Does good wine leave you with a bad headache or queasy feeling – especially if it’s so good that you have to drink a lot of it? Much of American wine contains sulfites to help preserve the grape. Sulfites are used when grapes are just a bit too young to be harvested. They extend the shelf life and allow wine makers to get the most of their crops. This works in a fast-paced society. But, go to Italy, and you won’t encounter an added sulfite or a hangover as easily.
Buy Organic Wine with No Sulfites Added
Beverage depots and organic markets are now offering wine produced without the use of added sulfites. Subtracting the preservative gives the wine a smoother taste and minimizes negative affects on your body. These wines only contain the natural sulfites that are produced during the fermentation process. Both Frey and Our Daily Red are readily available American brands that cost less than $10 per bottle.
Try Digestive Enzymes
Digestive enzyme supplements can be taken at every meal or as needed for extra assistance in your digestive tract. Taking them when you drink alcohol with meals helps your body properly assimilate nutrients, and expel waste more efficiently. This does not mean that you’ll be headed for the bathroom after a glass – it just means that your food and drink will spend less time in your stomach deciding where to go. When our meals spend more time being digested, our bodies can mimic hang-over symptoms.
Maybe it’s not that your tolerance for alcohol has waned in your older age. Maybe, additives to the wine and your own body’s ability to digest also play a role in your hang-over.
Whole Foods Market sells both Frey and Our Daily Red wines. ODR is the more popular choice, and will run you a few dollars less.
Last section, second paragraph:
Word used: weaned
definition: gradually deprived young animal from mothers milk.
Correct word: Waned
definition: decreased in power
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for picking up on that, and thanks for reading!
Gina
This isn’t true. All wines produce sulfites as a natural by-product of the fermentation process. The natural version is not any different to what is added. That is why it is allowed as an additive to wine. Even organic wines will contain sulfites. You cannot buy a wine that does not contain sulfites.
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”. Sulfites can cause allergic reactions, but only asthmatics get headaches from sulfites.
There still is no research showing why you get a headache from red wine.
hmmmmm I’m sure glad that you don’t notice headaches from drinking wine. I’m also glad that you know so much about asthmatics and allergies. However, since I do get headaches from wine with added sulfites and know many people who also do, and since I know that all wine as well as many fruits and veggies contain natural sulfites — I do believe that wine without added sulfites really cuts down on side effects for myself and others. That being said; these statements cannot be false. Be careful when you say that something isn’t true because we must recognize that there are many truths out there. At Skrewtips, we strive to find new truths and healthier ways of living. We believe in and research everything we write.
I’m sorry to hear you and your friends get headaches from red wine.
I would be very interested in seeing the research you found showing a link between sulfites and red wine headaches.
i drink often. Wine. White wine.
Californian, jacobs creek, anything. As long as it’s wine and 12% volume. I drink about a bottle every other night, is that good?
I dont know if i like the taste, i think i have become immune to the taste.
I just function better, have better conversations, relaxed more and confident when on wine. Wine is such a nice drink.