Why do I feel ill after drinking red wine?

Q: I become extremely ill—with extreme headaches, vomiting and dizziness—from small amounts of red wine. It only takes a few sips. What is the cause? —Katherine, Edmonton, Alberta

A: Since we're not doctors, we can't make any diagnoses. However, you may want to ask your physician about the possibility that you have a wine intolerance or allergy. These conditions are considered relatively rare, though a 2012 study published in the German journal Deutsches Arzteblatt International found that 7.2 percent of its study participants self-reported symptoms of allergy or intolerance to wine—a higher percentage than the authors had expected.

That study, led by Peter Wigand of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, found that among its 948 survey respondents, women were more likely to experience symptoms of wine allergy or intolerance than men (8.9 percent versus 5.2 percent). Respondents were more likely to experience symptoms after consuming red wine than white wine, and the most frequently reported symptoms were flushing, itching and nasal congestion. Other investigations of wine intolerance have cited vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps and headaches as possible reactions to red wine.

The researchers in Mainz hypothesized that a number of chemicals found in wine could be the culprits, including biogenic amines, such as histamines, and alcohol itself. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the difference between wine allergies (the manifestation of the immune system's response to a protein) and wine intolerances (the inability to digest certain enzymes). “It is very likely that most people cannot distinguish between an allergy and a non-allergic intolerance," wrote Wigand. Until further research answers some of these questions, we would advise you to talk to your doctor, and to steer clear in the meantime of wines that provoke unpleasant reactions in you. If you're up for it, you could test your body's reaction to white wines. Because of the lower levels of histamines, tyramines and tannins, it's possible that you may tolerate white wine better than red.

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