Headache Center for di University of California, San Francisco, tok say: "We don finally dey di right track to explain dis millennia-old mystery. Di next step na to test am scientifically on pipo wey develop dis headaches, so make you stay tune."

Dem hope to start those studies some months soon.

But Prof Corder, wey don study di possible health benefits of wine, suspect say oda ingredients worth to explore as wetin dey trigger headache:

Pectinases dey fasten di release of anthocyanins, wey dey speed up winemaking by releasing di colour, without di slow breaking down processes of traditional winemaking, but dem be methylhydrolases and one side product of dia activity na methanol production.

Dem dey use Dimethyl dicarbonate as preservative for cheaper wines, particularly those wey dem dey ship wit big containers for bottling for di UK but e also dey break down to create methanol

To drink plenti, sharpaly, or drink to get drunk fit get serious consequences for short- and long-term health.

Regular drinking of more dan 14 units inside one week - about six pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine, di type of alcohol no matter - fit spoil di liver and cause oda health issues, including strokes and heart disease.