Here's a draft of an additional topic for the FAQ. As always, comments welcomed. [note to cwdjrx: a complete copy of v 0.7 will soon follow]
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- What causes red wine headaches? How can I prevent them?
First of all, if you have noticed that you frequently get headaches after drinking wine, especially red wine, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. This is a common enough problem that medical science has graced it with a name ("Red wine headache" syndrome), but unfortunately their knowledge of the problem doesn't go much farther. It's generally agreed that it is not an allergic reaction, and sulfites do not cause the problem. However, there is much debate over what does cause the headaches, and even whether all red wine headaches are caused in the same way. The suspect molecules in red wine are the tannins (the bitter, astringent flavors that some younger red wines have), histamines and prostaqlandins. All of these are more common in red than in white wines, and alcohol may also play a role in conjunction with one or more of these suspected causes.
Because histamines and prostaglandins are involved in the inflammatory response, it has been suggested that taking an aspirin before drinking red wine may prevent a headache [IMPORTANT WARNING: Tylenol (acetominophen) has a known bad interaction with alcohol in the liver - DO NOT take Tylenol before or after drinking alcohol]. It has also been suggested that drinking black tea before drinking red wine may prevent a red wine headache. Yet another suggestion is to avoid tannic red wines by drinking softer reds (Dolcetto or Beaujolais) or aged red wines.
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Mark Lipton