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Why does red wine cause headaches? Research points to a compound found in grape skins

PBS
Summary
Nutrition label

76% Informative

Medical accounts of red wine headaches go back to Roman times, but the experience is likely as old as winemaking — something like 10,000 years .

Sulfites, biogenic amines and tannin are the most popular culprits, but not much evidence links sulfites directly to headaches.

White wines also contain the same amount of sulfites as red wines.

Quercercin is a compound found in the skins of red grape grapes, and it’s much more abundant in red grape skins than white.

Quercetin glucuronide disrupts metabolism of alcohol, causing headaches.

This disruption means extra acetaldehyde circulates, causing inflammation and headaches.

The next step could be to give human subjects two red wines that are low and high in quercetins and ask whether either wine causes a headache.

VR Score

65

Informative language

57

Neutral language

52

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

49

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

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