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Why do some people get headaches from red wine?

First things first: red wine headaches are not the same thing as hangover headaches. Hangover headaches are mainly the product of dehydration and a build-up of acetaldehyde, a toxic metabolite of alcohol. Most of the time, you'll feel the brunt of this the morning after a night of drinking. Wine headaches, on the other hand, can occur after just one or two glasses, leaving you with a sudden throbbing skull and horrible migraine.

While scientists don't agree on any one direct cause of wine-induced headaches, they have pointed to the following potential sources: histamines in red wine (contained in the grape skins), tannins (also contained in the grape skins and more prevalent in red wines), and sugar (when combined with alcohol, it depletes water reserves in your body if you don't stay well hydrated).

For a long time, sulfites were considered to be the perpetrator in wine-induced headaches, but it turns out there is no proven connection between red wine sulfites and headaches. In fact, only 1 in 100 people are overly sensitive to sulfites (according to the FDA), and they're responsible for causing asthma symptoms, not headaches.

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