Piercing headaches, nausea and exhaustion are all too familiar for anyone who has ever had a few too many drinks.
But have you ever wondered why you feel so much worse the morning after an evening drinking red wine than many other types of drink?
Researchers believe they have hit on the reason why those delicious cabernets and pinots causes such such agony the next day.
According to US scientists, a compound called quercetin — which is abundant in red wines — may prevent the body processing alcohol properly.
Red wine has more quercetin because whole grapes, including the skin, are used —white wine has the skins and seeds removed.
Quercetin is also more abundant in grapes exposed to more sunlight, researchers at the University of California said.
This means cheaper red wine might actually be better for avoiding a hangover because cheaper grape varieties are grown on vines with large canopies and lots of leaves so they don’t get as much sun.
‘If you’re willing to take a chance, look for an inexpensive, lighter red wine,’ Professor Andrew Waterhouse, an expert in enology and Apramita Devi, a postdoctoral researcher in food science, told The Conversation.
Researchers believe they have hit on the reason why wine — specifically red wine — causes such swift and undeserved headaches
The NHS recommends people drink no more than 14 ‘units’ of alcohol — around six glasses of wine, or pints of beer — per week
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The scientists don’t know exactly how quercetin affects people directly, but they believe it blocks an enzyme needed to break down alcohol in the body.
‘First, alcohol is converted to the compound acetaldehyde [in the liver]’, they said.
‘Then, the enzyme ALDH converts the acetaldehyde to acetate, a common and innocuous substance.’
Once this happens, it can be passed out of the body as waste.
Quercetin, however, stops the acetaldehyde being made into acetate, so it stays in the body, causing inflammation and a headache.
‘Our enzyme tests suggest that quercetin… disrupts your body’s metabolism of alcohol,’ they added.
Studies have previously suggested that sulphites — preservatives to prolong shelf-life and keep wine fresh — may to be to blame for red wine headaches, which can strike within half an hour of drinking even small amounts.
Generally though, the sulphite content is higher in sweet white wines rather than reds.
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Another possible culprit is histamine — an ingredient more common in red wine than white or rose.
Histamine can dilate blood vessels in the body, which might trigger headache. But the research is limited.
The team, who published their research on quercetin in the journal, Scientific Reports, now hope to test their theory with clinical trials on the effects of red wines with different quercetin levels.
The findings, they hope, could help people avoid red wine headaches in future.
Leading experts have argued about the harms of moderate drinking for decades.
It came under the spotlight last year when WHO officials warned that no amount of alcohol is safe.
The NHS recommends people drink no more than 14 ‘units’ of alcohol — around six glasses of wine, or pints of beer — per week.
This itself has been watered down over the past few decades in light of studies illustrating the health dangers of alcohol.
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Meanwhile, the US says women should drink no more than seven standard drinks a week and men can have 14.
Scientists across the board agree that excessive alcohol consumption can permanently damage the liver, cause an array of cancers and drive up blood pressure.
It puts a strain on the heart muscle and can lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD), which increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Binge drinking — sometimes defined by consuming five drinks within two hours —can make the heart beat irregularly, triggering symptoms including breathlessness, tiredness and increased blood pressure.
The World Health Organisation estimate alcohol kills three million people around the world each year.
