How to Prevent a Red Wine Headache

The following Q&A is taken from the Taster’s Guild Journal Winter 2016.

Q. I get a headache when I drink red wine,
but not from white wine. What causes that?

A. Some wine researchers say that people have
been getting headaches from red wine since
Biblical times. Evidence has shown that the
problem is not a “hang over,” since sufferers
complain of pain after as little as a few sips of
red wine. Nor is alcohol itself the culprit, since
white wine does not affect people who suffer
from RWH (Red Wine Headache, yes, it is an
actual medical research term).
Initial theories suggested headaches might
be due to a sensitivity to sulfites, preservatives
added during the grape crush and fermentation,
but white wine usually contains more residual
sulfites.
According to the American Wine Alliance for
Research and Education, Herbert Kaufman,
M.D. reported on studies that suggest the
prophylactic ingestion of aspirin prevented the
red wine headache syndrome.
In the studies, subjects with a history of RWH
were tested with red wine, and all experienced
headaches. One week later the volunteers were
given either a placebo, a dose of aspirin or
acetaminophen one hour before the ingestion
of red wine.
Those that took the placebo experienced the
headache as usual, while the acetaminophen
delayed the RWH syndrome for 6-10 hours.
The subjects that took the aspirin, however, did
not suffer any RWH effects.
The findings suggest the headaches are
caused by a hormonal-like chemical called
prostaglandin, which is evidently curtailed
by aspirin. The study does not reveal what in
red wine triggers the release of prostaglandin,
but they do know that the chemical can dilate
blood vessels and turn up the sensitivity of
pain receptors.
Although aspirin ingested prior to the
consumption of red wine may ward off the
RWH syndrome, test results also verified that
once RWH begins, aspirin had little or no
effect in altering the headache.