Wine related allergies
Alcohol may cause allergic reactions such as rhinitis, itching, swelling of the face, headache, cough or asthma.
(1) Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide allergy can cause bronchoconstriction and allergic reactions when consumed by people who are allergic to it. 2001, the study found that when sulfur dioxide levels in wine reached 300 ppm (PPM: 1 PPM), it caused a rapid decrease in breath volume, which reached a minimum within 5 minutes, but returned to normal within the next 15-60 minutes.
However, the same subjects had no allergic reactions to wines with sulfur dioxide levels of 20, 75 and 150 ppm. It is important to note that although red wines usually have lower sulfur dioxide levels than white wines, red wines tend to be more likely to cause allergic asthma.
Under normal conditions, sulfites are rapidly converted to sulfate by enzymes in the blood. However, some people lack this enzyme, which can lead to sulfite buildup and allergic reactions. Such individuals should also be careful to avoid sulfur-containing proteins in their daily diet.
The metabolic process in a normal diet produces about 2.4 G of sulfur per day, which means that the amount of sulfur in wine is insignificant compared to this.
(2) Blushing after drinking wine
A glass of wine first enters the stomach, then the duodenum and small intestine, passes through the gastrointestinal tract into the venous system, and is then transported to the liver for metabolism. After entering the liver, ethanol is first converted to acetaldehyde by the enzyme ethanol dehydrogenase (AHD). Acetaldehyde is then converted by ALDH2 to acetic acid, which is eventually broken down into water and carbon dioxide and excreted from the body.
If a person’s alcohol dehydrogenase is low and his alcohol metabolism is slow, he can easily get drunk. That is, if you have a bad drink, you can pour it into a glass. If a person has a small amount of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase2 with low activity and slow metabolism of acetaldehyde, acetaldehyde will cause the blood vessels of the skin mucosa to dilate, that is, drinking it will make his face.
According to the Japan Alcohol Research Center, 36% of people in Japan and Korea will blush after drinking.
Some people who blush when they drink may carry aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 variant gene – aldh22. 18% of people carry this gene. People with one allele of the wine gene, carrying one aldh22, have only 6% of normal enzyme activity. If they carry two, enzyme activity is almost zero. For the latter, drinking is very common. They feel uncomfortable easily when they drink, so they usually do not drink at all.
(3) Allergens in wine
Most wines require clarification or filtration during winemaking. Clarifying and filtering media are usually animal products such as bone marrow, casein (milk protein), chitin (from crustacean tissue), protein, fish gelatin, oil, gelatin (animal protein), etc. Many of these commonly used clarifying and filtering media are common food allergens. Some people who are extremely sensitive to these substances may be allergic to their consumption.
However, double-blind trials have found that egg whites, gelatin, or non-grape tannins in wine are very unlikely to cause allergy in people with egg, peanut, and fish allergies. In addition, there are more than 800 compounds in wine, so it is normal for some people to have adverse reactions to certain wines.
