Understanding Why Red Wine Causes Headaches

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Transcript

We may have finally discovered how red wine causes headaches. And it's not the sulfites. Back in college, I used to laugh at people who talked about different types of alcohol affecting them differently. Because I thought, it's all just ethanol. But that all changed when the fire name... I mean when I set my inner scientist loose on the topic and I read a couple hundred studies on alcohol metabolism. As one does, I was trying to figure out ways to prevent hangovers. That could be another video if you want it. But for now, the simple version is that when you consume alcohol, your body breaks it down in a two-step process. converts it into something called acid aldehyde, which is sort of like taking a somewhat worrisome zombie and stripping down all the flesh, only to turn it into this guy. Acid aldehyde is way more toxic than alcohol, and is a large factor both in feeling bad while you're drinking and in creating the hangovers afterwards. So our body tries to get rid of it, ASAP, using another enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase, converting it to something called acetate. Let's think of that ALDH enzyme as a brave warrior. We'll call him, I don't know, Gerald. blush reaction to alcohol, which is what it sounds like, and feels pretty unpleasant. But it happens because of a genetically dysfunctional ALDH enzyme, where the body takes way too long to convert out that acid al-dehyde leading it to build up in the system, causing problems. Which brings us to this study. Researchers looked at a bunch of phenolics and flavonoids, i.e. a lot of the compounds that you would find in red wine, and found that some of them inhibited the ALDH enzyme. They made old Gerald sick, less able to fight. This was especially true for some of the Korsetan derivatives like this one, which they would be able to inhibit ALDH by 37% after the equivalent of just one glass of red wine. And there's roughly 10 times as much of this compound in red wine as compared to white. And more in grapes that are exposed to the sun, which is often the case with fancier wines, which may also explain why I tend to feel best after drinking cheap white wine. Great for being poor! But what's also fascinating is that this would be a systemic effect. Drinking three glasses of red wine and then doing tequila shots might make it all slower to process, magnifying the negative effects of even the tequila. There are other foods that contain chrysitin, like onions and green beans. It could be that eating a lot of those around consuming alcohol could also cause problems. More research needed. But all that being said, this research is mechanistic, i.e. it was not done in humans. So we can wait for those studies to be done, or you can join me in putting on your science hat and doing the test yourself. For science.

Additional notes

Did you catch the nerdy easter eggs in this video? I’ll video-respond to whoever gets all of them first! 👨‍🔬 Some science notes: 1. There is a tremendous amount of variability of quercetin and related flavenoid content between wines. The numbers discussed here are averages based on a bunch of studies, but results will vary. 1. We definitely need more research on exactly how these interactions play out in the human body. 2. Yes I will still drink red wine, upon occasion. Because I like it, and happiness is one of the most important determinants of health. But I’ve definitely downgraded it yet again in my “personal science-based behaviors” ranking system. 3. Sulfites can also play a role in headaches. 4. No, red wine is not, in fact, the WORST alcohol. There are some pretty shnasty ones out there. But it’s probably way worse than most people realize. 📚Main Study: “Inhibition of ALDH2 by quercetin glucuronide suggests a new hypothesis to explain red wine headaches” - DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46203-y #science #alcohol #health #drinking #hangovers #hangovercure

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