The phenomenon of red wine headache has long puzzled researchers. What makes some people always get a headache after just a small amount of red wine?
Now a research group at a University of California has concluded that it is due to the antioxidant quercetin. Antioxidants, found in fruits and vegetables, are thought to protect us against disease. But in combination with alcohol, it can also trigger headaches in some. This is especially true of quercetin.
Sun-kissed grapes give headaches
The antioxidant is found in the skin of the grapes and is sold, among other things, as a dietary supplement to strengthen the immune system. But together with alcohol, it forms residual products that can cause nausea and headaches. And the more sun the grapes are exposed to, the more quercetin they form, the study shows.
Some exclusive red wines can contain up to five times more of the substance than those made from grapes grown in a shady location.
“A general rule of thumb is that cheap red wine contains less quercetin than expensive red wine because those grapes don’t get as much sun as exclusive grape varieties,” says wine chemist Andrew Waterhouse, lead author of the study, in a press release.
The study is published in Scientific Reports.