Heads up, winos: Science finally knows why red wine causes such punishing hangovers

The grape debate is settled.

Two scientists at the University of California, Davis, believe they have discovered why Cabernets, Pinot Noirs and other types of red wine cause such brutal hangovers.

Andrew Waterhouse, a professor of oenology, and Apramita Devi, a postdoctoral researcher in food science and technology, told The Conversation that red wines contain a lot of quercetin, which is affecting the body’s ability to process alcohol properly.

Quercetin is a phenolic compound found in grape skins. There is more Quercetin in red wine than white wine because the skins of the red grapes remain longer during the fermentation process.

Waterhouse and Devi measured how quercetin slows the process of breaking down acetaldehyde by the ALDH enzyme, which is produced in the human body when alcohol breaks down.

Tests confirmed that quercetin was a strong inhibitor in the process.

Quercetin glucuronide, according to the study, disrupts the body’s metabolism of alcohol and creates extra circulation of acetaldehyde — which causes inflammation and headaches.

Waterhouse and Devi noted that extra acetaldehyde circulates causing people to have red, flushed skin, which is accompanied by headaches. The headache is the result of a delayed metabolic step as the body breaks down the alcohol.

The study also addressed whether sulfites, biogenic amines and tannins are among the causes of red wine hangovers.

Sulfites are commonly found in all types of wine and have long been blamed for alcohol hangovers.

But according to Waterhouse and Devi, the amount of milligrams of sulfites in wine—20 milligrams in a single glass—is unlikely to be enough to overwhelm the body’s sulfite oxidases.

Biogenic amines are nitrogenous substances similarly found in many fermented foods and beverages.

However, the scientists said that there is too little of an amount of biogenic amines in wine is too low to cause brutal hangovers.

Finally, tannin is high in red wines, leading many hungry people to blame the chemicals.

But as Waterhouse and Devi pointed out, there are many other phenolic compounds in grape skins and seeds — like quercetin — that are causing hangovers.

Plus, tannin is found in other products like tea and chocolate, which rarely cause headaches.

In conclusion, Waterhouse and Devi said that grapes exposed to the sun produce more quercetin, which in turn is causing those types of red wine to cause greater hangovers.

So cheap wines may be the best choice for red wine drinkers who want to avoid a hangover.