Wine allergy

Wine allergy is the result of the use of sulfur dioxide and pesticides in production. Natural wine without impurities, dyes and flavor additives causes allergic reactions extremely rarely. High-quality ethyl alcohol cannot be an antigen a priori, since it is a relatively safe metabolite - it is partially produced by the body itself and is perceived by it as a natural component.

In addition, the structure and size of alcohol molecules are not capable of acting as an epitope – a substance to which the immune system will react.

Causes of Wine Allergy

Most often, an allergy to wine, in particular an allergy to red wine, is provoked by the following factors:

1. Wine contains an admixture that is a hapten, much less often a true allergen. Haptens do not have protein in their structure, but they readily enter into an alliance with other protein compounds, for example, with proteins of the immune system, forming an antigen complex. Haptens are all pollen of flowers, plants, polysaccharides, sulphites, polyphenolic compounds that can be added to wine. Some types of wine are infused with herbal extracts to give the drink an exquisite aroma and taste. It is known that many types of plants can cause an allergic reaction, especially in combination with fruit or berry components.
2. Wine may contain an invisible amount of mold, which technologists call wine mold. Wine mold most often affects young red wines. Film yeast begins to actively multiply in the drink when oxygen is available, forming wine sediment. A microgram of mold in a glass of the drink is enough to cause an allergy.
3. Ethyl alcohol contained in wine provokes the penetration of other, parallel allergens into the blood. For example, by dilating blood vessels, it opens access to allergens from cheeses or citrus fruits.
4. In addition to the fact that an allergy to wine is dangerous in itself, almost all red wines contain tyramine, which causes migraines. Migraines, in turn, can be a trigger for the development of an allergic reaction.
5. Young wines quite often contain wasp venom, which is a strong allergen for the human body. At least, this is what many wine experts claim. Wasps are attracted by both the smell and taste of the wine being made, and they can end up under the wine press. Long-term aging of wine helps to gradually neutralize the wasp venom.

Let us list the possible reasons why wine allergies have become increasingly common and represent a real problem for true connoisseurs, experts and tasters of this wonderful drink:

1. Recently, wine production technologists have quite often detected sulfur dioxide in wine material, which is actively used to treat vineyards (this way, grapes are well preserved during transportation). In addition, some unscrupulous producers deliberately add this chemical substance to the initial must as a strong stabilizer. The sulfur compound can provoke a severe allergic reaction due to the fact that the anhydride quickly interacts with human proteins, especially those that are in a very similar sulfur-containing peptide chain. The protein molecule changes its structure and causes an aggressive response from the immune system.
2. Wine allergies can develop due to pesticides contained in the drink. Just like sulfur dioxide, pesticides are often used in the cultivation of modern grape varieties.
3. If a person already has an allergy to nuts, any wine that contains a nut flavor additive (most often almond) will provoke an allergic reaction.
4. In addition to the above reasons, there is another one, which, unfortunately, is not uncommon in our time - wine counterfeiting. Modern "inventors" with the help of synthetic dyes, flavors and flavor additives are able to make almost any wine, of course, red wines are the easiest to counterfeit. All artificial additives can be both an independent allergen and a hapten, that is, they can enter into compounds already inside the body and activate the immune protest.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ]

Symptoms of Wine Allergy

The most obvious, visible signs of an allergic reaction to wine appear literally within 10-15 minutes after drinking the first glass. This may be swelling, hyperemia of the face, local hyperthermia - a local increase in temperature, for example, only in the hands. Skin rash appears a little later - after half an hour or an hour. The rash can be localized on the wrists, neck, chest, calves and look like small blisters or have the form of hives. Particularly severe symptoms that can be caused by an allergy to wine are manifested by a sharp drop in blood pressure, nausea, convulsions, Quincke's edema, suffocation.

What should you do if you have an allergy to wine?

1. If allergic symptoms develop rapidly, you should immediately call an ambulance to avoid Quincke's edema.
2. If the allergy to wine manifests itself only as a rash, but such cases are repeated, it is necessary to consult an allergist to find out the true cause of the allergic reaction. Perhaps the immune response is associated with the type of wine, the dose drunk, or with an individual intolerance to alcoholic beverages in general.
3. If an allergic reaction to a certain type of wine occurs twice, you should permanently exclude this drink from your diet, since the body has already become sensitized to the allergen found in the wine.
4. Anyone who already has any type of allergy should avoid drinking complex wine drinks (cocktails, grogs).
5. If the allergy to wine appears irregularly, it is necessary to analyze the so-called snacks, perhaps cheese, chocolate, citrus fruits are the true cause of the allergic reaction.
6. If after drinking wine an allergy appears only in the form of a rash, without respiratory symptoms and threatening signs, you should try to wash out the stomach, take an over-the-counter antihistamine (Loratadine, Suprastin, Diazolin).
7. If an allergy to wine is accompanied by shortness of breath and swelling, you can use an antihistamine inhaler - a nebulizer (Atroven, Berotek) while waiting for an ambulance.

Wine allergy can be a serious challenge for lovers of this wonderful drink. Perhaps it is worth replacing young wines with more aged ones or switching to tasting quality white wines. In any case, it is not worth testing the body and experimenting with the consumption of a provoking drink in the hope that this time everything will be fine. Obviously, allergy sufferers will have to look for the truth not in wine, as the ancient writer and philosopher Gaius Pliny the Elder advised, at least not in red.