4 Tips to Prevent Red Wine Headaches

The pleasures of red wine are many…as are the miseries.

And while that glass of Zinfandel might have been the perfect complement to an utterly spectacular entrée, the splitting headache it’s left you with is a miserable dessert.

If you’ve ever found yourself on the receiving end of a massive migraine following a glass or two of red wine, you’re not alone.

But what causes these miserable headaches?

More importantly, how can you fight them?

Here are 4 tips to prevent red wine headaches that you can put into use TODAY…

(If you’re really in pain, skip ahead to the Migraine Freedom Plan.)

Agua es Vida

Water is life, and if sidestepping a massive red wine headache is an important part of your agenda, drink at least one glass of water with every glass of wine.

Remember—red wine contains alcohol in addition to a number of other chemicals, and alcohol dehydrates the body. When your body is dehydrated, the blood vessels constrict, and that constriction can very easily trigger a headache.

You’re Sweet Enough

When you’re enjoying a glass of red wine, skip the sweets. On its own, a glass of wine will spike your blood-sugar—and that spike will be amplified if your wine is accompanied by an uber-sweet dessert like crème brulee.

In response to that influx of sugar, your body will start producing massive quantities of insulin, and if the body produces too much, the result is a hypoglycemic headache.

Hinder Your Histamine

One of the common culprits of the infamous red wine headache is histamine, a natural chemical produced by the body’s immune system in response to a perceived threat. Histamine—a vasodilator—can cause completely debilitating red wine headaches, particularly in those with a histamine sensitivity.

Try handcuffing your histamine before it has a chance to handcuff your evening by taking a natural, non-drowsy anti-histamine such as quercitin.

The Secret Weapon

If the three aforementioned tips don’t keep your red wine headache at bay, there’s one final thing you can try before swearing off red wine for good.

Activated charcoal.

Activated charcoal helps the body better process the headache causing chemicals—tannins, sulfites, etc.—inside red wine. Try taking activated charcoal prior to enjoying that glass of red wine, and then once again before bed.

Test each of the four tips listed above one at a time, and measure your results.

Did your red wine headaches get better, worse, or stay the same?

Chances are, one of these tips is your cure.

Having said that, if your red wine headaches don’t budge, it might be time to take a broader look at your biology.

And the easiest way to do that is through the Migraine Freedom Plan, where you can examine possible hormone imbalances, vulnerabilities in your immune system, sensitivities in your digestive system, or limitations in your detoxification system.

For example, a toxic metal build-up in the body irritates the GI tract and can interrupt the communication between the liver and the intestines. A Swiss study of people with amalgam fillings found that when these people cleaned up their heavy metals, their sensitivity to red wine went away. So yes, of course, you can just opt out and avoid wine, which I usually do anyway. But if you have a stronger than average reaction, it might be time to question what is going on biochemically.

(Before thinking about the Migraine Freedom Plan be sure to take this 5-question assessment quiz FIRST.)