Tannin, also known as tannin, is something many Norwegians try to avoid when buying red wine at Vinmonopolet. The reason is a common belief that the substance causes headaches, even after just a couple of glasses of red wine.
– That perception is not new, to say the least. But the fact that the theory is well known does not necessarily mean that it is correct, Vinmonopolet writes on its pages, and adds that no studies they are aware of show that it is the tannin that is to blame for “red wine headaches”.
In fact, no one knows exactly why many people get headaches from red wine, but now American researchers believe they may have found the “culprit”.
Norwegian debate: Is red wine actually healthy for the heart?
The substance quercetin is found in red wine. The amount varies greatly:
– Some types of red wine have up to five times more quercetin than others. It is when quercetin enters your body together with alcohol that things happen, writes Forskning.nowhich mentions the study by the researchers from the University of California.
When alcohol is consumed, it is converted into a toxic substance in our bodies. The quercetin slows down the breakdown of the toxic substance. In some, it slows down the breakdown more than in others, and they then get a build-up of the toxin. This is what can lead to the notorious headache, believe the researchers behind the new study.
Important tanning substances
– It is very interesting that new substances are now being found that can be the cause of headaches, but this is primarily another reason to stop blaming the tanning substances, says Karl Inggard Sæther, wine writer and reviewer in Nettavisen.
On a daily basis, he is head of the wine cellar at the restaurant Vintage Kitchen in Oslo.
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– I keep hearing people say they can’t stand red wine because of tannins, or tannins as we call it in wine parlance. It has never been proven that there is any connection between tannins in red wine and headaches, says Sæther.
The tannins, on the other hand, play an important role in red wine, he adds.
– They are the ones that make you feel dry in your mouth when you swallow. It helps to give the red wine fullness and structure, says Sæther.
Most expensive can be worst
Red grapes make more quercetin when exposed to sunlight. This may mean that more expensive red wines are the worst for headache sufferers, says one of the researchers behind the study, Professor Andrew Waterhouse, to BBC.
– The cheap grape varieties are grown on vines with very many leaves, so they don’t get as much sun, he says.
Morris Levin, director of the headache center at the University of California, is excited:
– We think we are finally on the right track to being able to explain this millennia-old headache mystery, he says to The Guardian.
Currently, the study has been carried out on human cells in the laboratory.
– The next step is to test it scientifically on people who develop this type of headache, adds Levin.
This is to be done either by giving wine with a lot and a little quercetin to voluntary participants, or giving the participants vodka with quercetin or a placebo, and then observing whether they get a headache.
Must validate research findings
Headache specialist and senior physician at Akershus University Hospital, Christofer Lundqvist, emphasizes to Nettavisen that the American researchers’ findings must be validated, and that this is also something the researchers themselves are aware of.
– That further studies on humans are needed to verify the hypothesis can well be supported, but there is a long way to go before it can be said that quercetin is the cause of “red wine headaches”, says Lundqvist.
2023-12-25 11:49:16
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