Why do I get a headache after drinking red wine and what are sulfites for?

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Various products that they strongly recommend avoiding are regularly discussed by nutritionists and healthy lifestyle advocates. This applies to gluten, fats, and starch, and now it's the turn of sulfites. What they are, should they be excluded from the diet, and is it true that sulfites cause headaches after drinking red wine, we tell you in our article.

Sulfites are inorganic salts that have antioxidant and preservative properties.

It is because of the latter that they are often used in food production. Sulfites are often found in canned food, frozen semi-finished products – especially in vegetables, fish and shellfish. In addition, solutions containing sulfites are often used to treat fresh vegetables and fruits. They are added so that the products do not darken from contact with air and temperature changes and retain their presentation.

However, opponents of sulfites, who call for their elimination, forget that these compounds are naturally found in a large number of products (including healthy ones). Sulfites are an inevitable product of fermentation, so they are always present in weak alcohol (wine, beer and cider), black tea, vinegar, pickles and fermented milk products – especially cheese.

In short, to completely eliminate sulfites from the diet, you will have to try very hard. And these efforts will not be entirely justified, since modern science does not find convincing evidence of the harmful properties of sulfites. Like gluten (which is still a non grata product for many), sulfites can cause an allergic reaction in the form of swelling, rash and difficulty breathing, but, in general, this can be said about any product. For people without sulfite intolerance (if you regularly eat cheese or frozen seafood, then you probably do not have it), they do not pose any threat, so you should not be afraid of them.

There is a common myth that a headache after drinking red wine is caused precisely by sulfites. In fact, science considers this statement unfounded – firstly, white wine contains many times more sulfites (and does not cause such an effect), and secondly, the connection between sulfites and the occurrence of headaches has not been confirmed.

The most likely cause of the pain is the high content of histamine in red wine. Therefore, it is not necessary to exclude sulfite-containing products from the diet.

If you suspect that you have an intolerance, you can consult a doctor and take all the necessary tests to identify it.